To ask how often you change your furniture & decorate

[Stripyseagulls]

I’m a lazy cow/ not particularly motivated by home furnishing trends. I have nice stuff but I tend to replace when it breaks!

My friend redecorates & buys new furniture/ sofas every 18 months to stay up to date with trends. She loves all the Instagram stuff/ posts her house pics etc.

I feel like I slob but I literally can’t be arsed! Apart from the expense; I can’t be bothered to treat my home like a lifestyle magazine. I would rather go out to the park with the kids to be honest or going on holiday!

Aibu to feel like a shabby slob though?! How often you revamp everything?

We moved into our first home recently (will likely be the forever home) and will be redecorating for a few years at least. The house was last done in the 90s so needs it.

I’m going for high quality materials in the hope that I won’t have to replace anything ever

Also unpopular opinion but anyone older than 25 who has an active Instagram and broadcasts an idealised version of their life for likes is a bit sad.

Your friend is an idiot.

I’m 5050, I buy things that I really like and replace when it breaks. But if something comes out which I think looks better then I will get it. I don’t tend to buy things which are trending unless I like it.

We had our last -quality-sofa around 17 years. It had seen 3 houses but only 5 different decorations overall lazy or happy with our own space rather than fashion led?

Curtains in the living room have followed us in the 3 house moves, just changed lengths. Bedroom curtains have been in the last 2 houses so over a decade. Dining room curtains for the patio doors we bought in the last house from a charity shop.

If a home is clean and comfortable and makes you happy then it’s fine, I don’t, and never will, understand the need to have the next best trend/thing. I would rather have a happy day out having family fun for £X than buy a new rug for £X.

When we bought our first house last year we bought quite a bit of new furniture and decorated. In our previous rental we had my old bed (about 15 years old and v uncomfortable), my parents old sofa (approx 14 years old) and my sisters old dining table. I don't expect to replace those items of furniture or redecorate for years and will likely do so around the furniture by changing sofa cushions and reupholstering the dining chairs, just changing headboard.

I bet she’s in debt to the eyeballs.

What a waste.

The stuff I buy lasts for ages.

Only one mistake with a pale sofa when they stopped making replaceable covers.

Our kitchen has been repainted about 5 times since we've lived here. Because of water damage.

Everywhere else, once in 6 years to eliminate previous owner. Furniture wise, sofas are 14 years old, kitchen table/chairs 25 years.

It would never occur to me to decorate or furnish according to fashion. What a waste of time, money and the environment.

Blimey have never redecorate for "fashion". I just cba/haven't the time & it feels wasteful both in terms of money & "stuff".

Eg we bought this house, brought quite a bit of furniture from previous place but needed a new bed. We didn't bother decorating/furnishing the rooms we planned on being kids bedrooms, then did it as each kid arrived. We did replace a really grotty carpet & removed some grim wood chip wallpaper, and we repainted a couple of rooms that were very dingy

Instagram is bad for this overconsumption for posts. Nightmare for the environment.

I try and do a room each year, and that doesn't seem to be enough, as everything looks like some kind of tired and shabby tbh. I dont mean in terms of buying new sofas of wardrobes, but try and give things a lick of paint and maybe swap soft furnishings. I probably need to invest in some better quality that would last longer.

But having kids seems to increase the rate at which things by x500, so it feels like it all needs doing constantly

I replaced 12 year old sofas the other day (basically because I fancied a change rather than anything else) and felt rather profligate!

I used to edit interiors books, very posh ones. There ain't nowt you can't do with cushions and lampshades to ring the changes. These days throws work hard too.

To be honest, good decorating is 90 per cent lighting, which tends to mean ripping holes in the walls. If you're like me and you can't face the upheaval, hang wall lights in the right place in a room and changing them for the season works instead - I've just bought a ziggy lightning flash for above the sofa, casts a nice warm autumnal glow.

The other 10 per cent is expensive paint - F&B or Crown professional lasts years longer than anything else. It might be twice the price but it lasts 4x as long, so it works out cheaper.

Redoing every 18 months is fine if you want to, but you get the same effect without the hassle via textiles and the odd new thing.

We moved into a newly built unfurnished house 11 years ago, so had all new carpets/kitchen/bathroom/sofa and half a house of ikea furniture then (the rest of the furniture we already owned). We did nothing for 9 years except change the guest room into a nursery, and since year 10 are now refreshing one room a year - mostly replacing the carpets, which are now definitely showing wear, and changing minor things like pictures.

Goodness don't feel bad! Think of what you've saved and rejoice! Time, money, the environment...

I'm sitting on a 5 year old settee. Apart from one other armchair, which I bought at the same time, all the furniture is less than 2 years old. We have decorated throughout within the last 2 years too including new carpets.
But we've only been here 3 years. In my last house we had 1 change of carpets, 3 settees, 1 dining table and chairs, 2 kitchen changes, 1 bathroom change and 3 re decorations. We lived there 25 years. We sold most of the furniture as we downsized. I can't see us getting new furniture for at least a decade!

What a waste! Your friend sounds really materialistic tbh.n

We have had our settee 9 years. We normally only replace things when they look shabby or are broken. We generally use quite neutral colours on the walls/ settee etc so can just change a few cushions or replace a rug if we want to refresh the look or bring in a different colour.

Your friend is unbelievably wasteful. What a terrible display of consumerism. Climate change is the biggest threat to any one of us. It’s so upsetting when people are still so oblivious to how bad the situation is and still carry on in their consumerist bubble.
Saying that, you mentioned holidays, if you are not flying, great. If are holidaying abroad and flying, you are probably doing even more damage. Flying is the single worst activity any individual can undertake in terms of carbon emissions.

I've had the same sofa for 15 years. I don't follow trends though. I might treat myself in the January sales but it seems such a waste when there is nothing wrong with the one I have

18 months is exhausting!

We've lived here 6 years, all rooms bar 2 have at least had a coat of paint. I'd say half have been 'done' and now look nice/sorted with suitable furniture etc.

I don't know how people manage to do it any quicker with kids around!

How wasteful. Ridiculous. No wonder we have a global crisis.Idiot.

I spend so long deciding exactly what I want that I can never think how I'd change it. So if I redecorated I'd probably do it the same again

We moved into our house with a double bed 2 wardrobes a rug tv and unit a bookcase a table a coffee table and our possessions
We’ve built that up over time by raiding the furniture charity shops over 3 years
We’ve decorated our lounge and kitchen twice my dsd’s room once and the hallway has had touch ups as we liked the cream colour but it needed touching up in places
We replaced the light fittings in the kitchen (the light was blinding) in dining room (was so dim) and the lounge (was falling apart)
Can’t agree what colour to do our bedroom/spare room but we will get there in time
It’s an ongoing project in our house

Buying new furniture every 18 months is so wasteful. I also can't understand people who buy new Christmas decorations every year.

It's just not necessary and must be so expensive. If you want a new look then get new covers or throws and scatter cushions. There's no need to get rid of a perfectly good sofa just because it's not on trend anymore.

I only replace furniture when it's broken or worn out. My parents have only ever had two sets of sofas / armchairs in my life, and we still decorate the Christmas tree with some ornaments that are almost 60 years old! We've also had our fake Christmas tree for nearly 20 years, it's still going strong :) they're all lovely memories and I don't care if they're unfashionable.