to not have furniture (according to my mother - I dispute this claim!)

[QOFE]

We have a kitchen with a large table and dining chairs which we eat/draw/do homework/play playdoh round, and obviously we all have beds. Teenager has a desk with chair for work as do I, plus we all have bookshelves and Kallax type storage units aplenty.

What we don't have, is expensive soft furnishings. Our living room (which is also my workroom, for which I need clear floor space during the week) has a comfy corner with loads of big floor cushions and a beanbag. One smallish TV that sits on a wooden stand (cheapy IKEA one). One nice plain coffee table that we sometimes eat at, sat on cushions on the floor. No sofa/settee/couch (see, I don't even know what to call one) and no armchairs. We lounge around on the floor and make cushion nests instead.

According to my mother this means we "don't have any furniture" and therefore frightfully bohemian and peculiar. I disagree and think we have plenty of furniture

Tbf not having a sofa is a bit odd

Sorry posted too soon.

My point is, would you find this odd? Or is my mother being, as I suspect, ridiculous?

Where do your guests or visitors sit if they don't want to sit on the floor? That's why your mum is complaining. Personally, I wouldn't want to sit on the floor either.

Well, we've moved a lot, and they're so big that I've never bothered getting one because they're such a pain to move house with!

She rarely visits. And we hang out in the kitchen diner if we have guests, because the living room is upstairs (weird house layout) so doesn't really get used except by us in the evenings.

I sit on the floor a lot with my 1 year old and get so achy after a while!

YABU

It seems weird to me that you don't have a sofa but hey....its your house. If you're happy that's the main thing.

It’s not polite of her to voice an unasked negative opinion of it- even if she is your mother. It works for your family, which is what is important.

I have never been into anyone’s house that doesn’t have a sofa so in that respect, yes, it’s a bit odd. Floor cushions can be fun sometimes but I don’t like the idea of never being able to relax on a sofa with a blanket to watch a film!

But it’s your house, so you have it like you want it!

It's very weird not to have a sof a. My mother would never visit if she had to sit on the floor!

No sofa, is odd. I'd find it weird if I went to someone's house and was expected to sit on a pillow on their floor.

Well I think it's obvious your mother means you don't have much furniture, particularly in the living room. I'm sure she has eyes in her head and realizes you have some furniture!

What you describe is unusual as I'm sure you know and it wouldn't suit a lot of people. Each to their own of course and if you and your dc are happy with it then that's fine but you can't be terribly surprised that people might find it a little peculiar. Cushion nests are probably fun for dc but I can't imagine too many adults who'd love this!

Do you think she doesn’t visit because you don’t have comfortable seating?

Well, it is unusual. The only people I’ve known to have had similar have been big ol’ hippys.

It’s your home and as long as you are happy that’s the main thing.
It sounds very minimalistic but that suits you.
Do your relatives have difficulty getting down and up from floor cushions ? Maybe a sofa bed which has a dual use for overnight guests or sick kids downstairs and may be more comfortable for older visitors.

Not having a sofa is a little odd but if you're happy so what.
That said my mum would not want to sit on the floor Ona cushion.

No, she doesn't visit because she lives a long way away and we visit her instead.

I am nearly 40 and find sitting on the floor fine. Maybe because I'm used to it?

unusual - maybe
unreasonable - never
any chance of a small sofa in the kitchen area for visitors that need it?

I would find it a bit weird, yes. Having said that, it's your house so do as you please!

A lot of Mners came on a thread I vaguely remember from a while back, and said they had no table (kitchen or dining) anywhere in the house that they could eat at, which would be to me a far more central absence. (Though I get why people don’t have them.)

I’m a floor-sitter myself, and if I sit down to watch a film, it tends to be in a rocking chair, though we do have sofas. Socialising happens more in our kitchen, too.

I often think when you see old houses with dining chairs and wooden benches, how modern a thing a flompy sofa is. It's just that you are out of tune with the current way we have furniture.

I didn't find sitting on the floor fine at nearly 40. Or nearly 30. Nothing to do with being used to it and everything to do with needing back support, getting cramp, and struggling to get up again.

At nearly 50, I sometimes can't get off a sofa.

I have a sofa purely because it was here when I moved in, no one ever sits on it though (I’m the same age as you and I also mostly sit on the floor) it’s basically a glorified shelf for clothes. I don’t have a TV either.
Is it unusual? Yes, but so what? What’s wrong with being bohemian/a hippy? If you and your family are happy it’s really no one else’s business.

Not unusual to me...sounds ideal!

I like the idea of cushion nests.

Yeah. That is weird.