How often do you redecorate and upgrade furniture?

[MRBXXXFVVS1]

I'm thinking about redecorating and upgrading our bedroom and living room furniture, as I purchased it almost 10 years ago and my style has changed since then. It's still in great shape and in style, so I feel a bit guilty spending the money and I would need to find a home for the current furniture.

How often do you redecorate and upgrade furniture?

 

[MamaBee]

I'm thinking about redecorating and upgrading our bedroom and living room furniture, as I purchased it almost 10 years ago and my style has changed since then. It's still in great shape and in style, so I feel a bit guilty spending the money and I would need to find a home for the current furniture.

How often do you redecorate and upgrade furniture?

I get bored after a few years..so I change out accessories, rugs, and art. I sometimes rotate them according to season..because I have a storage room...I don’t change out the furniture...I will be moving in a few years...At that point I am getting rid of two bedroom sets..and changing out sofas..drapes..It doesn’t make sense to do that now when I don’t know how things will fit in the new house.
Your home is your haven..If you can afford it..and it will make you happy...just do it!

 

[Austina]

We completely redecorated our house when we moved here nearly 9 years ago, and bought all new furniture. The house has been repainted once in those 9 years, and will be repainted again this year.

 

[marcy]

I’d say we do something every 3-4 years. Mostly because we get sick of something.

 

[lambskin]

I change paint color but it takes me forever to pick the color. Bought new living room furniture (two black leather french chairs, glass cocktail table and a white damsk sofa) when I got married 30 years ago. Bought an antique japanese tansu chest, an antique guatamalan chest and table and two old and weird wood chairs, a rosewood and brass chest from Pakistan, and a korean chest all purchased on vacation. The rest is hand me downs, dead relative cast offs (my mother had great taste and her pieces are timeless and beautiful), thrift store/garage sale finds, neighbor moving give- a -ways, or garbage picks. I love to refinish furniture. Did buy a computer desk for husband, a vanity for my daughter and a baby grand piano . That's it. I do collect hand knotted carpets from all over the world and I frame art, collectibles, and stuff I pick up along our travels which makes it all tie in (I think). Two kids going to college soon so no more purchases for a long, long time. Soon I will be casting off my stuff to them. Would I love to get rid of it all and buy all new---yeah, sometimes.

 

[missy]

We have to replace furniture generally every 5 years at least because of the cats. And repaint every 7 years.

However because we have 2 homes and life has been crazy this past year plus we are quite overdo re our Brooklyn home renovations. We need to paint and replace some of our couches at the very least. Most of our furniture at our Brooklyn home is antique so we do not replace those but we do refinish it as necessary. The cats really scratch the heck out of everything.

Not sure we are going to have the time or energy this year to do anything here at our Brooklyn home but we shall see. We won't do it at the sacrifice of going to our beach house as soon as the weather turns nice for cycling so we might have to postpone til next winter. And that is OK. I have let go of being a perfectionist or else I wouldn't have survived these past 5 years.

We did repaint and replaced all our couches at the beach house and re did the entire color scheme less than 2 years ago. It really freshens things up. Also gut renovated our kitchen. Went from blah to yeah. IMO.

Before:
Kitchen:



After:
Hard to show the kitchen in photos. Here it is from south, east and north. We put 2 fridges in one on each side.








Living Room before:






Living Room After:
Couches replaced but original area rugs


Area rugs replaced shortly after we got our new couches

 

[MamaBee]

@missy Something weird happened when I replied to your post so deleted it. Your home is beautiful...I love your kitchen! I have an all white kitchen too with the exception of my black cabinet island. What are your countertops made of? They’re beautiful!

 

[missy]

@missy Something weird happened when I replied to your post so deleted it. Your home is beautiful...I love your kitchen! I have an all white kitchen too with the exception of my black cabinet island. What are your countertops made of? They’re beautiful!

Thank you Joanne! They are Thassos white quartz. And I looked at all possibilities re white counters. Marble, quartz, quartzite, granite and glass. It was a labour of love going to all the stone quarries in NJ and NY and finding the "one".

I love marble and that was a close second but the veining was too busy for me even the simplest pattern but for one in Italy. The slabs I loved couldn't be shipped in time due to a strike so I went with the quartz. Love it. Not busy, no pattern, suits me just perfectly lol. I am a simple girl.

I also do not like the look of quartz trying to look like marble so I absolutely did not want that. I wanted it to look like quartz. And we went with marble for our backslash so a good mix.

