How Often Do You Buy New Furniture?

[NoNamePerson]

I call my place Curb Side chic. I love trash day.

[Apple]

Never if I could!

I moved out of my parent's house in '97.  My mom sent me away with furniture she needed to get rid of (two dressers for me, and later one for DS).  As he grew, she would find yard sale deals, stain them or clean them up and give them to me.  So, he got a desk we topped for a diaper changing table (still have the desk), and he got his old twin bed that way.  When he needed to move up to a queen, I donated the old bed set and used a log futon I had bought a few years earlier (laid it flat, put plywood on it, then his foam mattress on top of that).

I bought a leather couch and sofa around 10 years ago, and replaced some broken springs when they broke.  I have a chair that was given to me by a lady I delivered the newspaper to when I was a kid-- it was "reupholstered after the war."  We're pretty sure the war was WWII.

I'd live on bean bag chairs if I could...

The kitchen table is a handmade teak table, used from reclaimed wood.  The teak varies from blonde to red, it's gorgeous (and takes at least two people to move it, but usually four).  The chairs that go with it are also handmade, and the wood that forms the frame for the seat and the back is from one piece of wood (each side).  They used water and heat to bend them into a near 90º angle.

The coffee table is made from the hatch of an old Liberty ship (NoNamePerson and I have talked about it before).  It's also extremely heavy, so the top comes off the base, and it takes two people to carry the top.  It looks similar to this, but darker and with a different style wood base:



I love the kitchen and coffee tables so much that they will dictate the other furniture in the future.  The living room set will "go with" the coffee table.  Those are definitely my "forever furniture".

I have other stuff-- a player piano, antique sewing machine cabinet, etc.  Seems like the only thing I've purchased new was a bookshelf or three.  The rest, as I've gathered it, was given to me, or used. 

[Opti]

Apple, I would love to see a pic of your kitchen set. I like teak.

[justme]

My living room set I've had for six years but bought a year or two old. The rest was mostly bought six years ago as well with one or two things from college or more recently bought.

When I next buy stuff I'm going to have to be adult and buy good stuff I really want instead of stuff I'm ok with because it fits my very small budget.

I'm slow at it though, mostly cuz I have other things I want to spend money on. Hell for Christmas my parents got me new towel sets. My old stuff was ten years old from first year of college with bleach stains from acne meds days. I knew I needed some but didn't want to spend the cash. Next up in that category is bed sheets.

[milee]

Apr 6, 2016 21:50:11 GMT -5 Ryan said:

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.

To keep mess and destruction to a minimum, we don't eat or have drinks anywhere but at the table. (Well, "we" meaning the kids plus DH and I when the kids are awake/around. When the kids are in bed, DH or I will sometimes have a snack or a drink while sitting on the couch watching TV.)   That's helped to avoid some of the really bad things that can happen to furniture and cars.  But with little guys some mess is inevitable, so maybe it's just shifting one mess into another.  While it never had random crumbs or mystery sticky spots from food/drink in it, I opened the back door of my Mercedes a few years ago to discover that my younger one had drawn me some very pretty pictures in blue ball point pen all over the off-white leather seat and door trim...   

[midjd]

DH and I were nomads until 2010, so pretty much everything we have (except an Ethan Allen dresser and hope chest) was purchased from 2011 to 2014. Our dining room table came with the house and is really nice, but the rest is Ikea/Amazon. After moving 4 times in 5 years, I'm happy with lesser-quality furniture that doesn't weigh a thousand pounds! 

Right now I've reached a tenuous balance, where not all the furniture in the house matches, but at least it matches within each room and there is kind of a flow... I'm afraid if I buy anything new, it will throw off the balance and I'll have to start all over. Helps keep the spending in check.

IMO if you're not buying the solid wood furniture that is designed to last for decades, replacing furniture every 10-12 years is pretty typical, especially if it goes through a move or two.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Apr 6, 2016 14:17:24 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

I get pissed when my wife buys new throw pillows. 

