How much did you spend on Furniture?

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bligh
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How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by bligh »

Some Background:
I have been al life long renter and the recent market madness in home ownership/renting cost inflation... finally made us decide to lock down our living costs once and for all. We bought a nice house in a nice neighborhood, that we can comfortably afford, nothing extravagant. The downside is that the purchase of this house has pushed us a couple of years behind on our FI path. We were pretty nearly FI at this point, now we will take another 2 to 3 years to reach FI once again, but this time with a fixed and predictable housing cost (ie. 30 year fixed mortgage). The plan is to never have to move from here. There is a good chance of this happening, since I have been in the same city for almost 20 years and have been renting the same place for the last 9 years.

Now to the subject of furniture. For several years now (6 or 7) I have been in love with this specific furniture set (this is specifically for the formal living room), that I told myself I would get if I ever bought a house. The general range for this is ($8.5K if I go basic to $14K all if I go all out). Yes I can easily afford it - I am pretty much FI at this point. The amount feels like ridiculous extravagance to me. To put it into perspective, as a renter in my current home my total furniture in the home probably totaled to less than $5K. I was proud of this. The rest of the furniture in my house would probably end up totalling to $5K-8K.

Yes it is a privilege to have a problem like this one, but as I struggle with this purchase decision. I thought I would reach out to this community and see what the general attitude was for this type of purchase? Is it common for people to spend $15-20K on their formal room furniture? Is it common to spend more than this? Is there a general consensus that spending that much is crazy and extravagant and I should just forget about the whole thing?

Any advice/criticism would be appreciated.
Dottie57
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by Dottie57 »

I say purchase the furniture. Part of the good In having saved is the ability to purchase what you truly want. Just one point, furniture styles change so shop and see if there are now styles you like better.

P.S. I love furniture whether new or old.
count damoney
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by count damoney »

You said "The plan is to never have to move from here".
Buy the furniture you have always wanted . . . you can afford it.
livesoft
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by livesoft »

It is not common to spend that much money on a room that most people do not use. Our living room has a weight bench, weights, a desk, a bookshelf, a piano, and a filing cabinet. I suppose all in, the cost was $4,000 with the piano being the major expense.

But since this is a dream of yours, then please fulfill your dream and do not be put off by any opinions from the peanut gallery.
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quantAndHold
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by quantAndHold »

I doubt you’re going to get consensus.

Is this for one of those rooms that has to look pretty because you walk your guests through there on the way to the family room where everything happens? Or is the furniture ever going to be used for anything?
sailaway
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by sailaway »

Will you use the formal living room? Do you like hosting?
stan1
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by stan1 »

I think you can purchase it, the biggest red flag in your post is "formal living room". How would you use this room and the furniture in it? The days when visitors would perch on a settee sipping tea are history only seen on PBS shows for most people these days. I suspect a lot of formal living rooms these days are actually home offices, play rooms, home theaters, pet rooms, hobby rooms, or similar adaptive uses. I'd first have a plan to use the room and buy furniture that would match that need.

Also if you have young kids I'd wait to buy more expensive furniture. .

Hard to believe the furniture for the rest of the house is $5-8K. Could spend more than that at IKEA if you are starting new. Maybe you have a lot that you will upgrade over time. I'd put money into seating surfaces that are most frequently used first. One comfortable and durable sofa will be close to the lower bound of that range.
Last edited by stan1 on Wed Jul 28, 2021 3:42 pm, edited 2 times in total.
poker27
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by poker27 »

Years ago I bought a $1500 ish couch, I remember it looking horrible a year later, and I had to replace it in less than two years. Following that I bought a $6k couch (I'm afraid to think of what it would go for these days), and years later it almost looked better then the day I bought it. I think quality is usually worth it in home furniture. Now will you still want the style in ten years?
stoptothink
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by stoptothink »

On "formal dining room" furniture? $0, we tossed our previous table that we got free on Craigslist and negotiated with the former owner of our home to include their table and chairs. Pretty certain they got them from Ikea and they look fine after almost a decade of daily use. Total, including couch and beds for a 3 bedroom home? Probably ~$3k. We can very easily afford it, we're close to financially independent in mid-late 30's, but can't afford everything we want. If I were to list wants that costed several thousand dollars, there isn't a single piece of furniture that would be anywhere near that list (and wife agrees).
LittleMaggieMae
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by LittleMaggieMae »

The only advice I'd offer: before buying the furniture determine if the furniture is better as a "dream" than in reality. Does the furniture 'fit' your house and lifestyle? I know people who have rooms in their homes that are "for show" and look like magazine spreads and they are very happy with the rooms they never use but decorate and show off. When I hear "dream furniture" this is what I think of. Nothing wrong with doing it. Just be sure your "dream furniture" is what you really want.

