how often do you replace furniture?

[ronandannette]

If it wasn't so expensive and wasteful, I'd want new furniture every 3-4 years. Not the whole house at once, but maybe two rooms per year until everything was replaced, and then start all over again. I enjoy browsing furniture showrooms.

I did buy a new living room sofa in the spring, and the kitchen table and chairs are five years old, but everything else is at least 11 years old. In the spare bedroom I have a dresser that was part of my teenage bedroom set. Circa 1973.

I'll probably replace the family room sofa and loveseat next year. They're starting to look worn and shabby.

I didn't start out intending for it, but we've ended up pretty much replacing our living room and dining room furniture about that often. We've moved 4 times during our 23 years of marriage and every time we do we end up needing to replace almost everything because the old stuff just doesn't work.

We moved in together after we were married to a starter-home DH bought and decided the things each of us brought with us needed to be upgraded so we bought all new. 2 years later we moved to the house we spent the next 13 years in and since it was much larger and had a whole bunch of rooms we didn't have furniture for, we went all new there again. About 8 years in we redecorated and replaced everything in the living room.

Our last move before this one was to a small "practice" condo we rented after leaving our big house. We had an entire set of really nice custom upholstered La-Z-Boy motion furniture that was intended to last a long, long time. Imagine my dismay when on moving day, we finally had a minute to sit down and when we both went to put the foot-rests out they bumped together in the center of the new, tiny living room. Same thing with the dining room table and chairs - they were just way, way too big for the scale of the room. A relative became the lucky recipient of all of it and we bought new, lesser-quality but much cheaper stuff.

4 years later we found and completely reno'd our current little dream home and replaced everything in the public rooms to match our new decor. Now, it's another 4 years later, I'm feeling like we should re-do at least the living room again because it's become a bit of a habit...

 

[Pea-n-Me]

We're on our third living room set. The first one was good quality (Castro Convertible) but it faded from the sun.

We put film on the windows and bought another great set from Crate and Barrel. This I thought we'd keep forever (and in some ways we have) because the set was sturdy underneath and you could change out the covers. Our original covers became very worn (after about 15 years or so) but MIL sewed them several times for me, taking fabric from the back, but they eventually got quite run down. I went to buy new covers during their October sale and realized they were still around $2000, but unfortunately, the quality wasn't as good as it was when I oringinally bought the pieces, so that idea went to the wayside. We wound up putting that sofa down into our family room where it still is today, with a different new cover on it that came with another Crate and Barrel set I got. (See story below.)

Meanwhile, I decided I wanted to get a sectional in the living room. It took a long time to find one for a price I wanted to pay (most were close to $3K) and that fit the room correctly. One lucky day I was browsing a local thrift shop when I found a cream-colored Roche Bubois leather sectional (originally sold for around $8K) that had hardly been used, and I grabbed it right away after doing some rough measurements. That works in the room and I think will hold up really well (although I did notice one scratch recently and not sure if there's a way to fix it - anyone know?).

The only chair I have in the living room is one I'd found for my mother that she was looking for and she recently gave it back me as she got a recliner. It's also cream-colored, and I'd found it at Savers, believe it or not, for like $15. When I got it home I cleaned it myself with a steam cleaner and it came out beautiful! (I think it's what you call a "Lady's Chair".) Prior to that we always had some type of small upholstered chair in there, nothing special. It's a small space that includes a doorway just past it so I don't want anything too big there. Right now I like the look and all furniture is comfy. Instead of a coffee table I have a large ottoman that opens up for blankets, and I keep a large wooden tray on top for drinks and such. (As well as a large pine armoire my DH made that holds our TV, and matched our original bedroom set.)

As for our family room, lol. I remember when we first bought our house our bank account was pretty stripped and we still had a big, empty space to fill. We went to one of those hotel liquidator sales and got a decent, new two piece set for around $300. That worked for us for quite a few years. When our kids were young we converted that space to a big play area. Later, we bought an IKEA Ektorp set, of which we still have the loveseat. Meanwhile, I was perusing Craigslist one day when I noticed someone selling a beautiful Crate and Barrel sofa like the other one we had, but this one was a Queen sleeper, too. I nearly fainted when I saw it because it looked brand new. (The couple selling it were having twins and were making some fast changes to their small townhouse.) The funny part was that they had two sets of covers to it. So that's why we had an extra set to put on our C&B sofa from the living room. All are white, and washable. (And still look good!) So we have two C&B sofas in our family room and an IKEA loveseat. I don't imagine we'll switch them out, even when we renovate, which will hopefully be soon, but with two in college... it may be a while!

Lastly, our bedroom set was a real stretch when we first bought our house, but we sprung for it. Excellent NE quality pencil post and shaker set. Well after 25 years I wanted a change. I'd fallen in love with a Malm king set I saw at IKEA, so we bought that and I love it! I also bought a beautiful bureau piece I'd seen in a second hand store, it has an amazing patina and you could tell it had been lovingly cared for.

Kitchen, we had a nice ash trestle table and bench/Windsor chair set that I sold when we remodeled our kitchen, and bought an oak pub style table and chair set that I like a lot.

In our sunroom I originally started with a faux wicker set but the sofa was uncomfortable. We switched that out with another CL find that matches the decor in the room perfectly and is much more comforable. I also have a grandmother's clock in that room that is beautiful, with hand-painted flowers, which I found at a yard sale for $15.

I enjoy home decorating and shopping for things that can improve either look or function. I guess you could call it a hobby of mine! (I could go on, but this is long enough already!)