Because you hate throw pillows? I'm not allowed throw pillows or even shams in our bedroom. I get four throw pillows in the tv room. The napping room has lots, but They are pre-cohabitation.

I've never met anyone else who despises throw pillows as much as my husband. You two should start a club.


(And no, don't anyone else get all upset about the word "allowed".)

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

We bought new bedroom furniture in mid 2008. We bought a new couch in early 2013. The last couch I'd purchased in 2006.
It took us five years to find a dining table we could agree on both looks and cost. That purchase was late 2014. I'd never purchased real dining room set before. My previous one was my grandmother's and I had it for ten years.

[ohmomto2boys]

We will be purchasing new family room furniture in the next couple years.  The stuff we have is really worn (the couch has a slip cover on it already) and it is currently 18 years old.  I would go furniture shopping today if DH would give me the green light, however, we have other obligations to pay for first.
We bought our bedroom furniture 9 years ago - this should last us the rest of our lives, other than a mattress.
Kids got new beds/mattresses 1 year ago.  This should last them till they go to college.  
Patio furniture was bought 9 years ago, may need to buy new cushions in a few years.
The only place that doesn't have any furniture is the front porch.  Every spring for the past 9 years I say I'm going to buy the pretty wicker chairs and bench with pretty cushions.  Every year, something else comes up.  This year - it was the basketball hoop.  So, I will sit on my ugly folding chair and watch my kids enjoy the new basketball hoop.  

[zibazinski]

I just bought a bunch of IKEA crap. It'll do until I get my own home.

[NastyWoman]

I had to replace my couch a few years ago ( 3 or 4). The rest of my furniture has circumnavigated the earth several times as we took it along with us during our intercontinental moves... 

[Deleted]

Apr 6, 2016 14:05:11 GMT -5 kittensaver said:

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.

 

We are just like this. Couches and upholstery get replaced probably every 9 or 10 years.

Most of the stuff we keep forever but it does get shuffled around the house if I find something new but usually old that I have to have.

[Bonny]

We were blessed (or cursed depending on one's perspective) with a lot of DH's family furniture. It's beautiful stuff mostly 100+ years old but big. We actually built a dining room to fit the dining room table with all its seven leaves. Oh we were so un YM!  

Over the years we've bought beds and two couches. I think that's about it.

And ya'll would be proud of me at the cabin. I don't think there's a single new piece of furniture in there. It's all hand me downs, garage or thrift store finds except three lamps. And it looks pretty darn cute!

[Bonny]

Apr 7, 2016 21:13:06 GMT -5 Apple said:

Never if I could!

I moved out of my parent's house in '97.  My mom sent me away with furniture she needed to get rid of (two dressers for me, and later one for DS).  As he grew, she would find yard sale deals, stain them or clean them up and give them to me.  So, he got a desk we topped for a diaper changing table (still have the desk), and he got his old twin bed that way.  When he needed to move up to a queen, I donated the old bed set and used a log futon I had bought a few years earlier (laid it flat, put plywood on it, then his foam mattress on top of that).

I bought a leather couch and sofa around 10 years ago, and replaced some broken springs when they broke.  I have a chair that was given to me by a lady I delivered the newspaper to when I was a kid-- it was "reupholstered after the war."  We're pretty sure the war was WWII.

I'd live on bean bag chairs if I could...

The kitchen table is a handmade teak table, used from reclaimed wood.  The teak varies from blonde to red, it's gorgeous (and takes at least two people to move it, but usually four).  The chairs that go with it are also handmade, and the wood that forms the frame for the seat and the back is from one piece of wood (each side).  They used water and heat to bend them into a near 90º angle.

The coffee table is made from the hatch of an old Liberty ship (NoNamePerson and I have talked about it before).  It's also extremely heavy, so the top comes off the base, and it takes two people to carry the top.  It looks similar to this, but darker and with a different style wood base:



I love the kitchen and coffee tables so much that they will dictate the other furniture in the future.  The living room set will "go with" the coffee table.  Those are definitely my "forever furniture".

