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

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

If an elderly person falls the last thing they should do is try and get up themselves without assistance, they could hurt themselves further.

@IceRebel why wouldn't it? When you are used to sitting on the floor, you are used to using your arm and core strength - one of the moves taught in falls prevention is going onto hands and knees, then using furniture to go to knees and finally up. If you practice that every day out of necessity, your arms and core really do strengthen quickly. Falls are often about lack of strength which is why post-falls is all about getting people up and exercising to stop it from happening again. People who do floorwork like yoga or pilates at an older age are helping protect themselves against falls. And floorwork always includes getting up at some point!

OP doesn’t have a house for visitors though does she? She has it for her family to live in
I would disagree with that, as it sounds like the living room is for the OP to work in, rather than for family to be comfortable in. But then, there’s no TV so not going to be any family movie-watching-on-the-sofa anyway!
I’d be a bit embarrassed to show a guest in and ask them to sit on the floor, I have friends who’ve had SPD, who use mobility aids, and who are elderly - I’d need something to offer them or just keep them in the kitchen I suppose.

Dame, not everyone has a call button necklace, in fact they are rare until someone has had a first fall. Laying on the floor for hours because you can't get to the phone to call for help is a very bad situation. The ability to turn over and crawl is so important, instead of waiting however many days until people notice you haven't left home. I've worked in this field as perhaps you yourself do and I would always encourage people to stay as fit, flexible, and mobile as possible into old age. With councils running floorwork classes for people at risk of falls, I'm not the only one thinking that.

Yabu. Your choice though. I can’t sit on the floor or hard surfaces. Something weird happens and my foof goes completely numb.

I don't find it strange but I realise most would. Our lounge is actually upstairs in one of the spare 'bedrooms' and we have floor cushions and beanbags on top of a couple of pallets instead of a sofa. We have no dining table we use cable drums instead. Most Japanese dining is like this.

I think that is really strange not to have a couch. But I love my couch, and I hate sitting on the floor. Your house though so your choice. But I wouldn’t visit you🤣🤣

Are you, your partner and child happy with what is in YOUR home?

If so, your mums in this opinion means nothing.

Yeah I'm so unreasonable for prioritising earning a living over giving my kids somewhere to sit around doing nothing

We frequently all sit together to watch TV actually, and sometimes even eat in front of the TV (sat on cushions at a low table). The DC don't seem to think it's weird but then it's what they're used to.

Oh I don't have a partner, it's just me and 2 DC to accommodate

I agree about the use it or lose it approach for mobility for the average person.
I’m almost 60, and on the short and stout side, but a primary teacher, so I’m bending, flexing, sitting on the floor and whatnot a lot of the time. Then the summer holidays arrive, and I’m an average adult, using furniture properly.Come mid-September, it takes a couple of weeks of stiffness before I’m back to my norm.

We didn't have a sofa for years, OP, and it worked fine for us. We built a wooden frame about 2 inches high, and put a foam mattress on it (with a washable fabric cover) and piled cushions on the mattress. So we weren't quite sitting on the floor but almost. The reason was that our flat was very small and we often had overnight guests so wanted to give them a proper mattress to sleep on (I know some people hate the idea of sitting and sleeping in the same place but sometimes needs must). We did get one of those Ikea Poang chairs off eBay though, for people who didn't fancy our cushion nest!
These days we do have a sofa and I have to say it's lovely. Never missed it before but now I'd hate to see it go. We now don't have beds though (we sleep on tatami mats) or a dining table (we sit on low poufs around the coffee table to eat).
We're not "bohemian" or hippies, we just live in an expensive city where we can only afford a flat that's not quite big enough for a conventional setup. But our flat is clean, warm and relaxed, and guests are welcomed and well-fed. I certainly don't think a lack of furniture makes you inherently inhospitable!

Our setup was like yours because we regularly fitted a string quartet or equivalent into the space. Stools and music stands and folding chairs.

It's your house so have it how you like. I love floor cushions and we do have an area of our living room with them but we also have a suite.

I'm mid 30s and I couldn't do the floor nest or cushions/sitting on the floor.

Tbh I am 10 days off my first physio appointment so.... but yes, sitting on the floor or hard surfaces causes me physical pain that stays around all day, I'd be in agony at yours.... That would include sitting at your dining chairs instead too.

@MaryMashedThem we all had mattresses on the floor for years until we moved to this place which is quite small and weirdly laid out so we needed the extra room (ie underbed storage for me, and high up beds for the DC so they can have a play/study space underneath). Never bothered me at all, and saved a lot of hassle moving bed frames every year or so.

I’ve known houses with no sofa. Visitors sit round table in kitchen or dining room. If the tv in ‘lounging’ room is not the centre of ‘visitor’ times then what’s the problem ?

OP, do you have many visitors over? Because then you might want to have at least a tiny sofa in the house or a chair or two. Not everyone will be comfortable with sitting on the floor. For some it will be downright painful.

I would find it strange as I've never been in someone house who doesn't have a sofa or multiple sofas but it's your house to have set up how best works for you, so it doesn't matter what anyone thinks here.

I love our sofas though, we have 3 in the living room plus others in different rooms, I hate sitting on the floor.

I think if you can get away with having no sofa for as long as you can - do it.

@IceRebel the op works full time and has 2 children . she will never sit on a hard surface for hours. 30 min is probably optimistic.
one of the bonuses of having no sofa: less temptation to sit for hours, so higher chances of staying active and healthy!

Op says that she entertains visitors in the kitchen, not the lounge - as do I- so the lack of a sofa doesn't impact on them anyway. I can't tell if it impacts on your mum OP, you say she lives far away, so does that mean that she stays overnight with you? If she's using the lounge with you in the evenings then yes, get her a chair, but if she's not, then stick with the kitchen.

Anyway, to answer the original question, of course you have furniture, your mum is exagerrating.

Yes, no sofa is weird. You have to move back the floor cushions for work during the day. Do you by any chance teach yoga or something along those lines?

And I’m sorry to say that mattresses on the floor (unless you are very, very poor) is Hippy-tastic.

Haven’t you ever been to other people’s houses?

You know it’s weird, why pretend it isn’t?