How often is it acceptable to change furniture ? Should you keep it forever ?

[flurniture]

I’m just having this debate with my DH.

For example for children’s bedrooms, did you pick furniture that would last them until they grow up ? Or did you buy furniture when they were tiny and were thinking it would be appropriate for when they’re teens etc but maybe you changed it ?

Or when you moved house, did you need to get rid / sell or give away some furniture because it just didn’t fit in your new house properly ?

or a new sofa, just because it’s old and scraggly. How long do you keep sofas ? Or how about, after 15-20 years, you just fancied a fresher, more modern look, so you just got a new sofa or dining table or whatever it is.

my DH comes from a family where they’ve had the same items for 40 years or so. Fine. But I feel like him and his family are always pushing for us to keep stuff which doesn’t match any more in our new place/ or is just getting old etc.

I have recently bought bedroom furniture for my two year old and my DH is saying he can’t imagine my son liking it when he’s 15. It’s not offensive, it’s just white and good quality/ nice style. It’s hard for me to say whether a 15 year old will like it.

we’ve had some cheaper chest of drawers that we’ve owned and used for over 10 years but are now just falling apart and we need new ones. DH sees it as ‘ it was such a waste ‘ when actually for the price, it lasted a long time and isn’t a ‘waste’.

I get there will be a lot of furniture which can last a life time, but who had the money to afford that kind of furniture in your 20s.

anyhow, I’m just thinking it’s normal to update things sometimes or for things to not fit in your new house or for old stuff to need to be replaced. But I feel like it’s always a ‘ failure ‘ in DH eyes because of how his partners have so much old furniture and have never updated their house in any way. Their house is like a museum..

Is there middle ground here? You could buy good quality “vintage” furniture?

I’m able to buy better quality furniture now.

Yes, I meant he might not view it as wasteful if it’s second hand? From both a financial and environmental perspective?

I mean it makes sense to not waste money. But it's also silly to live in a home you don't enjoy when you have cash to spend on it.

Our daughter's furniture is upcycled bits from when my parents downsized. We did buy a new mattress and she had a new cot when a baby but otherwise nothing was new.

We get rid of (usually donate) and buy furniture as the need arises. Our old sofa was about 20 years old before it got replaced (that one did have to go to the dump!) As long as something fits your needs I don't see the point in spending money just for the sake of a "fresh look".

Never ..the cot went and the Moses basket but honestly ever changed anything else and that's everything..if not broken it stays. We don't have money to replace things.

We’ve got a mixture of new and old furniture, some is inherited and some we bought for the need of the time.
With dc we bought furniture that they needed at the time and changed it as their needs changed but they also have some hand me down furniture that I like. For example, they needed smaller stuff when little and then desks as they went through school.

A balance of both is best.

I don't think you have to keep stuff 'forever' but we should all be thinking about reducing waste, so buying stuff that will last longer and getting out of the mindset of replacing things just for the sake of fashion or 'newness'.

Eg: we have just bought a new sofa which was badly needed, but almost everything else in.the sitting room is 15+ years old, or bought as vintage, or inherited from parents or grandparents.

I don't feel as if I live in a museum! But I do value good quality things that last over disposable / fashion pieces.

In our bedroom and the spare bedroom we have solid wood habitat furniture that seems to be standing the test of time.

The kids had a cotbed that we sold once done with it. They both until very recently had ikea hemnes daybeds. Those sold on gumtree really quickly for good money.

Now they have bedroom furniture that will last a long time.

I think if you move it often dictates getting rid if it doesn’t fit. Couches also wear out. I’m getting rid of my dining table as chairs all chipped and the reupholstered seats are kind of disintegrating, husband complained it’s just new. We bought it nearly 20 years ago.

my kids have plain white singles, I will prob replace with small doubles when they get older/go to uni have less bulky stuff in their rooms. But actually kind of wish bought cheaper ikea type stuff earlier but that’s not that environmentally friendly is it?

We buy new furniture if we decide we no longer enjoy a piece or it’s no longer functional. Needs and tastes change over time so we go with that.
my kid’s room has been re- done 3 times so far (from birth to 6yr old) and I can see it being re done again relatively soon.

My mother (81) still has sofas that were her ILs, so they are around 100 years old at this point. It is all a bit Trigger's broom after reupholstering, and I have every intention of skipping them when she is gone.

Our first furniture was Ikea and didn't last. Now, we have a mish-mash of ages, a lot of which was second hand. I won't replace for the sake of it, only when worn out, so maybe my kids will also be looking sideways at my sofas in decades to come!

Young children can be very tough on furniture and it often doesn’t last.

personally I sell stuff if I don’t need it anymore and buy either new or second hand.

so for example I’m now empty nest.

i’ve sold my massive dining table with six chairs and bought an expanding table that seats 2 normally but will get bigger for six when I have the family over. I got four ikea folding chairs for the extra places that live in the under stairs cupboard when I don’t have guests.

