To not want to buy furniture?

[Mastmw7g]

We're moving from a very small flat to a large home. My husband keeps talking about furniture, and I just want to get the basic things we need. I know eventually we may want more, but it seems like such an unnecessary expense to fill all these rooms with furniture in the beginning.

My top tip is don't buy cheap to get something, or 20 years later you'll be like us - house filled with furniture we're not overly fond of, but too tight to replace.

Once you have moved, you'll have a better idea what would work in the property and be able to buy accordingly, so you are right to hold back for a while. However, presumably you are moving to a larger house because you want to use the additional space, which implies having some furniture in it!

You could buy some secondhand pieces off gumtree or charity shops such as British Heart Foundation, much cheaper

Id move in with what you have and take a couple of weeks to think about how you use each space. Then keep an eye on clearance places and gumtree / FB marketplace.

Have you an idea of what style you'd like?

I agree with pp about putting stuff in that is cheap at the start and then not wanting to pay to replace it later though!

I'm not sure what style I'd like. I like a lot of grey/white/birch when I'm looking, but I don't know if that's reasonable with small children, and the table we already have is reddish-brown wood.

Don't buy new furniture around one piece if that piece isn't the colour / style you like.

Absolutely this. It’s why many 40 somethings have crap furniture!

Move in with what you have and get a proper feel for the place and how you use the space first.

Wait. Move in. Then start working out what you need.don't randomly buy stuff now.

Also with wood stuff that is old or the wrong colour...it's amazing the difference a can of spray paint can make. I've upcycled tables, lamps etc with some dark grey spray paint.

It’s why many 40 somethings have crap furniture

Or just stuff they're bored of, but can't justify replacing because it's still in good condition.

Contrary to popular belief, Ikea isn't cheap flimsy rubbish. It's cheap and (mostly) indestructible. <Eyes 25 YO Billy bookcase>

OP YANBU, as long as you have the basics - a bed each, clothes storage etc, you could manage with what you have and buy new things as you're ready to. What sort of things is your DH talking about buying, that you're not yet keen on?

This!

I have ikea furniture that is over a decade old in PERFECT condition. I cant justify replacing it.

Really recommend waiting. We moved from a 2 bed to a 5 bed and have had to getvrid of some furniture due to reconfiguring rooms once my baby arrived. Also empty rooms make redecorating sooooo much easier

You’re obviously managing without that furniture at the moment, so there’s no rush.

Wait until you’ve moved in, and give yourself time to figure out how you want to use the house. It’s much easier to add furniture after you’ve redecorated/recarpeted.

There's a formal dining room, for example. But also space for a table and chairs in the kitchen. And there's two sitting rooms. I don't think we need to buy new furniture just to fill the space.

I’d discuss it though. I don’t think your husband is unreasonable to discuss furniture for the new, larger home. There is no point paying for more space and then leaving it empty. You are also reasonable to not want to just buy any old furniture to fill the space.

Think first how you are going to use the space- will one of the two sitting rooms become a play room as you have small children? Will you eat in the kitchen and convert the dining room to a home office because one of you WFH? This should all be part of the “what furniture should we get” discussion.

Isn't he just all excited about making your new home? Could you get a few house magazines and enter into the spirit on a fantasy level and imagine possibilities rather than just shutting down the discussion?

Realistically, how often will you use a formal dining room if you can eat in the kitchen? It would be silly to spend thousands on a smart dining set that is (almost) never used.

Will you be wanting a quiet/nice living room for adults and a less formal space/playroom for DC?

I'd definitely wait until you've moved in, done any decorating you decide to do and worked out how you're going to use the space before buying furniture. But if your DH is desperate to start buying, you could agree that he could spend time looking out for a nice dining set second hand.

These can often be picked up in excellent condition, because they're seen as 'investment' pieces, don't get used very often, then people downsize and no longer have the space for them, and end up selling them for a fraction of the cost of buying new.

We moved from a 2 bed to a 4 bed and the joy of not buying any furniture meant we could shift the stuff we had from room to room as we redecorated.

We moved from small to big house. We got a dining set second hand - but excellent price.
We didn't sort out the living room there and then and only this year got a second sofa......I don't recommend that!!! Not enough seats for 5 years.....

I think there is a feeling when you are buying a house that you jabe spent so much money what's another couple of thousand to make it look nice. But if you don't spend then you go back to normal budget mode and it's hard to spend......(hence the sofa issue...)

Totally agree with this. I made the mistake of buying stuff to match things I'd already got, when I wasn't fond if it! Ended up with a house full of stuff I don't like much!

I agree. It’s a shame to dampen his enthusiasm. When we moved recently we bought home magazines and went through each picking out ‘looks’ we liked. These proved surprisingly similar and we had a great time browsing and shopping. Home Sense often have good pieces and recycling is a great way to get quality stuff. One of DD’s favourites in her house is a Ducal pine table and chairs that we had years ago. I painted the chairs and the table legs in Farrow and Ball downpipe and sanded the table top and chair seats to lose the orange tinge. An almost identical set was featured in the Sunday Times Style section 🙂

I would definitely second the suggestion of getting decent sofas as part of the removal.

Use your local auction market

Auction house! Not market!

I think it's worth waiting. When i first bought, we didn't have any furniture so we did a big ikea shop. Only i didn't know my taste then and I ended up living with things I didn't like for yrs because i didn't want to add the waste. Then i moved and thankfully a lot of those things didn't fit in the new place. This time I waited to grow into it.

I can't see the point of moving and having more space but not using the rooms. What a waste. I am unsure about buying expensive items unless you know you'll love them forever. It is easy to get stuck with things you no longer really love but feel you can't get rid of. I'm terrible for thinking about what can I live with or work around when really it would be nice to not feel guilt about moving things on(with in reason of course, was a bit shocked to learn some people change absolutely everything in a room when they decorate).

I would want to live in a house first

If you want to paint or redecorate then it would be easier to do it in ah empty room

Then you will know more about what you want and need