How often do you buy homeware type stuff?

[gooseduckbird]

I have been making a budget for the next few months as we've some expensive work coming up. Looking at bank statements, I can see I buy stuff for the house regularly, a plant, cushions, bedding or a candle. It's not overly expensive stuff but adding it up, I do spend a lot. I just wondered if this is common. I can be at Tesco then buy a photo frame or a chopping board, sometimes it's a planned purchase. I replace towels if add to bedding when needed, sometimes buy a new casserole dish.

I don't follow trends and only redecorate if needed. I dont add to landfill unnecessary either by buying stuff and getting rid after a while.

What are others like?

@gooseduckbird on mumsnet, questions about buying or washing stuff will vary enormously. Some folk will have towels at least as old as the pyramids while others will insist on washing theirs every six hours

Barely ever.

I do think these things go on a cycle where lots breaks or wears out in a similar time period, then you can go months without needing anything.

Dunelm etc hold no attraction for me.

I buy a lot of stuff for the garden, I can spend a fortune on different plants, plant pots, stuff, a new dwarf fruit tree.

I love candles and cushions, I'm on a low buy this year so trying to cut back, I think it's because I have small dc and I spend a fair amount of time tidying up and also trying to make my home look vaguely grown up in a sea of lift the flap books and Duplo.

I like to buy things for the home. I don't do seasonal decorating or having winter cushions or anything like that, but I do collect studio pottery and I love table and kitchenware. I have glassware for every occasion, and every cocktail. So it's not so much that I'll buy things on a whim at the supermarket, more that I spend far too much time on second hand sites adding to my vintage cabbageware collection. I also just bought a vintage fondue set and croque monsieur maker (in the shape of shells!) from France on Vinted 😬

I do.
I love interior design and love to make my house feel homely and complete.

But absolutely none of it is what I call cheap ‘toot.’

One of the things I’ve spent a lot of money on is very good lighting and lamps (Pooky).

Setting up a house is a very expensive exercise, but once you’ve done it, there’s rarely more expense, particularly if you manage to do it carefully with thought in the first place.

I generally only buy things if something breaks and I don't use candles. We are renovating and have moved for a flat to a much larger house, so I do need to actually buy alot of homewares type things.

I do have alot of indoor plants but they grow and I've starting giving them away! I can only water and have space for so many. My little, lidl monstera grew so big I split it into 6 plants and gave some away to family and offered them on olio. Same with succulents and many others I have.

...I do also like to light tall dinner candles on the mantel at the weekend, so I buy a lot of those in various colours (not scented, don't like them), and I spend far too much money on pretty Caspari cocktail napkins, but something has to adorn my MCM sideboard, FFS.

I get through a fair number of house plants too, because I keep drowning them by accident, like Lenny from Of Mice and Men.

I go high-ish end for the basics. My sofas are insanely comfortable and my bed is my pride and joy (4 poster, Avocado mattress and bedding that makes me sing with happiness as I get in). My dining room chandelier is a work of art and will also come with us when we ultimately move as I've kept the old one. I have investment pieces dotted around the house. But I also LOVE Target and Home Goods and charity shop finds and bringing "basic tat" home makes me happy! The art is predominantly by my Dad or my children or my photography. I love my house!

I"m also a killer of house plants which is kind of annoying as my Mum has the greenest thumb ever. I just inherited my Dad's thumbs and his cankles 😂

Yeah it's frustrating because I love gardens (we have an acre around the house and trees / meadows beyond), I'm very good at landscape design and planting schemes, but I am a brown-thumbed plant killer. I wish I was a better plantswoman, but I don't have the patience - I'd rather build a dry stone wall. Bosh.

I don’t normally buy those things on a regular basis but I have this year bought 3 wooden chopping boards, new decent loaf and brownie / cake tins and a Kitchenaid stand mixer. All of these were to replace items that were at least 5 years old or in the case of the stand mixer I needed a larger one with more power and better attachments.

