movingforward
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Post by movingforward on Apr 6, 2016 13:55:05 GMT -5
All my furniture is around 10 yrs old with the exception of a hand-me-down dining room table, which is at least 30 yrs old. I am itching for all new stuff even though most of the old stuff (except the dining room table - it has had it) is adequate. Since I know I get tired of things I don't spend a fortune on furniture. I buy middle of the road stuff...not cheap but not of the highest quality. I am planning to replace everything this summer. I am just wondering how often other people replace their furniture.
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yogiii
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Post by yogiii on Apr 6, 2016 14:00:03 GMT -5
When it wears out. Our office chair has a rip in it that has been getting worse for a few months. However I know we are planning to also put hw in that room soon, so I've been waiting for that. Then I'll have new floors, a new area rug and a new chair all at once.
At this point I am just too lazy to shop for new furniture because it looks cute, it only gets replaced if it is damaged in some way.
ETA - most of the furniture is 9 y/o or so and is only now starting to show some wear. Other things still look new. So we're at a similar place, it's probably about time for a lot of things.
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kittensaver
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Post by kittensaver on Apr 6, 2016 14:05:11 GMT -5
We're BIG fans of vintage and antique furniture. I have pieces back from before I met DH. I have a few pieces I even inherited. We keep stuff forever, so I'm probably not much help to you, lol. I see furnishing a house as an evolution over time. I'd call our style eclectic vintage and antique with a craftsman/cottage feel. I've NEVER tossed everything out and re-decorated/started over (shudder), and never will.
BUT - the "never toss them out" pieces are mostly solid wood: things like console tables, headboards, coffee tables, a corner curio cabinet, a vintage highboy dresser, our desks, a large antique mirrored sideboard, a rocking chair, dining room table and chairs, and entire bedroom suite make of birds eye maple.
Furniture that is upholstered (the couch) gets replaced when it gets old, worn, lumpy, stained, etc. We've been married 32 years and we're on our third couch in the TV room and our second in the living room. We also have an upholstered side chair he inherited from his bubbe. I've had that re-upholstered and we'll probably keep it forever.
ETA: decorative accents have definitely been changed over time (artwork, pillows, etc etc etc). With the exception of couches and other upholstered stuff that gets worn and dated, many vintage and antique pieces are classics that serve as a great backdrop to changing styles of accent pieces and other décor.
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yogiii
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Post by yogiii on Apr 6, 2016 14:13:44 GMT -5
We're BIG fans of vintage and antique furniture. I have pieces back from before I met DH. I have a few pieces I even inherited. We keep stuff forever, so I'm probably not much help to you, lol. I see furniture in a house as an evolution over time. I'd call our style eclectic vintage and antique with a craftsman/cottage feel. I've NEVER tossed everything out and re-decorated/started over (shudder), and never will.
BUT - the the "never toss them out" pieces are mostly solid wood: things like console tables, headboards, coffee tables, a corner curio cabinet, a vintage highboy dresser, our desks, a large antique mirrored sideboard, a rocking chair, dining room table and chairs, and entire bedroom suite make of tiger eye maple.
Furniture that is upholstered (the couch) gets replaced when it gets old, worn, lumpy, stained, etc. We've been married 32 years and we're on our third couch in the TV room and our second in the living room. We also have an upholstered side chair he inherited from his bubbe. I've had that re-upholstered and we'll probably keep it forever.
I don't think I have it in me to do that. Some things you just can't change.
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movingforward
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Post by movingforward on Apr 6, 2016 14:16:13 GMT -5
I like purging and starting over. Not a great way to be. I don't care about new cars but I like new furniture and home decor.
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kittensaver
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Post by kittensaver on Apr 6, 2016 14:16:24 GMT -5
We're BIG fans of vintage and antique furniture. I have pieces back from before I met DH. I have a few pieces I even inherited. We keep stuff forever, so I'm probably not much help to you, lol. I see furniture in a house as an evolution over time. I'd call our style eclectic vintage and antique with a craftsman/cottage feel. I've NEVER tossed everything out and re-decorated/started over (shudder), and never will.
BUT - the the "never toss them out" pieces are mostly solid wood: things like console tables, headboards, coffee tables, a corner curio cabinet, a vintage highboy dresser, our desks, a large antique mirrored sideboard, a rocking chair, dining room table and chairs, and entire bedroom suite make of tiger eye maple.
Furniture that is upholstered (the couch) gets replaced when it gets old, worn, lumpy, stained, etc. We've been married 32 years and we're on our third couch in the TV room and our second in the living room. We also have an upholstered side chair he inherited from his bubbe. I've had that re-upholstered and we'll probably keep it forever.
I don't think I have it in me to do that. Some things you just can't change. BUT - I actually KNOW people who do it, and regularly too! Every couple of years they toss everything out and completely redecorate with whatever is the look of the moment.