I have a dream of owning a 1960's era restored Muscle Car. I could afford such a car. But, in reality, it's not really a good idea for me and my lifestyle. Some dreams are best kept as dreams. I find I like the dream of driving around in my restored muscle car better than it would be if it was real. :) Nothing wrong with that.
afan
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by afan »

As we approached the end of furniture buying, I started winning arguments about cost. The later pieces were picked up, very inexpensive, from used furniture stores. Estate sales were also good opportunities but had the disadvantage that you had to go at a specific time and make a snap decision. We got high quality in good condition for a small fraction of buying new. Those that needed a table top refinished were amazingly cheap.

I could not imagine buying new.

So, no, I would not pay anything approaching those prices for furniture
Last edited by afan on Wed Jul 28, 2021 4:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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surfstar
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by surfstar »

We do not have a "formal" room of any type.
Jack FFR1846
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by Jack FFR1846 »

If you can afford it and you really want it, then buy it.

I'd say that in 36 years of owning houses (3), we probably haven't spent $8.5k in total. Still have furniture from my parents house here and there. But that's us, not you. You probably don't have 15 complete extra sets of wheels and tires in a shed like I do or 4 cars.
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ResearchMed
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by ResearchMed »

bligh wrote: Wed Jul 28, 2021 3:24 pm Some Background:
I have been al life long renter and the recent market madness in home ownership/renting cost inflation... finally made us decide to lock down our living costs once and for all. We bought a nice house in a nice neighborhood, that we can comfortably afford, nothing extravagant. The downside is that the purchase of this house has pushed us a couple of years behind on our FI path. We were pretty nearly FI at this point, now we will take another 2 to 3 years to reach FI once again, but this time with a fixed and predictable housing cost (ie. 30 year fixed mortgage). The plan is to never have to move from here. There is a good chance of this happening, since I have been in the same city for almost 20 years and have been renting the same place for the last 9 years.

Now to the subject of furniture. For several years now (6 or 7) I have been in love with this specific furniture set (this is specifically for the formal living room), that I told myself I would get if I ever bought a house. The general range for this is ($8.5K if I go basic to $14K all if I go all out). Yes I can easily afford it - I am pretty much FI at this point. The amount feels like ridiculous extravagance to me. To put it into perspective, as a renter in my current home my total furniture in the home probably totaled to less than $5K. I was proud of this. The rest of the furniture in my house would probably end up totalling to $5K-8K.

Yes it is a privilege to have a problem like this one, but as I struggle with this purchase decision. I thought I would reach out to this community and see what the general attitude was for this type of purchase? Is it common for people to spend $15-20K on their formal room furniture? Is it common to spend more than this? Is there a general consensus that spending that much is crazy and extravagant and I should just forget about the whole thing?

Any advice/criticism would be appreciated.
[emphasis added]

You have wanted this same furniture for 6 or 7 years!?
You now have a house where you want to put this furniture?
And you can *easily* afford it?

After double checking that there aren't any more recent furniture sets/styles that you prefer, then I'd say it's time for you to get this, put it in your nice new house, and enjoy your life there!

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Toons
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by Toons »

The furniture we do have,
A few tables,lamps,
Loungers,
Amazon,Walmart,Sams

:mrgreen:
"One does not accumulate but eliminate. It is not daily increase but daily decrease. The height of cultivation always runs to simplicity" –Bruce Lee
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bligh
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by bligh »

Thanks for all the responses.

Some clarifications. When I say formal room, I mean this is the room next to the fireplace with no TV that I plan to spend most of my time hanging out in, both with my wife and with my friends. My family room with the TV and where the kids will mostly hang out is going to get my current beat up $1500 couch. As I mentioned, this house isn't extravagant or anything, so it isn't like the "formal" living room is especially disconnected from where all the "living" happens. I am not a very formal person, and I wouldn't use it for formal visits or anything. It is just a part of the house where I would hang out by myself and my wife by the fire place or spend with friends when they visit.

Furniture styles vary, but in my humble opinion this style is timeless (It does have an old world/old money look, and I could have inherited it from my Grandfather and I would have treasured it).

