My parents also still have the same bedroom set they bought 40 years ago. They also have the same living room furniture, and are using my great grandmother's furniture in their sitting room. That's fine for them, it's their style and they love it, but I would never want any of it in my home. It will seem weird, but I find old furniture to be really impersonal and and uncomfortable to use/sit on.

Our current bedroom set is about 15 years old. It's your garden variety Ashley/LazyBoy type of sleigh bed set, dark brown, darkens up a room. The tops were starting to flake and peel, though some of it IS real wood. I sanded it down and painted it a matte grey with furniture paint, and swapped out the hardware, and I'm amazed at how great it looks and how fresh and airy our room feels now. I haven't painted the sleigh bed yet and I might not, but I think we've gotten at least another five years from the rest of our furniture.

I should also point out that the older we get, the less "stuff" we keep, and now nearly all of our clothes are kept in our closets, where we have professional closet systems. Our nightstands are pretty bare, and our dresser houses socks and stuff like bathing suits--some of the drawers are completely empty.

We might replace the bed someday, but will probably pass on getting a huge dresser set. As long as we have spacious closets, there's no need anymore.

My parents have used their bedroom set for close to 50 years. We have used ours for 15 and plan to keep it as log as it holds up. My kids are using the bedroom set I used, which was my grandmother's before me. So it's been used for at least 50 years, probably longer. That one needs to be refinished but otherwise in great condition.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:15 to 20 years is enough for me. At that point I feel I've gotten my money's worth and might want to update, redecorate. lifetime furniture has absolutely no appeal to me, not sure why it is important to have the same furniture for your entire life - but that's just me. To each her own.

Totally agree. I don't want furniture for 50 years!

This is me as well. My bedroom furniture could last forever but I'd like to (and probably will at some point) change it for something else.

^Depends on if it was junk to start with or not.

Styles change so maybe 20 years? At that point it starts to look like junk a dead person left behind.

My childhood room has the same furniture in it from when I was a kid. I did not like it then, and I do not like it now. But it's definitely some quality stuff.
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You could sell it or give it to someone who needs it and likes it?? But don't throw it in the landfill is what I'm saying. And don't buy some crap that will only last 10 years.

We got a new dresser this year for about $200. It was nice to have something new. If it lasts 5 years, we will have gotten way more than our money's worth.

I am not big into throwing things out, but it feels really good to have some new stuff sometimes. So I guess that is my way of saying: 10 years, I guess, is how long I would expect most things to last.

10 years????!! You do realize that you have bought into America's "throw away non-quality built culture. Enjoy your new stuff as you contribute to the need for bigger landfills and more global warming.

I think America can lead the way by manufacturing quality that lasts. We can charge more for it, but in the long run it is cheaper for the consumer and better for the environment. We should encourage thinking for the long term IMO.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Several hundred years.
Just bought mine at an estate sale. Vintage cream with hand-painted flowers.

+1. We have my great grand mother's bedroom set she bought in the 1880s.

+2

Anonymous wrote:Several hundred years.
Just bought mine at an estate sale. Vintage cream with hand-painted flowers.

+1. We have my great grand mother's bedroom set she bought in the 1880s.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:15 to 20 years is enough for me. At that point I feel I've gotten my money's worth and might want to update, redecorate. lifetime furniture has absolutely no appeal to me, not sure why it is important to have the same furniture for your entire life - but that's just me. To each her own.

+1. What's the brag worthiness of having the same furniture for 50 years?

Complain all you want, but your grandparents' heavy brown furniture produced between 1850 and 1980 is not desirable. You literally have to pay people to haul it from your house because no one wants it right now. Check craigslist. People are selling their old, perfect condition solid wood bedroom sets for $150, but they'll sit there for months until they finally have to pay someone to drive it to salvation army for them.

It's fine if you like it and enjoy it. But I don't see why there is smugness in having old furniture solely for the sake of it being old.

I dont read it as smugness. We've got hand me down furniture because it was free. I don't care if I can't sell it on Craigslist, it's functional and looks fine. Not everyone can afford to furnish multiple bedrooms with all new stuff.

We got a new dresser this year for about $200. It was nice to have something new. If it lasts 5 years, we will have gotten way more than our money's worth.

I am not big into throwing things out, but it feels really good to have some new stuff sometimes. So I guess that is my way of saying: 10 years, I guess, is how long I would expect most things to last. And we buy stuff for an amount that takes that length of time into account. If we spent more, we'd probably expect stuff to last longer.

My childhood room has the same furniture in it from when I was a kid. I did not like it then, and I do not like it now. But it's definitely some quality stuff.

I read several online contemporary advice columns (Carolyn Hax at the Post, Slate's Dear Prudence, and others). Several times a year, each columnist responds to a question from a daughter or grandson or whomever who had received hand me down furniture that they either hated, or have no room for, or don't like the style, or whatever, and they feel they are stuck accepting the furniture lest they break their parents'/grandparents' heart. Don't force this stuff on your kids, just because you have so many emotions tied up in it.

I don't care what my son does with the furniture, but don't call me smug for keeping it while I'm alive (since I like it).

We have old, brown furniture and will continue to have it until it becomes nonfunctional. I don't have this furniture as a style or to show that I have style but rather, I didn't/don't want to spend money on something that I already have and it works. I have different monetary priorities from the PPs that are begrudging our old, brown furniture. That's it. I don't spend all day in my bedroom. I sleep there so I don't care that it's not the most modern piece.

I read several online contemporary advice columns (Carolyn Hax at the Post, Slate's Dear Prudence, and others). Several times a year, each columnist responds to a question from a daughter or grandson or whomever who had received hand me down furniture that they either hated, or have no room for, or don't like the style, or whatever, and they feel they are stuck accepting the furniture lest they break their parents'/grandparents' heart. Don't force this stuff on your kids, just because you have so many emotions tied up in it.

Anonymous wrote:15 to 20 years is enough for me. At that point I feel I've gotten my money's worth and might want to update, redecorate. lifetime furniture has absolutely no appeal to me, not sure why it is important to have the same furniture for your entire life - but that's just me. To each her own.

Totally agree. I don't want furniture for 50 years!