*shudder* *eye roll*
God love them if that's their thing; I just have a LOT of other places I'd rather spend my money.
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ArchietheDragon
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Post by ArchietheDragon on Apr 6, 2016 14:17:24 GMT -5
I get pissed when my wife buys new throw pillows.
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yogiii
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Post by yogiii on Apr 6, 2016 14:18:42 GMT -5
Yes, I know people like that too where every time I go over everything is different, we're eating off different plates than last time, etc.
I don't really think 10 years is outrageous though, I assume you feel you've "gotten your money" out of most of it at this point. If you are planning to move, I'd hold off until then though.
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movingforward
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Post by movingforward on Apr 6, 2016 14:22:34 GMT -5
I don't think I have it in me to do that. Some things you just can't change. BUT - I actually KNOW people who do it, and regularly too! Every couple of years they toss everything out and completely redecorate with whatever is the look of the moment.
*shudder* *eye roll*
God love them if that's their thing; I just have a LOT of other places I'd rather spend my money.
Yeah, no way I would do that every couple of years and I don't care what the look of the moment happens to be but every 8-10 years I get a little bit antsy and want to redecorate. Mainly, I get bored with looking at the same stuff. I have been contemplating painting my bedroom furniture as opposed to replacing it but I am afraid if I did it myself it would look like total crap.
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kittensaver
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Post by kittensaver on Apr 6, 2016 14:25:16 GMT -5
BUT - I actually KNOW people who do it, and regularly too! Every couple of years they toss everything out and completely redecorate with whatever is the look of the moment.
*shudder* *eye roll*
God love them if that's their thing; I just have a LOT of other places I'd rather spend my money.
Yeah, no way I would do that every couple of years and I don't care what the look of the moment happens to be but every 8-10 years I get a little bit antsy and want to redecorate. Mainly, I get bored with looking at the same stuff. I have been contemplating painting my bedroom furniture as opposed to replacing it but I am afraid if I did it myself it would look like total crap. If you like the furniture, find a professional re-finisher to do it for you .
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cronewitch
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Post by cronewitch on Apr 6, 2016 14:30:29 GMT -5
Almost never, I want new but don't like choosing. My dressers are from about 1982, dining table and chairs 1991, lazyboy 1988, couch 2000, a few things that were my mother's or grandmothers. I got rid of all the extra stuff so my house is kinda bare but I looked at all the furniture stores and didn't find anything I wanted.
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lexxy703
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Post by lexxy703 on Apr 6, 2016 14:35:38 GMT -5
I don't. The furniture in the basement is probably 14 yo. The stuff in the family room I bought new 10 years ago when I moved in. A bunch of my furniture I bought about 12 years ago when a large homebuilder auctioned off their model home furniture. Overall I still like everything.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2016 14:37:00 GMT -5
DH and I don't put a high priority in furniture. Ours is a comfortable mix of things brought in from previous marriages and even a bookshelf from my college years. One chest of drawers was left in a vacation home the family of DH's first wife bought in the 1950s. We just replaced the mattress in our BR, which I bought in 1997. I did have to go on a buying binge then; I was newly divorced and Ex took most of the furniture. I didn't care.
We just moved last year and pared down; maybe putting the pieces in new surroundings helped.
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Tiny
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Post by Tiny on Apr 6, 2016 14:37:59 GMT -5
I guess I replace furniture when it's worn out or broken. I've got a 40yo hand me down dining room table and a mishmash of chairs - I have a vague plan to replace them - but I just never get around to it.
I just replaced a 30yo couch and bought two new recliners (the recliners didn't replace anything - I had a big empty living room). When the console TV died I bought a TV stand thingy to put my new big screen TV on.
I'm still using the same dresser (and a nightstand) from my childhood. The dresser is from the 1930's (not a fancy or expensive one) and the nightstand is from the 1970's. I recently repainted both. I did buy a refinished tall dresser to add some drawer space. I like the 'old stuff'.
I've got a 1930's era kitchen table and chairs in my kitchen too. Looks great - and all my vintage table clothes fit it.
I'm not big on 'decorating' and I don't really get tired of the furniture I do have - as long as it's in functional working order and does what I need it to do... I'm fine with it.
I have a friend and a Sister In Law who are always 'redecorating' - they buy inexpensive and middle of the road stuff. Their homes are always in the currently trendy color and style (I'd guesstimate they 'redecorate' every 4 to 6 years?). I don't have the time or the patience to do it - and I don't think less of them for doing it. I feel like it's their 'hobby' -- something they enjoy doing.
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bean29
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Post by bean29 on Apr 6, 2016 14:45:26 GMT -5
We bought new furniture for the living room last summer. We were in our house 11 years at that point. We had needed new end tables for several years at that point. One glass top was taped together and we had a crocheted table cover on it to disguise the damage.
