Frugal Downside - All my stuff is old

weenancyinAmerica

@Gers - re-refusing horsehair items - almost all of the antique sofas I have come across in the historic houses here have been stuffed with horsehair. Are they refusing to sell antiques now at the auction houses?

Siebrie

As long as my stuff is well-maintained and clean, I don't have a problem with 'old'.

mandy47

Why not upcycle. There are a number of specialist paints on the market. Not cheap but a fraction of the cost of new furniture. It can be used on wood, metal and plastic. 
 I intend to paint  my mismatched bedroom furniture.  If it's all the same colour it will look much nicer. I've also seen some laser cut wooden hearts etc. I'm considering adding these so it looks an even better match. 
My friend did this and it looks amazing. 

timehastoldme

We buy second hand and sell on when we want a change, so things end up being rented for a time, we've just sold a table we can't take with us to the new house, paid £100 10 years ago, sold for £50 yesterday. £5 a year that table cost us, and the next one will also be second hand and kept for as long as we need it.

Gers

weenancyinAmerica said:

@Gers - re-refusing horsehair items - almost all of the antique sofas I have come across in the historic houses here have been stuffed with horsehair. Are they refusing to sell antiques now at the auction houses?

The guy who came to value stuff told me that because it didn’t have the required non-flammable label they couldn’t sell it. He was wrong as horse hair is naturally non-flammable. By the time I found out I was more than happier to donate it to the props company. 

It had a lovely comfortable two seater sofa and two lovely arm chairs - one narrow one and one wider one. 

catz4m8z

Always confuses me when people buy new things to replace perfectly serviceable things. I have a friend who in on her 6th mattress in about 5yrs because they weren't quite right! Not to mention multiple kitchen appliances that were the wrong colour or just not high tech enough.
My style is more minimal with a few much loved older pieces. I have several pieces of furniture that are 1920s to 1940s that I love dearly and wouldnt want to part with. I was lucky enough to buy them years ago as well when they came from junk shops which have since become upmarket antique shops instead!
But I also have 2 side tables that are a camping table and a box with a throw on top because thats what fits best so whatever works!!

Although I think you can do alot with throws, curtains, soft furnishings. Give yourself a new look cheaply!

Floss

I can count on two hands the number of pieces of furniture I have bought new in my home: Billy bookcases (bought 7 years ago); my bed (10 years ago); spare room bed (22 years ago); spare room CoD (22 years ago); desk & pedestal (17 years ago). While my wardrobes, dressing table and bedside cabinet were bought new, that was back in 1956 by my parents

Every other item of furniture has been bought second hand or given to me.

Pixie_Cosmo

Gers said:

My late DM still had a chair she bought in around 1961, complete with receipt. It had been recovered twice and is now with a dear friend who requested it once my DM died.  She also had a circa 1940s sofa and two chairs which she 'inherited' from the previous owner of her home. Again, she had it recovered. It's now with a major props company as the auction house declined to sell it because it was stuffed with horsehair and I refused to throw it in the dump.

Nothing wrong with old things as long as you are happy with them.

Our ancient (60s maybe?) horsehair 3 seater sofa and 2 arm chairs are the comfiest to sit on. High backs, firm, easy to snooze on... they need re-covering, but look ok with throws. They also fit in with my house age! Our more modern sofa is a saggy old thing. I tend to keep things as long as they work ok. I would like our huge CRT tv to go though. It takes up so much room and has no HDMI sockets. But it works fine! 

Gers

Both my washing machine and fridge (Miele) are at least 15 years old and going strong.  I suppose they really should be replaced as they are probably very heavy users of energy but I can't bring myself to do so.

The dishwasher conked out after 10 years and was replaced this year. My downstairs TV also came with me when I moved house 10 years ago,(not CRT) the upstairs one is new and much better - again, I can't bring myself to change the old one, it works perfectly well.

Teapot55

I think my parents bought the nest of tables before I was born - or they might have been a wedding present. They were ideal for little children (me) to put their toys or their colouring book on. My father mended them several times but later they were relegated to their bedroom. 

Forty years on they’re in our bedroom now. Had thought of getting rid of them but they’re light enough to be transported downstairs for use as extra side tables for guests. On a day-to-day basis they nest away neatly, we store the waste paper basket underneath and are useful as temporary storage of today’s clean socks/ the empty breakfast tray.