I had wanted a white kitchen since Greg and I redid our Brooklyn home 16 years ago but Greg was anti white kitchen. Finally this go around he said OK do whatever you want. So I did. It's not my dream space because it is tight but I made it the best space I could under the circumstances.

 

[MamaBee]

Thank you Joanne! They are Thassos white quartz. And I looked at all possibilities re white counters. Marble, quartz, quartzite, granite and glass. It was a labour of love going to all the stone quarries in NJ and NY and finding the "one".

I love marble and that was a close second but the veining was too busy for me even the simplest pattern but for one in Italy. The slabs I loved couldn't be shipped in time due to a strike so I went with the quartz. Love it. Not busy, no pattern, suits me just perfectly lol. I am a simple girl.

I also do not like the look of quartz trying to look like marble so I absolutely did not want that. I wanted it to look like quartz. And we went with marble for our backslash so a good mix.

I had wanted a white kitchen since Greg and I redid our Brooklyn home 16 years ago but Greg was anti white kitchen. Finally this go around he said OK do whatever you want. So I did. It's not my dream space because it is tight but I made it the best space I could under the circumstances.

I have a unusual marble in my kitchen here in Pa..It etches so I have to be very careful...It is so beautiful but never again. It’s very high maintenance..I put quartz as a test just on my island in Maryland..It’s MSI carara..It’s a copy of marble but it is realistic. I fooled two people that sold both..It doesn’t have heavy veining. It’s very subtle. I will go with quartz when I have to redo the kitchen there..It needs it but I can’t spend enough time there to get it done.

 

[missy]

I have a unusual marble in my kitchen here in Pa..It etches so I have to be very careful...It is so beautiful but never again. It’s very high maintenance..I put quartz as a test just on my island in Maryland..It’s MSI carara..It’s a copy of marble but it is realistic. I fooled two people that sold both..It doesn’t have heavy veining. It’s very subtle. I will go with quartz when I have to redo the kitchen there..It needs it but I can’t spend enough time there to get it done.

You probably know this but just in case: Quartz is not no maintenance especially when it is white. We have black matte granite in Brooklyn and it is gorgeous and has maintained its original appearance. I can already tell the White Quartz probably won't age as well. But we shall see. If we stain it we have to immediately clean it or it's harder to remove the stain. I mean all things are possible to remove but you just have to work harder at it. We bought something that cleans tough to remove stuff called Bartenders friend I think...anyway time will tell. It sure is easier to maintain than marble though. You are so right about that. But my POV is the people in Italy love to cook and entertain and eat and their marble is still beautiful despite all the stains/etching etc. It is not for the perfectionist at heart to be sure.

I bet your PA kitchen is gorgeous Joanne. Sounds like a stunning piece of marble you have there.

 

[MamaBee]

You probably know this but just in case: Quartz is not no maintenance especially when it is white. We have black matte granite in Brooklyn and it is gorgeous and has maintained its original appearance. I can already tell the White Quartz probably won't age as well. But we shall see. If we stain it we have to immediately clean it or it's harder to remove the stain. I mean all things are possible to remove but you just have to work harder at it. We bought something that cleans tough to remove stuff called Bartenders friend I think...anyway time will tell. It sure is easier to maintain than marble though. You are so right about that. But my POV is the people in Italy love to cook and entertain and eat and their marble is still beautiful despite all the stains/etching etc. It is not for the perfectionist at heart to be sure.

I bet your PA kitchen is gorgeous Joanne. Sounds like a stunning piece of marble you have there.

Windex removed a red wine stain on my marble in Pa..when a friend knocked over her full glass. She wiped it and the stain was still there. I just grabbed a bottle of Windex because that’s all I had handy. It took it all out! I did it within a minute of her spilling it..but it did have a stain before I sprayed it...I keep a honed marble board on my counter in Maryland on top of the quartz..I have it for a few years now. Any stains that were on it were absorbed...I clean it like the rest of my countertop...and the stains just disappear over time. I’m still chicken to get the whole countertop in marble because of my crew...

 

[elizabethess]

For me redecorating isn't a thing that is done and then it's over. I think I'm always optimizing, tweaking, etc. I've always just continuously and slowly evolved things over time, including changing furniture. As example: we just changed our couch again. Before that we used a hand-me-down from a friend for 1 year, which had replaced the previous couch that went down to our basement playroom (6 years old). Our coffee table, however, is vintage, from my parents and has been around for decades Whenever it feels right for a change, I change!

