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

Bloody tablet! How I hate it! His dad's hideous chair in the otherwise tastefully considered apartment. We are old and can't get up easily. Ouch.

It's unusual (as in not the norm) but I think calling it weird or odd is a bit

If it works for you and your family (who live in the house) what's the problem?

My dad has several gripes with our house, the decor, the carpet, the playroom plastered with football posters and flags.

My response is always, you don't have to live here!!

If I were your guest, I'd find it uncomfortable spending the entire evening sitting at the table, and also uncomfortable sitting on cushions on the floor
Same here. Wooden dining chairs are OK for a while but not all evening. If you are round for a chat you want to sit on something comfy and if you are watching TV, especially if staying over, getting up from the floor is not fun for a lot of people. I want a back to my TV watching chair.

You didn't mention wardrobes OP.

I less you've got a small living room I can imagine the room looking bare unless you've made it cosy.

Makes sense to me.
We do have a sofa but hardly use it. We tend to sit at the table instead.
You need the space so it would be silly to get a sofa.

My back would be in bits if I had to sit on the floor so I wouldn’t visit. But it’s your house so do what you want

I moved every 6 months sofa moved with us. Never been in a house without one so about strange.

Is it only me who wants to see a floor plan of the house? It sounds so unusual. I like strange layouts.

Dreadful - you're a grown-up now.

Forget the living room - it's clearly not a "loved room" and you may as well keep it as a work space because it's not working for the family. But for the love of God make the kitchen a pleasure zone - I've known many an aristocrat live in the kitchen - with worn out sofas covered in gun dogs.

Sitting on quaker chairs at a table is terribly uncomfortable and as for the cushion den - delightful. If you're at a Montessori nursery.

I'm not sure how old your kids are - but they're going to have their friends take the piss out of them because it's all so odd.

One thing I do agree with is that my core should be better - but that's something I'd rather work on through exercise than re-enacting Guantanamo bay.

My dh went for a meeting at a trendy start up place and was furious that they made him sit on bean bags. I’m only mid 30’s and I struggle to get up if I’ve been sitting on the floor. It’s not exactly welcoming to guests but if it works for you and your family that’s really all that matters.

PS I'm a single mum and I moved a sofa upstairs to the kids bedroom. On my own.

Not read the whole thread but not being able to get up off a sofa easily isn't getting old, it's getting weaker due to aging.

Katy Bowman is a good read on this, I don't think she has furniture.

That said, I have a wingback chair for people with issues, as I can't expect people to do their sit-to- stand exercises, just to visit me. Tho I do have sofas...most are too low, wide for most older people.

When the OP said she can get up & down easily, it is a result of lifestyle.

Whatdoyouknow that’s great I’ll let my arthritic mil and my friend with the bone-wasting disease and any friends with difficult pregnancies know that it’s a lifestyle choice, they should do more exercises.

Mattress on the floor just makes me feel icky but I can't quite explain why. Maybe it reminds me of programmes I've watched where someone is being held captive etc and they've just given a manky mattress. It just doesn't sit right with me.

I wouldn't be visiting you if you didn't have a sofa, 5 mins sat on the floor (even with a cushion) and you'd need a forklift to get me up, I'd rather stand than sit on the floor. It reminds me of student accommodation or someone that can't afford furniture and doesn't make for a cosy home IMO.

Mothers are supposed to make inappropriate comments but if you're offended, tell her to wind her neck in

And up here in the NE, most definite working class area, it's a sofa 👍🏼

You don't know what to call a sofa?
Yeah ok OP

It's unusual, but it's your home and if you and your family are happy with it then that's all that matters.

The OP knows the various words people call the squishy piece of large furniture multiple people sit on. I assume she’s just indicating she knows that different people call it different things, with a strong class component, even if she personally doesn’t have much call to use any term,

Sounds a bit uncomfortable.

Many of us don't need sofas, though, so I'm with the OP here.

How about some of these giant beanbags. I might get one and get rid of one of my sofas.
bean bag
big bean bag
another one

Can I be the one to ask OP what is it you do that requires the empty room?
Agree with PP the mattress on floor is grubby and a bit like a squat. I love my very large sofa.

Also, FWIW, I prefer sleeping on our sofa over our bed, it's far comfier and I'd live on it, given half a chance

@multicolourmophead

Imo they're not good seats, my friend has the first one you listed in the links by Charlie and finn in brown . Read the review by perfectchristmas posted. It is very similar to her (and mine from trying it) experience too. It looks big and floofy and comfortable but you don't get nestled in and supported by the foam.

Sitting on it means it all compresses and you're essentially on the floor with an inch of the floor with uneven lumps of foam under your bum and it ends up uncomfortable. Good for a teen or child only imo. Her nephew does get comfortably snuggled on it and supported all round (until he moves and it flattens) but he's 5. Her dog loves it though 😂

I agree with your mother.

lololove thanks for the info, might go for a squishy chair instead.