The art of collecting furniture

THE common mantra that "cheap is good" is not one that Kiwha Lee Blocman necessarily abjures. But it is one that she will ask you to question, especially when buying furniture for the home. "A lot of furniture shops will say that something is wood when in fact it is not. It is just a veneer. The surface may be wood but the inside is plywood or chipboard," she says.

Ms Blocman, 38, and the owner of The Flat, a concept store and showroom for her art, furniture designs and a carefully curated line of home accessories, is not likely to be fooled but she knows friends who have been. "When that happens, I feel a little outraged because manufacturers sometimes don't say what materials their furniture is made of, preferring you to believe it is made of wood," she adds.

The mention of "chipboard" provokes a reaction from Ms Blocman that may seem unwarranted until she explains that it is not only a poor performance material - "it bloats up when it is wet" - but also an environmentally unfriendly one - "it is made with harmful compounds that give off gas". "Shoppers need to look deeper and investigate before buying something that seems well priced. They must ask more questions and not be sold on the price alone," she adds.