WWW gives a hint there. Buy something that you know. He obviously knows the price of furniture. Find something you know more about than others that is currently of low value and buy.
Last year I would have said simply buy gold, but I have been proved so correct that I am not sure it can keep its absolute value. Probably a good bet against sterling, but so are Euros or any currency not influenced by Bob Mugabe, Barack Obama or Gordon Brown. OK, I exaggerate; you probably should not buy Venezualan or Cuban currency either (Honduras already covered - it's influenced by Obama's tragically inept foreign policy).