As far as this furniture being better as a dream than in reality, I think that is a valid concern. I am a person who lives quite simply (my car is an 11 year old minivan and I plan to keep it for many more years). I wonder if that furniture would be 'out of place' haha
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by TheHouse7 »

bligh wrote: Wed Jul 28, 2021 4:36 pm Thanks for all the responses.

Some clarifications. When I say formal room, I mean this is the room next to the fireplace with no TV that I plan to spend most of my time hanging out in, both with my wife and with my friends. My family room with the TV and where the kids will mostly hang out is going to get my current beat up $1500 couch. As I mentioned, this house isn't extravagant or anything, so it isn't like the "formal" living room is especially disconnected from where all the "living" happens. I am not a very formal person, and I wouldn't use it for formal visits or anything. It is just a part of the house where I would hang out by myself and my wife by the fire place or spend with friends when they visit.

Furniture styles vary, but in my humble opinion this style is timeless (It does have an old world/old money look, and I could have inherited it from my Grandfather and I would have treasured it).

As far as this furniture being better as a dream than in reality, I think that is a valid concern. I am a person who lives quite simply (my car is an 11 year old minivan and I plan to keep it for many more years). I wonder if that furniture would be 'out of place' haha
Buy your dream furniture for sure. I do not think that 15 grand is too much for what you plan to use on a regular basis for your family in the long term.
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Mr. Rumples
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by Mr. Rumples »

My upholstered furniture is all from Bassett; custom fabrics and cushion density. It's made to last so its worth the price. Other things such as desks, tables, lamps are picked up here and there, often at a thrift sore, sometimes in an alley (but since the Antiques Roadshow took off years ago, those finds are hard to get). My best find at a store was a wooden gothic style chair...it was $50, then $25, then $12.50. Then the store used it to hang handbags on since there was no seat. I offered them $1 and they took it. A little plywood, a bit of foam and some thrift store fabric and it's a treasure.

A friend picked up an end table at a thrift...it had bedbug nits and in the end, that $25 table cost a fortune. I would take special precautions now for thrift store wooden furniture. My cousin is still using his mother's sofa...its been reupholstered multiple times, but its built like a battleship.

On the other hand, my nephews and nieces think I decorate like an old lady...I don't care, I like it and the furniture is good for my posture...all that slouching catches up with folks eventually.
Last edited by Mr. Rumples on Wed Jul 28, 2021 4:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by dboeger1 »

My wife and I bought our first home last year and filled it almost entirely with free or super cheap used furniture that people posted on Craigslist and other similar sites, along with maybe a couple hundred dollars of new Ikea stuff. That being said, there's absolutely no doubt that high-quality furniture can provide a better, more valuable experience for long-term home owners. My grandparents downsized into a cheap trailer home for retirement but filled it with high-end furniture that they use daily, and not only is it super comfortable, but it's extremely durable and has held up well for years despite frequent guests who don't necessarily baby the furniture. They have a recliner loveseat in front of the TV that probably cost $5k or more on its own but is easily one of the best seats I've ever sat in. My grandfather regularly falls asleep in it while watching TV shows, so he definitely gets his money's worth.

Personally, I would not set up a traditional style dining room or formal living room that does not get used, but that's just me. I grew up in a house where my mother had a formal dining room mostly just for decoration and the very rare formal dinner with visiting relatives. The reason to invest in high-end furniture, in my opinion, is to use it without having to worry about it falling apart. A good example is a cheap Ikea table we have that we took outside a few weeks ago for a BBQ party that we invited several friends to, and we forgot to bring it back inside. It didn't even rain or anything, just sat under the sunlight, yet the whole thing fell apart the instant we tried to pick it up. I kind of imagined it was solid inside (I knew it wasn't actual solid wood, but I thought it was at least solid particle board or whatever). It turns out it was a bunch of really thin sheets of material boxed around some fairly hollow thin cardboard honeycomb structure. In other words, it's an absolute piece of garbage, which is of course why we got it for $5 or so on Craigslist. Just because you can get by with dirt cheap furniture doesn't mean you should. We would have been much better served with proper outdoor furniture, but we're of course still on our journey towards reaching FI, so we're still quite careful not to stretch our budget.
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by GoldenFinch »

livesoft wrote: Wed Jul 28, 2021 3:34 pm It is not common to spend that much money on a room that most people do not use. Our living room has a weight bench, weights, a desk, a bookshelf, a piano, and a filing cabinet. I suppose all in, the cost was $4,000 with the piano being the major expense.