I don't buy seasonal decor or furnishings, but I'm a maximalist, I love interior design and have a cushion addiction 😁

My thing is to buy remnants of expensive designer fabrics to make cushions (and blinds/curtains) and as we moved house about 18 months ago to a major project which we're mostly DIYing, it's been a good excuse to make a few new ones!

I also like to hunt around a fleamarket or car boot sale for antique/vintage/interesting pieces for our home, but as we don't really need anything else I'm trying to avoid the temptation. DH, however, is a different matter 🙄

On the whole, I don't buy stuff like candles, bedding, kitchen bits etc unless the existing ones need replacing or - again, as we recently moved - there's a new colour scheme to work with. So, for example, we've bought new bedding in the last year as we decided to paint our bedroom blue (it was cream at our previous house and we had natural colour linen duvet sets), although we've kept our lovely 15 year old Liberty bedroom rug.

We also just replaced our 22 year old cream electric Alessi kettle as we've chosen black appliances etc for this house.

I love spending and changing things but it is becoming so expensive now. I have blue/ grey lounge with pink accessories, changed to all blue/grey last autumn, but think I may go nautical for the summer 😊 decorated two bedrooms too, bought the bed linen so just need lamps pictures etc. DH despairs !

I buy top end bedding and towels in neutral colours that last years. Only buy new when they need replacing. I will change sofa cushions every 3-4 years but again, buy top quality. Kitchen stuff when it needs replacing

My issue is spending too long window shopping online but hardly buying anything due to procrastination. Im lucky that I hate the idea of ornaments and ‘stuff’ from places like supermarkets and generic shop but I cant really afford expensive nice stuff so as a result I buy very little. I moved just over a year ago so had to buy some things as I had virtually no furniture before. My bedding is old (ish) now. Im down to one duvet/pillow cover set that I got in zara home about 8 or 9 years ago but I cant see any I like in my price range!

I like to browse. And I like their café 😂

My kitchen items are all aged in their 20s, likewise my bedding and towels. I don't buy homeware items on a whim, feels frivolous and unnecessary to me. And more for landfill eventually, ultimately.

Surely you need at least 2 duvet/pillow bedding sets, one on the bed and one in the wash! 😲 You must spend a fortune on tumble drying?!

Why do you change sofa cushions every 3-4years, if you don't mind me asking? I just restuff ours to keep them plump, like the colour and pattern of them!

I say this to myself every time I wash the darned things and end up putting them back on the bed at night (after tumble drying haha). Does it make me go and buy more though? Nope. I want high thread count that isnt totally plain and isnt £££ but they dont seem to exist!

My achilles heel is kitchenware and I suspect it's because I want to cook/bake more so I'm trying to make the kitchen as nice as possible. Unfortunately the layout is not conducive to cooking. I moved house recently so everything was pulled out for packing up and according to my DC I can kit out at least three kitchens. I got rid of three tupperware boxes only

I'd probably buy a high thread count plain one just to make sure I had 2 sets!

Have you checked out Soak and Sleep, or Piglet in Bed?

We refitted our kitchen about 4 months earlier than scheduled and even then the day it was supposed to start ended up being brought forwards too, so the contents of our existing kitchen were piled up in a spare bedroom very suddenly! We suddenly had to be ruthless and cleared out so much! There was no 'maybe...', it was yes or no to keeping things. Felt very cathartic. I recommend upending one drawer or cupboard at a time though, rather than all at once...

People die and things get replaced so far I have tea towels from my nan that were better than mine my friend died i got her frying pan (with the families permission obviously) my dad died i have a set of scales because my expensive electric ones dont seem accurate anymore and his chopping boards because they are much better than mine tbh I dont really buy much until it becomes a need

I dont think im the norm though

@Makingpeace there were no maybes even with DC standing over me yes I do realise i have a big problem. Right now I'm desperately trying to talk myself out of buying the aldi/lidl pancake pan that has smiley faces. My inner devil is saying my granddaughter would love having those so I have to have it, right???

Funnily enough I can say no to the other rooms. Possibly not the garden in spring or summer, thank goodness I don't like barbecues 😂