Choosing furniture can be a tricky task at the best of times. Either you can’t find anything in the style you like, or the style you like isn’t suitable for the room you are fitting out. Yacht furniture can bring extra complications, with rooms of unusual sizes and shapes and different demands put on the contents of those rooms.

The elements can play havoc with yacht furniture to a much greater extent than furniture for a home and even coastal houses do not have to deal with the extremes of weather that may befall a yacht. Materials that can easily be used in a home cannot easily be utilised on a yacht without presenting potential hazards. Metal, for example, can be hazardous in extremes of heat or cold, both of which are possible or even likely on a yacht. Water is not the friend of furniture at the best of times, but salt water is even more corrosive and yacht furniture is likely to have to deal with copious amounts, whether from swimmers or as a result of bad weather.

Generally there are a few ways with dealing with this, choosing things with the elements in mind, moving items when the conditions change and keeping items from the elements. Some yachts have changing rooms by entrances to allow people to wash or dry themselves and change clothes, so their internal furnishings and furniture need not take the elements into such account. Choosing the material is generally a good way to help resist things. Metals, particularly irons and steel, are not good partners to salt water, though some alloys can help here. Plastics are often great at resisting the sea, but a number degrade under too much sunlight. Some woods, particularly those associated with maritime uses such as oak or teak, are resistant to the elements, though may fade in sunlight if not treated. Fortunately, this is often only noticeable if there is a comparison between those that have been in the sun and those that haven’t.

Depending on the vessel you are buying yacht furniture for, the movement of the sea will affect your choices more or less. Generally, the larger the vessel, the less the sea will affect it. In general, shorter wider furniture is best here.

It’s not just practical considerations here, as on many yachts, the nature of the room makes it abundantly clear that you are on a yacht. This may well mean that aesthetically, many styles look wrong without modification. Many will like to play up the fact that you are on a yacht with their stylistic choices, but others will want a less nautical style to their rooms. In part, the vessel will dictate how far your furniture style can practicably go, as well as the use you will put it to. Don’t be afraid to ask for what you want, as with a certain amount of ingenuity, practical considerations can incorporated almost unnoticeably into your desired style.