I try to keep things, but I know what you mean. My dcs are grown now, DS had a cot bed, inherited by dd. She was in it til about 4. Da had a shorty bed, when we moverd when he was 6 we gor him a cabin bed with desk and storage. Dd got the shorty bed. Two tears later we hit her good quality bunk beds and sold the shorty bed. The bunk beds lasted 10 years before she wanted a double bed. I sold her bunks on marketplace. Ds is sleeping in the bed I bought with our wedding present money 18 years ago, with a new mattress.

We donate or sell furniture that no longer serves us. We have bought more pieces as we have moved to bigger places, and try to buy solid, good quality items.

I don't replace things because they are "out of style" etc, even if cheaper its just wasteful & bad for the environment. I try to buy better quality things that I expect to last, things that can be repaired or maintained. Solid wood for example could be sanded down & refinished whereas the plastic veneered sort of stuff from ikea is often not salvageable if it gets a bit shabby looking. So for example DH and i have lived in our house for 10 years and lived in a flat for 3.5 years before that. Quite a lot of our furniture in living areas (dining table, bookcases and tv unit) are from a solid oak range that we bought when moving into the flat 13 years ago.

However thats not always affordable. We also have some ikea things in the kids bedrooms because they have smaller scale/age appropriate things (children's desks, storage units for toys etc) that they'll out grow. We wouldnt buy expensive versions of these things, we'd have nowhere to store them "for the next generation".

Some of our cupboards have ended up in the garage for storage when we have replaced them, an old tall pine bookcase is in the garage as it's quite sturdy but very 80s.

you can do what you want depending on the budget. We have had numerous items, first and second hand, some broke, some were replaced, we have had things from the in laws, they now all gone, even though they were very very good antique quality, we kept few others though. It is really your combined choice with your husband what you want to do. The most expensive item here is a craft table which I wanted and my husband bought it for me. I will never give that one away. Few other things I might. It is your home and your decision. My husband was making a talk to get rid of a French dresser. I said No. I like it.

No, my lounge suite is 25 years old. It was handmade and cost a fair bit at the time. It now needs recovering and new cushions but I like the shape so as soon as I can decide on a colour and fabric I will get it recovered.

Bed again is solid pine, it may have gone out of fashion but it will only ever need new mattresses. I still like it.

Other furniture is pine, it's not everyone's cup of tea but I can strip and repaint

As long as I can fit it into a space I don't tend to get rid of furniture

Edited @BobnLen we have done this as well

Depends on the room. Kitchen stays the same. Bedrooms are freshened up annually.
Lounges are touched up to reflect the season, with core furniture on a 2-5 year rota

We went for Ikea furniture as I like how it looks. When it gave in after 10-15 years my daughters replaced it with near identical other furniture from Ikea, their choice

First, his parents' opinion doesn't count. Second, if you want to change furniture and you have the money, just do it. You don't need to ask permission. It's like you have to justify yourself before you 'get' the money - is it like that?
Toddler furniture and teen furniture are different. It's not unusual to buy furniture twice for a child until they grow up and move out. If furniture is old and worn, get new. Your husband will get used to you making these decisions - you just need to start.

I sit between my mums take on this (replaces everything every few years but in a cycle, so sofa one year, furniture the next, flooring the year after, decorating the year after that etc - just examples but you get the idea) and mil who still has the majority of the same furniture she did when I first met her 20+ years ago. It’s very good quality built to last stuff and is all pretty timeless and suits her house.

We had our last sofas for about 10 years until we did a big house renovation. They were pretty knackered after a decade of hard use. We decorate an area of the house every year so it stays pretty fresh but most of our furniture has been built in. Dining table we’ve had for 9 years, perfect condition, not ‘fashionable’, just a solid oak table. I think if I were choosing again now I’d probably go with different chairs but there’s nothing wrong with the ones we’ve got so they’ll stay until there IS something wrong with them!

We try not to waste money on unnecessary things, this attitude has meant we are mortgage free, can afford nice holidays and I am able to be a SAHM for our young DC. Our bedroom suite is probably 35 years old and DH got that secondhand! We usually buy stuff when it needs replacing, although the quality of things is so poor these days that has become more frequent.

My DH and I both don't want to be buying new pieces all the time but accept that things do change. We (mostly me) tend to try and buy a piece and make it last. I buy furniture secondhand and then the occasional cheaper new piece. I save a fortune buying used and get some really nice stuff (eg a walnut desk). I'll paint some (pine) things to get them to match if needed. Lots of new furniture is not not well made at all. eg I won't buy drawers new as the runners just fall apart.

I replace if they are no longer useable, either because our needs have changed or they have fallen beyond repair. I try to buy things that will last as long as possible on both counts. It’s cheaper, better for the planet, and makes me happy. I don’t follow trends and I know what I like, so I hate it when I have to find a replacement.