Our old furniture was a sectional we bought when we were in our last house. I thought when we were building this house that our room which is something like 17x21 was plenty big for a sectional but it just never really worked in the room. we have a natural fireplace in one corner, a door to the master bedroom on the other side (so you need to keep a path open to the door) and an opening into the dinette on the other wall. There were two ways you could position the sectional and they just did not work real well. The opening to the dinette was blocked and it made the flow of traffic cumbersome.
When we finally did buy new furniture, we also ended up buying new carpeting. So not only did we a lot of furniture, we also had the outlay for carpeting. We are so much happier with the room with the new furniture, I will not wait so long to replace furniture in the future if we move or have some need to change the layout of the room.
Furniture in the Master is about 34 years old. There is an small antique table in the master bedroom. I have no opposition to antiques, as long as they are solid. DD's furniture is only about 5 years old but it is so craptastic it needs to be replaced. I still owe on the living room though (48 months free financing ). DD doesn't need new furniture b/c she lives in a dorm 3/4 of the year and sleeps on the couch in the basement when she is home.
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alabamagal
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Post by alabamagal on Apr 6, 2016 15:03:30 GMT -5
We bought nice leather couches 25 years ago and still have them. They are super dark green (almost black). They are still in good shape. They have survived raising 3 kids plus dogs and 1 move.
2 months ago I could not find my keys and we looked under the couch cushions and found a spot that they could fall down below the frame. We turned the couch over and removed the fabric and found 25 years of lost crayons, kid scissors, pens, pencils, 1 kid wallet with $20 lost when kid was 12, and my set of keys!
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Cookies Galore
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Post by Cookies Galore on Apr 6, 2016 15:36:44 GMT -5
We're currently in a one-bedroom apartment with a hand-me-down couch that WAS in good condition, and then we got a kitten five years ago. He did not take to the scratching post like our old lady. At all. Grr. We'll be moving into our house in June and all I really have on the immediate want list is a new couch and chair for the living room. I'm kind of hoping for a parental gift so we can get it sooner rather than later. We're getting a dining room table from my aunt, but will need to get chairs. Those can wait. The kitchen will have an island with two seats. Our housewarming party will be bring your own camp chair. Hubs and I both have dressers from our grandparents' childhoods and I can't wait to strip and refinish my pop-pop's dresser (my mom painted it blue many, many years ago and it has peeled away over the years). 1930s furniture in a 1911 house, can't wait! Stuff we did buy new (coffee table, tv stand, bookcase, liquor cabinet, mattress) has all been purchased 4-5 years ago and we will continue using it all. I can't wait to decorate. What we have serves its purpose, but I still look forward to making everything work in our home. :-)
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NomoreDramaQ1015
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on Apr 6, 2016 15:45:17 GMT -5
I'm supposed to buy furniture? Most of what we own either came with the house after my grandmother died or DH brought in from his house. The recliner is 6 years old and the couch is just as old. It's one of those things I never really gave much thought to, it's a place to park your butt. However as I've gotten older I find myself wanting a "grown up house" as opposed to "dumpster dive college dorm room". I want a new couch SO BAD but I haven't been able to justify the cost of a new one with kids and pets. Yes I know I can train them to stay off the furniture if I wanted to bad enough and I am probably a failure as a parent/ pet owner for saying I don't want to spend my time being the furniture police. Now that we both have better paying jobs I feel I can justify getting rid of our "good enough" couch and finally getting something more grown up. AND we can afford to get it stain guarded. I'd also like to get rid of our bed frame. I have never picked out/bought my own bed frame. I went from the twin bed I used since I was a kid at my parents' house, to DH's house and then inherited my grandmother's bed frame. It's high time *I* get to pick the bed I sleep in.
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Anne_in_VA
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Post by Anne_in_VA on Apr 6, 2016 15:46:36 GMT -5
Not often at all. If it's broken or worn, we'll replace it. I have quite a few older pieces bought in the 70's and early 80's.
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Regis
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Post by Regis on Apr 6, 2016 15:54:04 GMT -5
Well...our dining room table is about 120 years old if that tells you anything!
