214 FURNISHING COSTS AND BUDGETS

A Plan. A three-year buying plan which provides for the pur-
chase of a few important pieces each year is usually recommended
for newly wed couples on a low income. This not only fits the
purse but also insures more satisfactory results as it allows time to
acquire knowledge about furnishings.

The first-year purchases for the living room should include a
sofa or studio couch, an overstuffed chair, four straight chairs, a
painted kitchen table, painted bookshelves, three end tables, two
lamps, three scatter rugs, and simple thin white curtains. For the
bedroom a good permanent spring and mattress can be used with-
out a regular frame. A painted stool and chest of drawers could
be added., A shelf under a mirror may be draped for a dressing
table.

The second-year purchases should include a living-room rug
and a good permanent table. The scatter rugs should then be put
in the bedroom. A coffee table can be improvised from a large
tray placed on a folding luggage rack.

The third year should see the purchase of another upholstered
chair, an easy chair, draperies, and another lamp or two for the
living room. The bedroom might gain an easy chair, night tables,
and lamps, "

Plans of this kind provide for the necessities only, at the be-
ginning. One should realize that vacant space is not unpleasant
but restful. The permanent pieces should usually be of the best
quality in the class of furnishings within one's means. Temporary
pieces such as lamps and dishes should be verjr inexpensive*

Any plan should be elastic so that it can be adjusted to meet new
conditions. Five-year plans are sometimes more practical than
three.

A young couple with imagination might well consider their low
budget a challenge and make a game of creating something useful
and Ibeautiful out of ordinary things, possibly from second-hand
stores. They should be frankly poor and cherish most those things
which were their greatest bargains, or which they themselves had
made* See pages 225, 257, and 417.

It is usually well for newly weds to postpone investing in any
furniture until a careful study has been made of well-designed
interiors and furniture in books and periodicals as well as in the