But since this is a dream of yours, then please fulfill your dream and do not be put off by any opinions from the peanut gallery.
I think what you say here is true of many people. We are out liars! We live in a very old house with a nice living room and we actually live in it. We have pretty and comfortable furniture, a piano that used to be used on Broadway 100 years ago ( it still gets played), and a television in a piece of furniture that can make it disappear. I am glad we spent a bit on the furniture because the room is used so much. However, if it was a useless room, I agree that it probably isn’t the best use of extra bucks. I guess the key question is how much are you going to enjoy the room?
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TierArtz
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by TierArtz »

$24K in the last 10 years on Amish furniture - one master bedroom suite, a double-over-double bunk bed with drawers, and a third to match, two gliders, and a dining table with eight chairs. Our family room still has a 30-year-old couch and recliner, from Sears, that have endured four trans-oceanic and one trans-continental move.

Who cares about that? Buy what makes you happy if you can afford it.
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by Broken Man 1999 »

Our living room furniture consists of a three seat and a two seat leather sectionals with each end of the sets being recliners, two end tables, two lamps, and a long TV stand, all in about $9,000.

We wanted to replace our 32 year old golden oak dining set (table, 6 chairs, 2 armchairs, massive china hutch and base, curio cabinet, and buffet).

After shopping around and seeing what passes for "good" furniture today, we are going to refinish all pieces for $6,200, with another $800 to have the eight chairs reupholstered, all in $7,000. We couldn't find anything of the quality of our existing set for anything near $7,000.

We had a beautiful formal living room, but we turned it into a bedroom for me. So it isn't wasted, at least.

We didn't allow eating in the living rooms until the grandchildren were old enough to be careful to not spill. We also put glass on all the tables during that time. Now our last set of livingroom furniture doesn't need "kid-proofing."

Quality furniture lasts as long as you want it to, if given care.

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lightheir
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by lightheir »

$35k 10 years ago, for real and this wasn't even for super-luxury stuff, just new, retail furniture.
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cchrissyy
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by cchrissyy »

go for it!

1 - you've wanted it a long time
2 - you can easily afford it
3 - it goes in a room you spend lots of time
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Bogle7
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by Bogle7 »

How much?
What are Room & Board’s prices?
We buy “everything” from there.
Well, not everything, we also buy from Design Within Reach.
Look at Roche Bobois so you can feel good about spending less.
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iamlucky13
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by iamlucky13 »

My living room furniture probably totaled under $2,000 new. It's basic, but not spartan or cheap feeling, and has been holding up acceptably for roughly a decade.

I'm moderately frugal, but even so, I see nothing wrong with a person of sufficient means spending $14,000 on a nice furniture set that will be very comfortable, contribute to the aesthetic enjoyment of your home, and last for many years, if you can afford it without harming your other financial goals. Clearly, this is not an impulse buy, but one you have been considering for a while.

The catch is you implied it does negatively affect, although not critically, your goal of financial independence within a certain time frame, so you need to decide how much extra working time you're willing to commit to in order to acquire this furniture. There's nothing wrong with delaying retirement a little to live more comfortably in the interim, as long as you have margin compared to when you expect to need to retire. It sounds like we're talking about perhaps a few months worth of living expenses.
stan1 wrote: Wed Jul 28, 2021 3:40 pm Hard to believe the furniture for the rest of the house is $5-8K. Could spend more than that at IKEA if you are starting new.
Piece of cake, as long as they aren't planning to furnish the rest of the rooms to the same level. I get the impression the goal is to have one room that is special, and the rest more ordinary.

At Ikea, most of the queen bedframes and mattresses total under $800. Most of dining sets are under $1000. A large dresser is $400. Add a couple of nightstands to the bedroom and a sideboard in the dining room and the two most expensive remaining rooms are mostly furnished for $2500-$3000.

Personally, aside from the living room and the master bed, most of our furniture was used or inherited, but we were willing to spend in that $5-8K range if we liked what we saw enough and would be confident in using most of it for 20+ years. We just didn't see much selection that fit our tastes, and settled for "temporary" budget options that have sufficed for several years now.
chazas
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by chazas »

Good furniture that is new is expensive, make sure you’re getting a good value and it’s well built and tasteful.

My house is a mix of very expensive designer furniture (not available retail), normal retail stuff bought new at a discount (think Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn), antiques, and used items from Craigslist and FB marketplace.

