Making Lemonade - furniture purchase advice needed
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Anonymous
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Our home did not sell after 90+ days on the market so we pulled the listing and decided to stay in our small house for a year or two more. The upside is there are a lot of things we like about our house and location, so we're not devastated. So, while we were really hoping to move to a bigger house, we're trying to make lemonade out of this deal we've been dealt since it didn't work out that way.
We have a lot of good quality furniture but it was just WAY to big for our house, so when we staged it all went into storage. We're going to keep it there until we do sell, and so now we need to furnish the rooms that once the stager comes to get our furniture will be empty. We really liked the small carpet that the stager put in our house, so we've purchased an identical one (it's from Target!), and she also put a light colored coffee table that's from IKEA and some IKEA prints on our wall that look great, so we're buying those. If you' can't tell, we're on a budget (saving for a bigger down payment when the time comes). We also need a 48" round dining table, preferably with a leaf for when we have company. We have dark brown leather chairs from Aurhaus that we really like - but the table, chairs and coffee table will all be together in one small room. The stager had a light colored tablecloth on the table she brought us, but obviously we're not going to have a permanent table cloth on our table. One of my questions is can you mix wood colors (dark v. light) in one small room? Any other advice appreciated about where to get the table. We are willing to pay non-IKEA prices for the table because we will likely need it when we move, but we don't want to spend the $1900-$2000 I have been quoted at Thomasville, etc. It was a freedom to not be surrounded by too big furniture, but obviously we can't keep our house staged for 1-2 years, so we're trying to reproduce the effect in a livable way (and also hope not to have to pay for staging again). Thanks! |
Anonymous
| I'd start by asking the stager. |
Anonymous
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I've loved a lot of my IKEA stuff, actually. And there are some great deals on Craigslist and my neighborhood listserv (MOTH, but your neighborhood probably has an equivalent). Take advantage of living in a transient area and buy other people's lightly used stuff.
Other than that CB2 has LOTS of great, small-sized stuff. |
Anonymous
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It makes no sense not to sell some of the bigger pieces AND buy new furniture, if you are trying to save for a DP and move into a new house. Are you really sure you will be able to move into a much bigger place? Maybe just keep the larger pieces that you really love (and make them work in your current house by decluttering and downsizing some other furniture) and sell the large pieces you don't love as much.
We have large pieces as well, in a small apartment. A large bookcase, and a large heavy TV console - but since their capacity is so large it is hard not to store so many things in them, things I don't have a true need for and might otherwise get rid of. Sometimes I feel we'd be better off without them, even though they are high quality pieces. Yes you can mix wood colors. Our bedroom contains pine side tables, cherry chests, and a walnut bed! But they all work together because they have similar design elements. I think it's even better to not have everything be so matchy-matchy. Did you check out Crate and Barrel for tables? We got a pretty good one for 500 when we needed something reasonable in a short time frame - the Avalon table (though don't love the finish, so look carefully) not expensive but maybe a step above Ikea. |
Anonymous
| Can you show us what the stager put in your house or the listing so we can advice. |
Anonymous
| OP here: so I would LOVE to sell all of our large furniture and save the storage costs. However, it was all my husband's furniture before we got married and he feels very strongly about saving it. It really, really doesn't work in our current home. I won't really love it in a bigger house either, but he's convinced we'll "need" it. It is a large, marble tile dining room table with iron scroll legs that tear up the wooden legs of our nice dining room chairs, a huge walnut modern coffee table that's been dinged by many a little hand (or drumstick). and another large piece that I don't love. We also have a ton of books and boxes of odd things in storage, too, that we'd have to get rid of (and we love books and the look of shelves and shelves of them. |
Anonymous
| Why can't you keep the table covered with a tablecloth? Cheaper to buy 2-3 of them than it is to buy a new table. |
Anonymous
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Someone here once recommended a store with apartment-sized furniture somewhere in Old Town. I live in an older SFH and have always thought that's where I'll go whenever I'm ready to start fresh. Most of my future is handed down from family who lived in a bigger and grander house. I hate it!
Also, does anyone here know if house "fluffing" is still a thing? A friend of a friend used to do this -- rearranging what you already have, repurposing things you thought you didn't want/ like, etc. |
Anonymous
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Oh, the joys of the arguments that aren't based on logic - but "my stuff" - After 15 years of marriage I said all the furniture from wife #1 is gone. So, I get it (I hated the look, but a chair is a chair with small kids)
Add up how much storage is going to cost for the next 2 years. Also look up the items on craig's list to find out what the items are actually worth. As long as it's not an emotional piece, most guys will see the practical matter of what the stuff cost to store vs what it is worth. but, tread lightly. You don't want it to look like you are trying to get rid of stuff, just save money. |
Anonymous
Yikes. This sounds particularly terrible. Can't you convince him to update his style? |
Anonymous
That does sound awful. Storage is expensive; I agree with the PP that your husband might be persuaded by a financial argument. If not, you can stick his stuff in the basement in your new house. Personally, I would look on Craigslist for replacement furniture. You can get quality dining room furniture in good condition for ridiculous prices. Upholstered pieces are iffier. |
Anonymous
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OP again. So DH MIGHT be persuaded by the financial argument, so looking for suggestions on how to get rid of the furniture. It is actually nice stuff: the table is an Arhuas mosaic marble tile dining table originally purchased for $2500 10 years ago (excellent condition). Very high quality, just not my taste and the base is impractical with our chairs. The coffee table is a large, heavy, contemporary dark wood coffee table purchased at a boutique store for $3K 10+ years ago. It has some dings, but with re-finishing would be very nice (for someone, but again not my taste). The other piece is a contemporary round side table with metal legs and opening for books on the side, a little hard to explain but a nice and expensive piece. We also have tall, lighted, heavy dark wood curio cabinets that I would love to get rid of. They belonged to DH's grandparents (ugh).
They are all in a storage pod except for the curio cabinets which are in our small house. So my questions are 1) how, practically, to sell them when they are in storage and we can't take pictures much in advance. We could have the pod parked in front of our house over a weekend and take pictures on the street, and 2) will I regret getting rid of this high quality stuff? Could it be worth something now or in the future (like the curio cabinets?). I think I want to clear out this stuff and start fresh, but any advice would be appreciated. |
Anonymous
| I would recommend pier one for reasonable items that are on trend. |