[Richard M]

You should really be using the closing </option> tags and put 'selected="selected"' in the default option.
e.g.:

<select name="furnishing">
<option value="Furnished">Furnished</option>
<option value="Unfurnished">Unfurnished</option>
<option value="Part furnished">Part furnished</option>
<option value="Furnished to suit">Furnished to suit</option>
<option value="No preference" selected="selected">No preference</option>
</select>