IMO a lot of stuff you see at furniture stores is way overpriced tasteless junk. Be careful.
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quantAndHold
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by quantAndHold »

If you’re looking at something “timeless” that could have been in your grandparents’ house, I would look at actual antiques, which are probably better built, actually *are* timeless, and the bottom has fallen out of the market, so they’re very cheap. You could probably buy much better stuff than what you’re looking at at auction for a few hundred dollars, then spend $3-5k having things refinished and reupholstered, and have something much nicer, that really will stand the test of time.
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GKSD
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by GKSD »

When we moved to a bigger house couple of years back from a condo, we got rid of most our condo furniture (mostly Ikea pieces), as we wanted to have more traditional, nicer looking furniture.

For formal living and dining room, we bought all furniture from Ethen Allen, paid roughly $24K -

Sofa
2 Accent chairs
Center table
Console table
2 lamps
2 End tables
Dining table
6 dining chairs
2 Wall arts

All custom upholstered.

I love the furniture. And over last couple of years, we would have barely even sat on these pieces, but I still love them and would not have done anything differently. I have found some joy in acquiring nice expensive pieces of furniture and then looking at them and admiring the beauty of wood, carving, upholstery.

Rest of the rooms have less expensive but still tasteful furniture we have acquired from different retailers. It is hard to find good furniture.
Last edited by GKSD on Thu Jul 29, 2021 12:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Starfish
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by Starfish »

poker27 wrote: Wed Jul 28, 2021 3:40 pm Years ago I bought a $1500 ish couch, I remember it looking horrible a year later, and I had to replace it in less than two years. Following that I bought a $6k couch (I'm afraid to think of what it would go for these days), and years later it almost looked better then the day I bought it. I think quality is usually worth it in home furniture. Now will you still want the style in ten years?
We bought > 8years ago an 1100$ set of sofa and loveseat from Macys. It looks almost like new and it's pretty used.

Otherwise my entire house has about 6000$ of furniture: 1 bedroom from Scandinavian Designs (3k$ on sale) + Vari desk (600$), one bedroom about 0 cost (old Ikea from previous life), living room 1100$ mentioned above + 700$ on a table from West Elm + 6 cheapest chairs. The set of furniture on the deck is about 150$, there is the place were we have most of our parties (the table is too small).
anoop
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by anoop »

You say you've been eyeing the furniture for 6 or 7 years. A lot could have changed since then in terms of quality. In fact, unless the price has gone up a lot in that time, you can be almost certain that they have played with quality. Have you looked at recent reviews?
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by iamlucky13 »

quantAndHold wrote: Wed Jul 28, 2021 7:36 pm If you’re looking at something “timeless” that could have been in your grandparents’ house, I would look at actual antiques, which are probably better built, actually *are* timeless, and the bottom has fallen out of the market, so they’re very cheap. You could probably buy much better stuff than what you’re looking at at auction for a few hundred dollars, then spend $3-5k having things refinished and reupholstered, and have something much nicer, that really will stand the test of time.
Do you have any favorite places to shop for quality used furniture, or by auction are you referring to estate sales?

For used, I have not ventured much further than Craigslist, which is has an overwhelming volume of the hideous and the well-worn to sift through.
reader79
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by reader79 »

It doesn't sound like you're out of line at all in your budget. I would go for it. It has hurt me to spend money on furniture, but I always end up keeping the stuff that costs the most. It just lasts.
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livelovelaugh00
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by livelovelaugh00 »

Costco has furniture sales on site every July and January. Really good price and quality.
daheld
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by daheld »

bligh wrote: Wed Jul 28, 2021 4:36 pm Furniture styles vary, but in my humble opinion this style is timeless (It does have an old world/old money look, and I could have inherited it from my Grandfather and I would have treasured it).
If you buy the furniture, and I would advocate that you do, I propose that you absolutely just start telling people it's a priceless heirloom that you inherited from your grandfather. :D :sharebeer
conservativeinvestor
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by conservativeinvestor »

We don't have a formal room in our house but growing up as a kid our family and all my friends families had such a room decked out with the fancy furniture like your keen on buying.