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Peace Of Mind
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Post by Peace Of Mind on Apr 6, 2016 16:04:30 GMT -5
I like purging and starting over. Not a great way to be. I don't care about new cars but I like new furniture and home decor. Me too except I also like new cars. I kept everything from our last place and moved it here to the new house (that was almost 12 years ago so no longer new). Not much of it worked in this house so I ended up giving it all away to my mom, brother, friends, and charity. DH said "I really wished we had known we were going to do this BEFORE we moved it all here!" No kidding! It took me about a year to find everything I wanted/liked for this house and our neighbors thought we were poor. LOL! I spend so much time looking for that perfect 'whatever' that, unless it gets ruined or breaks, I never replace it until we move again. I do buy mostly quality pieces though that are neutral enough that I can buy new rugs, pillows, throws, etc. to make things new again if I get bored. I have not gotten bored in this house yet so I still have all the same stuff. I'd like to think I got it right the first time and it's not because I'm cheap and lazy. Plus everything kind of flows from room to room so if I ever decide to replace anything drastic I'd probably have to do the entire house. No way!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2016 16:09:04 GMT -5
More often than I would like. Seems like once a year we are buying something. We must be really hard on family room furniture, because we seem to replace it every 5 years or so. 2 sets were replaced because of a move and the third was never comfortable. Dining room furniture was also replaced because of the move, but it was 11 years old. We keep bedroom (except mattresses) and office furniture forever.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Apr 6, 2016 16:40:06 GMT -5
Well, I'll be buying some in the next few weeks. Last time was 2006.
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Spellbound454
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Post by Spellbound454 on Apr 6, 2016 17:15:19 GMT -5
Same here...Probably one big item per year ...on rotation....whatever is looking shabby Sofas were replaced last year.....this year it will be a new spare room wardrobe set...(Its falling to bits) Prefer to decorate frequently ...and change colour schemes...but work round the furniture already in place. I choose furniture carefully ...because its going to be around for years. So nothing that will go out of fashion ... Loathe to waste money really
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NoNamePerson
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Post by NoNamePerson on Apr 6, 2016 17:32:35 GMT -5
I hate to furniture shop. I finally got rid of well worn sofa on last move. I didn't have a sofa and had to sit on the floor for three months. But when I do buy it's something I love and will keep for a long time.
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Ombud
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Post by Ombud on Apr 6, 2016 17:32:39 GMT -5
Picked up some beautiful white oak from thehardwoodresource.com/Home.html so that'll be another table. Just refinished one I made decades (38 yrs) ago. Still have to redo top on coffee table, then a dining room table needs tlc (some defect due to age). For some reason maple bedroom furniture I made in 1979 lasts better than oak family room stuff from a few yrs earlier. Not sure why Maybe I replace tables once in a lifetime?
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NoNamePerson
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Post by NoNamePerson on Apr 6, 2016 17:35:06 GMT -5
Well...our dining room table is about 120 years old if that tells you anything! Dang, that's older than me.
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giramomma
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Post by giramomma on Apr 6, 2016 19:42:01 GMT -5
In the 15 years that DH and I have been married, we've bought a new mattress for ourselves, a couch and matching chair (we sat on camping chairs for a year before that), two recliners, and some of the beds for the kids. Each room has a set of bunk beds..3/4 of the mattresses are new.
Everything else is old, like 30-40 years old.
I think mostly it's a time thing. Picking out flooring for our first floor was hell. A huge time suck. I can't imagine furniture shopping for a whole house.
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teen persuasion
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Post by teen persuasion on Apr 6, 2016 20:18:34 GMT -5
I'm supposed to buy furniture? It's one of those things I never really gave much thought to, it's a place to park your butt. However as I've gotten older I find myself wanting a "grown up house" as opposed to "dumpster dive college dorm room". I refer to our style as "Early attic". I can think of only one set purchased new, a dining set my mom had made for us by an Amish carpenter. Not something I would have chosen - she made up a story about a cousin who could buy an old farmhouse table (what I really wanted) but needed to know what features I wanted. Then she ordered it. The table feels too high (like I'm a little kid sitting at it, and/or the chairs are too low (and yet I constantly bump my knees into the table apron), but have huge, high backs (I wanted low backs I could tuck under the table, and a bench for one side). Everything else are old pieces we've picked up along the way - Jenny Lind bed we swapped at our first apartment, dressers with beveled mirrors from a neighborhood garage sale at our second apartment, inherited drop leaf tables and wash stands and sewing machines, an old piano free for the taking, a dining set with buffet and china cabinet from the twenties, waterfall bedroom sets and a Hoosier cabinet from DH's grandparents, desks and bookcases, a neat old radio table from someone in town who refinishes things, etc. When we had to replace the harvest gold stove that died, we bought a stove from the fifties. I'd love one from the twenties, on legs, though!
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Ryan
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Post by Ryan on Apr 6, 2016 21:50:11 GMT -5
We bought our bed, family room couches, and dinner table when we got married (2003) and we inherited a crappy dining room set shortly after. We replaced the couches after 10 years, bought new couches for basement and living room a few years ago, and bought a new dining room set last year. My wife now wants to buy a new solid wood dinner table, but haven't pulled the trigger yet.
My kids are still young and basically have ruined all the furniture we have already. I don't think I'm strict enough with them to buy new stuff any time soon...maybe ever.
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