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

My back would give in if I was on the floor all the time so I agree with yr mum. Sorry

What is the difference between a sofa and a settee anyway? Different people in my family use both terms interchangeably.

Where would it go though? I think it's weird to have one in the kitchen, and it'd be a very tight squeeze though I think I could move stuff around to make it work. But the living room needs to have clear floor space for my work 5 days a week - I can't just chuck a sofa in the corner like I can with a load of cushions!

Garden chairs sound like an idea though. Comfy ones obviously. Could stack them out of the way when not using them.

I'm settling on sofa for this thread but if I was talking about one with other people if use whatever word they did - I don't think any is "right".

We have this as a spare guest chair ( we also have sofas). It’s cheap and I find it very comfy

These are what we had two of in our family home, hardly a massive step up from a normal chair with a cushion tbh! Certainly not something you'd lounge around under a blanket on

I'm glad it works for you. It wouldn't for me! I agree with you on sofa. It seems to be the most common word atm.

I sat comfortably on the floor until
I was fifty and has done surgery which went wrong. I haven't been able to get up easily from the floor since then. I'd be embarrassed to visit a house where this struggle was really public.

Fold up chairs are great. As are armchairs.

Also lived in France and not been in houses without chairs or sofas so no idea where that came from.

I think you have to consider two things (1) does what you have suit your, occupants of the house and visitors? For example YABU if your mum finds it difficult to get off the floor, (2) does the arrangement mean less family time because kids don't want to be in the area as uncomfortable? Both of these are important but otherwise it's up to you and others living with you as to how you have your house. PS My sofas are the most expensive thing in the house and we love them!!

In Japan and China its tradition to sit on the floor and take tea, dine and even sleep. Sitting on the floor has many health benefits. It’s you’re house so I say do what makes you happy. I wish I could sit comfortable on the floor but I get aches.

Just get a 2 seater sofa. Push it in the corner and pile cushions on top when you need the space . You could even stack the coffee table of top as well if very short on space. There are some comfy and compact 2 sweaters around.

My mother would never visit if she had to sit on the floor!
I can see plenty of Mumsnetters getting rid of their sofas just for this reason

It wouldn't work for me to be honest as I have arthritis and wouldn't be able to get up from the floor or sit at the table for hours either. But you have to be comfortable in your own house at the end of the day so you do you.

FWIW I lived in South Korea and there didn't seem to be many traditional set ups anymore, almost everyone had a sofa or comfy chairs and restaurants all had tables and chairs. I can't speak for Japan but certainly not common in all of Asia now - at least in the cities

Different yes, but your home so surely it's for you to do what suits your family. I'm 63 OP but due to severe arthritis I would have a big problem with floor cushions as it would be impossible for me to get up from floor level in a remotely elegant fashion. I'm guessing your mother can't get her head round the floor cushions and that is what she means by your lack of "furniture".

Does your mum have a sofa?

I can't imagine (as an adult) sitting on a pile of cushions with a glass of wine in the evening to watch tv and chat, it seems like a very student-y setup to me.

I know that many Japanese living rooms have a very low table with flat cushions or floor chairs, but I think that's a huge cultural difference - I can only assume that they don't have the same mobility issues because most people I know over the age of about 50 would certainly have problems getting up and down off the floor, and sitting cross-legged (to eat at a table) would be completely out of the question.

But it's your house, and if that's what suits you then go for it.

I think floor sitting cultures work because everyone does it from when they are little so they develop those muscles. I find floor sitting uncomfortable due to lower back issues and that's been the case for my whole life. When I took some students to a gurdwara, after an hour, I was so uncomfortable, I had to sit on the special seats marked for elderly and disabled people.

No doubt IKEA has some suitable chair you could purchase so your mother is comfortable when she visits. Other than that, if it suits you to be studenty, who cares?

It's odd but your house so you can have what you liked. I'm 50 and can no longer sit on the floor due to arthritis in my knees.

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

That made me properly laugh

I can't sit on the floor anymore,I grew up on a house furnished like yours OP and I have a VERY traditionally furnished house now!

Your OP is a bit disingenuous. You can furnish your house how you like, but you know perfectly well it's unconventional.

As for your mother's comments, aren't mothers allowed to say things like that?

I'm finding it hilarious that the word 'sofa' is considered upper / upper middle class 😂

I preferred not having a sofa, just a couple of tiny armchairs and floor cushions. Sofas take up a huge amount of space, are hard to hoover under, and invite us to sit for much longer than our bodies are intended to. I'm sure I've lost core and arm strength after giving in to the kids and getting a sofa, and we watch more TV which isn't great. It is shocking in this country, how many elderly people have lost the ability to push themselves up from lack of using those muscles - to the extent that if they fall, an ambulance has to come get them up. TBH I'd just bring a dining chair down for visitors if I were you, if they wanted to sit higher.

Can't you just put it in the corner where the cushions live? Or work on your bedroom floor? It's odd that you've decided you need floor space to work so everyone in your family forfeits somewhere to sit.

@BarbedBloom I never mentioned Korea or the rest of Asia.

Your mum probably can’t get up of the cushions on the floor.id struggle as well.bit mean for visitors.id have to stand rather than make a tit of myself trying to get up of the floor,especially in a skirt or dress I wouldn’t want to sit on the floor

It is shocking in this country, how many elderly people have lost the ability to push themselves up from lack of using those muscles

I'm sure this has absolutely no correlation to whether or not they have a sofa.