All i can remember thinking is how these were often the nicest rooms in the house but no one was ever allowed in them. Our family only ever used the room for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. Maybe you have different plans for how much you will use this room. Seems like a big waste of money to me.
Toadie
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by Toadie »

I've learned from painful experience that in furniture, it's worth it to buy quality. Price is usually, but not always, correlated with quality. So I wouldn't worry about paying that much for furniture, but I'd want to be confident that the furniture is made very well, in addition to looking good.
howard71
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by howard71 »

We spent about $16k on new living and bedroom furniture + tv last year. First time we ever spent anything like that on furniture. Was mostly old junk for years up until then.

Only regret was paying $4k for a high quality mattress. I'd cut that at least in half if I was going to do it again. Not sure you really get what you pay for with mattresses after a certain price point.
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peterinjapan
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by peterinjapan »

I live in Japan where inflation is hard to find, even now. I was shopping for a fire pit for my balcony, and the prices seem to be $200-400? Seems super cheap to me for a unique thing that’s so specialized.
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jabberwockOG
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by jabberwockOG »

poker27 wrote: Wed Jul 28, 2021 3:40 pm Years ago I bought a $1500 ish couch, I remember it looking horrible a year later, and I had to replace it in less than two years. Following that I bought a $6k couch (I'm afraid to think of what it would go for these days), and years later it almost looked better then the day I bought it. I think quality is usually worth it in home furniture. Now will you still want the style in ten years?
Spend enough to get high quality furniture. Our den has a Thomasville leather couch that is almost 20 years old. It cost apprx $6k when new, which was a lot for me at the time, but it's turned out to be the best furniture purchase ever. It is still super comfortable, no sag, wrinkles, etc., and shows very little wear.
stoptothink
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by stoptothink »

jabberwockOG wrote: Thu Jul 29, 2021 12:02 pm
poker27 wrote: Wed Jul 28, 2021 3:40 pm Years ago I bought a $1500 ish couch, I remember it looking horrible a year later, and I had to replace it in less than two years. Following that I bought a $6k couch (I'm afraid to think of what it would go for these days), and years later it almost looked better then the day I bought it. I think quality is usually worth it in home furniture. Now will you still want the style in ten years?
Spend enough to get high quality furniture. Our den has a Thomasville leather couch that is almost 20 years old. It cost apprx $6k when new, which was a lot for me at the time, but it's turned out to be the best furniture purchase ever. It is still super comfortable, no sag, wrinkles, etc., and shows very little wear.
Our $1300 large sectional has survived 6yrs with 2 young kids (and tons of friends always around) and still looks pretty much brand new. I would hardly say its "quality", the couch my in-laws just spent $8k on definitely has better bones, but with rules (that are enforced) in the home (no jumping or eating on the couch) I doubt we'll would be considering a new one before we move out of our current home.

For us it is simply opportunity cost. Technically it is better built, but functionally I don't get any more enjoyment out of sitting on my in-laws couch at 6x the cost and ours seems to be holding up well. $6700 buys us a lot of family adventures.
Caduceus
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by Caduceus »

If you've been thinking about it a while, are sure you will like it, and can afford it, I'd say to go ahead and get it.

I used to struggle a lot more with this from the perspective of charitable giving. My weakness is antiques, and I would think about the number of meals my antiques purchase would be able to fund for a needy child. I came to the realization that I couldn't defend any of my non-necessary purchases on moral grounds. I mean, that nice couch would bring me some enjoyment, but the equivalent amount of money would literally buy life for some other person.

The way I deal with it is to accept the immorality of almost all of my purchases, and just live with it. One of my childhood good friends is a fairly extreme altruist. She and her wife give away almost all of their discretionary income beyond a minimal level of spending and savings. I really admire their ability to live their life this way, having made certain conclusions about spending ... but it's beyond my ability to do so.
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jabberwockOG
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by jabberwockOG »

stoptothink wrote: Thu Jul 29, 2021 12:24 pm
jabberwockOG wrote: Thu Jul 29, 2021 12:02 pm
poker27 wrote: Wed Jul 28, 2021 3:40 pm Years ago I bought a $1500 ish couch, I remember it looking horrible a year later, and I had to replace it in less than two years. Following that I bought a $6k couch (I'm afraid to think of what it would go for these days), and years later it almost looked better then the day I bought it. I think quality is usually worth it in home furniture. Now will you still want the style in ten years?
Spend enough to get high quality furniture. Our den has a Thomasville leather couch that is almost 20 years old. It cost apprx $6k when new, which was a lot for me at the time, but it's turned out to be the best furniture purchase ever. It is still super comfortable, no sag, wrinkles, etc., and shows very little wear.
Our $1300 large sectional has survived 6yrs with 2 young kids (and tons of friends always around) and still looks pretty much brand new. I would hardly say its "quality", the couch my in-laws just spent $8k on definitely has better bones, but with rules (that are enforced) in the home (no jumping or eating on the couch) I doubt we'll would be considering a new one before we move out of our current home.