 

[low-key]

When a spring is sticking up my butt

 

[RedAngie]

I didn't start out intending for it, but we've ended up pretty much replacing our living room and dining room furniture about that often. We've moved 4 times during our 23 years of marriage and every time we do we end up needing to replace almost everything because the old stuff just doesn't work.

We moved in together after we were married to a starter-home DH bought and decided the things each of us brought with us needed to be upgraded so we bought all new. 2 years later we moved to the house we spent the next 13 years in and since it was much larger and had a whole bunch of rooms we didn't have furniture for, we went all new there again. About 8 years in we redecorated and replaced everything in the living room.

Our last move before this one was to a small "practice" condo we rented after leaving our big house. We had an entire set of really nice custom upholstered La-Z-Boy motion furniture that was intended to last a long, long time. Imagine my dismay when on moving day, we finally had a minute to sit down and when we both went to put the foot-rests out they bumped together in the center of the new, tiny living room. Same thing with the dining room table and chairs - they were just way, way too big for the scale of the room. A relative became the lucky recipient of all of it and we bought new, lesser-quality but much cheaper stuff.

4 years later we found and completely reno'd our current little dream home and replaced everything in the public rooms to match our new decor. Now, it's another 4 years later, I'm feeling like we should re-do at least the living room again because it's become a bit of a habit...

Hmmmm, maybe you didn't start out intending for it, but it appears whenever you want new furniture, you move to have a "legitimate" excuse to get new stuff.

I must admit it's a pretty good scheme.

 

[disneychrista]

Not often enough. My bed (mattress/box spring) is 20+ years old. I have known it needed to be replaced about 3 years ago and still haven't done it. My couch has/had recliner functions but they no longer recline, the cushion on the end I sit is so flat it is not comfortable any more. Yet I haven't replaced it.

My oldest piece of furniture is my dresser. It is in great but I have had it as long as I can remember. It was dresser since I was a kid. So I'm guess it is between 40 - 50 years old.
My newest piece is the 6 year old TV stand that I had to get because my new TV did fit in my old entertainment center.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

We try to buy quality furniture that's timeless. I use pillows & linens to change the look. Our bedroom set is 28 years old. The guest room bed is even older. Of course, we replace the mattresses, when needed. Our dining room set was bought at the same time as our bedroom set & is still in great shape. Our bedroom & dining room sets are cherry wood. The guest bedroom set is maple. We replace the living room set, when necessary. Ours is currently over 15 years old. (I can't remember exactly, when we bought it.) We plan to replace the couch soon, but will buy the same color (tan) & fabric (suede). The pullout couch is still in perfect condition. We did need to replace the thin mattress. DS's bedroom sets have needed to be replaced more often. We've never bought expensive furniture for him to destroy. When he's out of college completely & buys his own home, we'll buy a nice set expecting it to last for our lifetime.

 

[Julie's Haircut]

The bedroom set is just over 30 years old, but the mattress has been replaced a few times, most recently two year ago.

Everything else is no more than 12-15 years old. It's time for new family room furniture, probably after the holidays.

Down in the basement there is an old chest of drawers that was part of my parents' bedroom set when they got married in 1952. I keep tools and other hardware in it.

 

[Christine]

My bedroom set is over 20 years old. I want to replace it for "style" purposes but can't justify it. When I moved into my house 23 years ago, I made a trip down to North Carolina and bought good quality furniture at affordable prices. Now, because I know how high quality it is, I can't bear to get rid of it but I sure want to. No one wants to pay for it either so selling is not an option.

 

[mnrose]

A long time? The newest piece of furniture in my house is 12 years old. We buy timeless, well made furniture, and replace it only when absolutely necessary. As most of mine is Amish made, solid wood furniture, the answer is I will never replace it. LOL. Our couches are also made of solid wood. We have cushions on them which need to be replaced about every 10-12 years. But that's it. I'm ridiculously frugal when it comes to furniture.

 

[MomofKatie]

Depends on the pieces. Our bedroom set is good quality, timeless style cherry. We have had it about 28 years and have no plans to change it. We also have several nice antique pieces that are gorgeous- my grandmother's dining table/chairs from the 1920s, a mirror backed curio cabinet from the late 1800s, and a few others.

Kitchen table/chairs? We replace those about every 5 years or so. We have had to replace sofas/loveseats maybe every 8-10 years. New mattresses maybe once every 12-15 years.

DD' bedroom furniture gets regularly updated, mainly because her tastes change as she grows up. We don't buy expensive stuff for her room- mainly IKEA and comparable quality. She has had everything from a daybed, loft bed, mattress and box spring on the floor, antique baby furniture, all the way to hand me down items that DH and I had in our childhood rooms.

 

[HeatherC]

Bedroom stuff we keep forever it seems. Living room or family room couches and tables every 8 years maybe because they get so heavily used. While I want the house to look nice, I would rather travel and am more interested in budgeting for that than furniture.

 

[Clio]

Most of my furniture is over 40 years old. I'd love to get new stuff but it's too expensive to replace any of it with good stuff.

 

[tasha99]

Well, my living room furniture is scratched and half broken. We can't have nice things till my ancient, peeing scratching kitty dies. It's just the way it is . . .

 

[Squirlz]

When we built our garage 8 years ago we furnished the living space with a futon couch and chair to accommodate guests, not realizing how much time we would spend out here. Now I want to replace them with nice reclining pieces without breaking the bank. Looking on Wayfair right now...any other suggestions?