I have other stuff-- a player piano, antique sewing machine cabinet, etc.  Seems like the only thing I've purchased new was a bookshelf or three.  The rest, as I've gathered it, was given to me, or used. 

I LOVE that table!!!

[Deleted]

My former MIL ran an antique store.  I'd work for her some Saturdays and got paid in furniture.  A lot of the furniture in the house is from there.  When I was married to her son, we got a "new" used sofa every few years.  She's end up buying the leftovers on the last day, but no one goes to an antique store looking for a modern, used sofa.

When I got divorced, I had the most awful furniture in the living area.  It was a Victorian parlor set with chairs that forced you to sit ramrod straight.  I never thought much about it because I really had no time to sit in the living area.  It was a space filler.  I finally bought a new (used) sofa, though, when my son said he would visit more if I had a sofa to slouch on.  

Very little in my house even now was ever bought "new."  The two mattresses were, and two of the three sofas.  The entertainment center.  That's it.  My ex and I bought the bedroom suite new over forty years ago.

So obviously I rarely buy new furniture.  That made the new sofa/loveseat for the sunroom really exciting . . . and scary.  What if I hated it?  Lol.  I don't.

[Deleted]

Bought our bed 13 years ago with wedding present money. Bought our couch and a new mattress 2-2.5 years ago and hate them both with a passion so will get new ones sooner or later. This time we are NOT going to the Jordan's outlet thingy place as the mattress is too frickin' short (queen size) and the effin' arms of the couch are apparently made of cardboard because I smushed one in about a month after it was delivered.

We have a hideous ass recliner that my in-laws bought when we first moved in together. They bought us our first living room furniture, all of which is now gone but for the recliner from hell. DH and my cat love it. Of course.

My dad hired someone where he used to work, about 30 years ago, to build me a bookcase and I have moved that sucker around with me ever since. One of the few thing I have left of my dad that isn't hideously ugly. Loved the man but he had some grotesque taste.

DH kept the hutch his parents had for forever and uses it for his clothes. I don't mind because his bureaus were UGLY! My bureaus are upstairs where he can't go so he can't say anything.

I have 2 antique tables of my mom's, one has a broken leg I keep meaning to fix but haven't gotten around to. Professional repairs will cost an arm and a leg (no pun intended) but no can affordo. Need to pay for more critical home stuff first.

The only thing I would appreciate being handed down to us in the future is the recliner that MIL has that lifts you up and out. It was purchased for FIL when he had his brain tumor and now MIL is using it for the memories. Hoping she'll pass it on to DH eventually so I won't have to yank his ass out of his ugly-ass recliner. God I hate that thing.

[Apple]

Opti  I'll try to post a photo of the table later this week/next week.

[Apple]

I'd always wanted a player piano (my oldest sister has the one from my grandparent's house).  I found one years ago for just a couple hundred, and was able to hire a local landscape guy to move it (for $40, even though we drove almost an hour to pick it up).  Turns out, it had come from a hotel in what is now a ghost town in Oregon (hotel is still there, trades hands every so often, not sure if it is open now or not).  It's cool to see it in old ball room photos of the hotel.

[msventoux]

I bought a bunch of pretty cheap furniture when I moved in over 10 years ago.  I already had a bed, but when I bought a new mattress a few years ago I bought a bigger size and bought an entire bedroom set.  That was the last new furniture I purchased.

I'd love to get a new couch, but can't bring myself to pay the price of the stuff I really like.  Not when I have destructive fur faces that would probably wreck any new stuff.  What I have now is in less than great condition, but I don't entertain so I really don't care. 

If I could find a material that was comfortable, cat hair wouldn't stick to, cat puke wouldn't stain, and cat claws wouldn't destroy, I'd be all over it, whatever the price.  Bonus if it actually looked nice.