For us it is simply opportunity cost. Technically it is better built, but functionally I don't get any more enjoyment out of sitting on my in-laws couch at 6x the cost and ours seems to be holding up well. $6700 buys us a lot of family adventures.

Agree - I would not spend extra on high quality furniture if we still had a bunch of kids or animals in the house.
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lthenderson
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by lthenderson »

bligh wrote: Wed Jul 28, 2021 3:24 pm I thought I would reach out to this community and see what the general attitude was for this type of purchase? Is it common for people to spend $15-20K on their formal room furniture? Is it common to spend more than this? Is there a general consensus that spending that much is crazy and extravagant and I should just forget about the whole thing?

Any advice/criticism would be appreciated.
I thought I would just add something from a different perspective that I didn't see mentioned above. We bought a nice set of living room furniture about 15 years ago. It served us well though it didn't cost us near the amounts you listed above. Eventually, one of the chairs in it started degrading and falling apart. Now what do you do? You can't get an exact replacement because that line hasn't been manufactured in a dozen years or more. Finding one that matches is about impossible. Do you throw away the whole set just because one piece no longer is usable? In the end, we made the decision that buying sets isn't really worth it no matter what the price. We relegated the functional pieces to other parts of the house and our cabin, the broken piece went to the dump and we bought new pieces that weren't a set but looked good in the same room with all the other pieces.
stoptothink
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by stoptothink »

jabberwockOG wrote: Thu Jul 29, 2021 12:50 pm
stoptothink wrote: Thu Jul 29, 2021 12:24 pm
jabberwockOG wrote: Thu Jul 29, 2021 12:02 pm
poker27 wrote: Wed Jul 28, 2021 3:40 pm Years ago I bought a $1500 ish couch, I remember it looking horrible a year later, and I had to replace it in less than two years. Following that I bought a $6k couch (I'm afraid to think of what it would go for these days), and years later it almost looked better then the day I bought it. I think quality is usually worth it in home furniture. Now will you still want the style in ten years?
Spend enough to get high quality furniture. Our den has a Thomasville leather couch that is almost 20 years old. It cost apprx $6k when new, which was a lot for me at the time, but it's turned out to be the best furniture purchase ever. It is still super comfortable, no sag, wrinkles, etc., and shows very little wear.
Our $1300 large sectional has survived 6yrs with 2 young kids (and tons of friends always around) and still looks pretty much brand new. I would hardly say its "quality", the couch my in-laws just spent $8k on definitely has better bones, but with rules (that are enforced) in the home (no jumping or eating on the couch) I doubt we'll would be considering a new one before we move out of our current home.

For us it is simply opportunity cost. Technically it is better built, but functionally I don't get any more enjoyment out of sitting on my in-laws couch at 6x the cost and ours seems to be holding up well. $6700 buys us a lot of family adventures.

Agree - I would not spend extra on high quality furniture if we still had a bunch of kids or animals in the house.
I believe my parents have gone through 3 couches in the same time period that we've had ours; dogs.
Broken Man 1999
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by Broken Man 1999 »

lthenderson wrote: Thu Jul 29, 2021 12:51 pm
bligh wrote: Wed Jul 28, 2021 3:24 pm I thought I would reach out to this community and see what the general attitude was for this type of purchase? Is it common for people to spend $15-20K on their formal room furniture? Is it common to spend more than this? Is there a general consensus that spending that much is crazy and extravagant and I should just forget about the whole thing?

Any advice/criticism would be appreciated.
I thought I would just add something from a different perspective that I didn't see mentioned above. We bought a nice set of living room furniture about 15 years ago. It served us well though it didn't cost us near the amounts you listed above. Eventually, one of the chairs in it started degrading and falling apart. Now what do you do? You can't get an exact replacement because that line hasn't been manufactured in a dozen years or more. Finding one that matches is about impossible. Do you throw away the whole set just because one piece no longer is usable? In the end, we made the decision that buying sets isn't really worth it no matter what the price. We relegated the functional pieces to other parts of the house and our cabin, the broken piece went to the dump and we bought new pieces that weren't a set but looked good in the same room with all the other pieces.
Another thing I have found when we were considering a new dining room set was very few companies make an entire set of pieces. Lots of companies make dining tables and chairs, but nothing else, no china hutch, no buffet. I'm sure part of it is the more casual layout of homes today, a single great room, sometimes no separate dining room. So, less room to store the things you seldom use, anyway! :oops:

Hopefully we have completed our last roundup of buying furniture.

