Agree that this is deeply personal: that armchair can be $50 or $5000. If you're not in a rush, you can get very nice furniture used for a fraction of the new price. We've mostly furnished our house with Room and Board and similar, in like new condition, for typically half the new price.

We are moving and I started over ground up on our family/great room as everything from our current home is old, trashed from kids and dogs and also was just tailored for another space. So with the caveat that it is a very large room, we bought two sofas, two swivel chairs, a console table, two end tables, a coffee table, and a custom cut carpet as a rug for around 25K from very nice but not the highest-end brands (Wesley Hall, CTH Sherrill, Chaddock). I still need to get one more big piece of art and lamps but we'll be under 30. Most other rooms are largely repurposing our current furniture but even if you counted new value I don't think the cost is nearly that high. Probably more 10-18.

Anonymous wrote:Also, are you completely starting from scratch or will you be reusing pieces you already own, just supplementing with new? I cannot imagine just getting rid of 2-3 rooms full of furnishings. That seems wild to me. But, my style is more eclectic with a focus on things that are from our travels, antiques, etc.

I think what happens is people move into a new house with more rooms than they had before, or their old furniture doesn’t fit or mostly doesn’t fit. When we moved to our house we could reuse lamps and little tables but none of the big items.

I have rarely bought an entire room in one swoop - maybe just a guest room when moving into a larger home. I usually buy key pieces for a space initially (and that feels expensive), then spend the next couple years adding to it with shelves, floor lighting, other decor. I guess, collectively, most of my rooms are in the $15-20k range after being in this house for 4 years and curating each space.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These things will not bring you happiness.

This is highly personal. The process and result of decorating my home brings me much joy. Some people may not care about these things, but the way my home feels, flows, functions and looks very much impacts my happiness.

+1. Waking up in the morning to my beautiful room, and coming downstairs to my beautiful living area makes me so happy.

I am also someone who can be “done”. I spent the first year decorating our old townhome and then did very little for 5 subsequent years. Just enjoyed it. Will likely be the same for this house too.

You spend what you feel comfortable spending. The end.

Also, are you completely starting from scratch or will you be reusing pieces you already own, just supplementing with new? I cannot imagine just getting rid of 2-3 rooms full of furnishings. That seems wild to me. But, my style is more eclectic with a focus on things that are from our travels, antiques, etc.

Doesn’t this just depend on your budget, lifestyle and what you want? I have kids and am surely not spending 15k on a custom couch like my sibling has when my youngest just crayoned all over a couch the other day (performance fabric so all was good). But if that’s your jam, your gonna need a nice budget.

Anonymous wrote:It’s what you prefer. I know people that have an $8mil house and 90% of the furniture is off the floor at Costco stuff.

We have a beach house with much nicer furniture than our house in the DMV.

Use is also a determining factor along with expected lifespan.

+1
This isn't the exception either. We have a few friends who also have extremely expensive $2mil+ houses and the furniture is the same inexpensive stuff we have in our tiny home.