Love-Spanish.com: Shopping For Furniture/ Furnishings

Thursday, 22 March 2012

Shopping For Furniture/ Furnishings

Introduction

This post deals with shopping in general, and more specifically with shopping for furniture.

SCENARIO

Imagine you walk into a shop looking for furniture/ furnishings for the home or the garden.

After exchanging customary greetings, the shop assistant decides to say to you something like: "can I help you/ how can I help you?"

In Spanish, the other person could choose to be less formal and say:

¿Qué deseas?

Alternatively, he/ she could choose to be more formal and say:

¿Que desea (usted)?

OUR TIP

The question in Spanish is an invitation for you to say what you want/ what you are after. Answering that question should be quite straightforward and depends mainly on what you are looking for. In fact, naming the item you are looking for should be sufficient in most cases.

Maybe you want:

Kitchen furniture/ furnishings;
Living room furniture/ furnishings;
Dining room furniture/ furnishings;
Bedroom furniture/ furnishings;
Garden furniture/ furnishings;

Here are some examples of what you could say:

Quería muebles de cocina (I would like/ I am looking for some kitchen units);
Quería una mesa de cocina (I would like a kitchen table);
Quería una encimera de cocina (I would like a kitchen worktop);
Quería un sofá (I would like a sofa);
Quería una mesa baja de salón (I would like a coffee table);
Quería una mesa de comedor (I would like a dining table);
Quería seis sillas de comedor (I would like six dining chairs);
Quería un chinero (I would like a sideboard);
Quería una cama de matrimonio (I would like a double bed);
Quería un armario (I would like a wardrobe);
Quería dos mesitas de noche (I would like two bedside tables);
Quería dos mesillas de noche (I would like two bedside tables);
Quería una alfombra (I would like a rug);
Quería cortinas para las ventanas (I would like curtains for the windows);
Quería persianas para las ventanas (I would like blinds for the windows);
Quería una mesa de jardín (I would like garden table);
Quería cuatro sillas de jardín (I would like four garden chairs);
Quería una sombrilla para el jardín (I would like a garden parasol);