Broken Man 1999
“If I cannot drink Bourbon and smoke cigars in Heaven then I shall not go." - Mark Twain
phinanciallyfit
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by phinanciallyfit »

I think you should buy it, but only because it has been your dream furniture for so long and it sounds like you will get thorough enjoyment from it.

That said, we have a 2700sq ft house and spent less than $4k on furniture ($2k for living room couches. $1k for large dining table and cabinet from Costco, $400 for custom tv stand second hand, and several cube storage shelves for the playroom). Our formal living room acts as a playroom right now and a good chunk of our furniture came from family members as they have moved, downsized, etc. My one daughter had my childhood bedroom set that we refinished. We will probably replace our bedroom set one day, but that won't be until we move (in a few years, I'm guessing) so we have one less room of furniture to haul out.
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bligh
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by bligh »

lthenderson wrote: Thu Jul 29, 2021 12:51 pm
bligh wrote: Wed Jul 28, 2021 3:24 pm I thought I would reach out to this community and see what the general attitude was for this type of purchase? Is it common for people to spend $15-20K on their formal room furniture? Is it common to spend more than this? Is there a general consensus that spending that much is crazy and extravagant and I should just forget about the whole thing?

Any advice/criticism would be appreciated.
I thought I would just add something from a different perspective that I didn't see mentioned above. We bought a nice set of living room furniture about 15 years ago. It served us well though it didn't cost us near the amounts you listed above. Eventually, one of the chairs in it started degrading and falling apart. Now what do you do? You can't get an exact replacement because that line hasn't been manufactured in a dozen years or more. Finding one that matches is about impossible. Do you throw away the whole set just because one piece no longer is usable? In the end, we made the decision that buying sets isn't really worth it no matter what the price. We relegated the functional pieces to other parts of the house and our cabin, the broken piece went to the dump and we bought new pieces that weren't a set but looked good in the same room with all the other pieces.
This is actually a really good point I had not considered. Thank you for mentioning it. Getting a single piece of the set and mixing and matching it with other cheaper pieces would help with the overall cost too.
Starfish
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by Starfish »

stoptothink wrote: Thu Jul 29, 2021 12:24 pm
jabberwockOG wrote: Thu Jul 29, 2021 12:02 pm
poker27 wrote: Wed Jul 28, 2021 3:40 pm Years ago I bought a $1500 ish couch, I remember it looking horrible a year later, and I had to replace it in less than two years. Following that I bought a $6k couch (I'm afraid to think of what it would go for these days), and years later it almost looked better then the day I bought it. I think quality is usually worth it in home furniture. Now will you still want the style in ten years?
Spend enough to get high quality furniture. Our den has a Thomasville leather couch that is almost 20 years old. It cost apprx $6k when new, which was a lot for me at the time, but it's turned out to be the best furniture purchase ever. It is still super comfortable, no sag, wrinkles, etc., and shows very little wear.
Our $1300 large sectional has survived 6yrs with 2 young kids (and tons of friends always around) and still looks pretty much brand new. I would hardly say its "quality", the couch my in-laws just spent $8k on definitely has better bones, but with rules (that are enforced) in the home (no jumping or eating on the couch) I doubt we'll would be considering a new one before we move out of our current home.

For us it is simply opportunity cost. Technically it is better built, but functionally I don't get any more enjoyment out of sitting on my in-laws couch at 6x the cost and ours seems to be holding up well. $6700 buys us a lot of family adventures.

In my experience even eating on the couch is not that bad in terms of lifetime. We undress it and wash it pretty frequently because, despite the rules, the kid always manages some stains.
And still it looks like new.
I have Ikea furniture that went through multiple moves over more than a decade and still stands and looks good.
Good quality old furniture still smells bad and gets all kind of creatures inside.
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quantAndHold
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Re: How much did you spend on Furniture?

Post by quantAndHold »

Starfish wrote: Fri Jul 30, 2021 1:10 am Good quality old furniture still smells bad and gets all kind of creatures inside.
If that’s happening, you’re doing something wrong. I have a houseful of furniture from the 1800’s. None of it smells bad or has ever had critters.
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