This is anathema to my husband, whose family literally bought their 'forever home' right after getting married in the 70s, decorated it once, and have NEVER CHANGED ANYTHING. Not the carpet, not a lick of furniture (not even the couch!) not the art... nothing Thrifty, to be sure, but I could not... I just could not

As far as guilt/cost... if something is still in great shape and style, perhaps it could be sold for a little bit of $? We have unloaded various unwanted (but still in great shape) furniture this way, if we don't have a friend or family member in need.

After:
Hard to show the kitchen in photos. Here it is from south, east and north. We put 2 fridges in one on each side.

Aside: @missy I still lovvvve this kitchen and the backsplash you chose

 

[Niffler75]

@elizabethness I think I call into the optimising and tweaking camp. I tend to stick to fairly neutral colours for couches, paint, rugs etc then add colour with cushions, throws, artwork and so on. In our main room we have grey walls and rug, grey/ blue sofa and teal/green accessories.
I have the same issue as @missy with our cats. They rip the hell out of the sides of our couches. But we have loose covers so when scruffy they can be changed out!
Our next bit job is bathroom refurb. Our current suite has been in for around 10 years. I am planning a modern look with grey gloss furniture and hidden storage.

 

[missy]

@elizabethness I think I call into the optimising and tweaking camp. I tend to stick to fairly neutral colours for couches, paint, rugs etc then add colour with cushions, throws, artwork and so on. In our main room we have grey walls and rug, grey/ blue sofa and teal/green accessories.
I have the same issue as @missy with our cats. They rip the hell out of the sides of our couches. But we have loose covers so when scruffy they can be changed out!
Our next bit job is bathroom refurb. Our current suite has been in for around 10 years. I am planning a modern look with grey gloss furniture and hidden storage.

Good luck with your bathroom refurb. I’m impressed you use couch covers. Way too much trouble for me. I’ve given up lol. I always knew it was a choice between a clean beautiful home without furry babies or a home that is sort of wrecked bu wrecked with love.

 

[MamaBee]

Good luck with your bathroom refurb. I’m impressed you use couch covers. Way too much trouble for me. I’ve given up lol. I always knew it was a choice between a clean beautiful home without furry babies or a home that is sort of wrecked bu wrecked with love.

Restoration Hardware sells leather couches with scruffs, marks, etc. You’re in style!

 

[missy]

Restoration Hardware sells leather couches with scruffs, marks, etc. You’re in style!

And people wear ripped jeans and tops and such so thanks to Oliver I am on point there too.

 

[MamaBee]

And people wear ripped jeans and tops and such so thanks to Oliver I am on point there too.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

We are about to completlt strip and paint the outside of out house
im buying pretty good paint, intended for our high UV conditions
im pretty much hoping that will be it for many many years - its guaranteed for 10 or is it 15 years but we are using a colour that fades so im thinking although the paint will last the colour might not

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

I've read people in colder darker winters redecorate more often ?
I want to paint inside in jewel tones but i don't want it to look horrible old fashoned in 5 years either, im just visually allergic to greys and white !
I kind of think paint is relatively inexpensive- even the premium brands
if it doesn't work out paint over it next year !

 

[MRBXXXFVVS1]

I'm tempted to move forward with getting the new furniture! I need to go to the showroom to see it in person and I signed up for the mailing lists, so hopefully it will go on sale in the near future. I also need to see if I can move our existing furniture to other rooms, or if any friends or family want our existing furniture. Since it's in good shape and still in style, I'm not ready to donate it just yet!

 

[missy]

I'm tempted to move forward with getting the new furniture! I need to go to the showroom to see it in person and I signed up for the mailing lists, so hopefully it will go on sale in the near future. I also need to see if I can move our existing furniture to other rooms, or if any friends or family want our existing furniture. Since it's in good shape and still in style, I'm not ready to donate it just yet!

Are you changing your style altogether or just a color scheme change? is there any way you could refurbish/paint your furniture to make it work in your space? If it is in such good shape I might hesitate. Of course we never get to part with furniture that is still in good shape because our cats destroy it and that is ultimately why we redecorate. Oh I would love the luxury of just redecorating because I want to.

 

[stracci2000]

I change paint color but it takes me forever to pick the color. Bought new living room furniture (two black leather french chairs, glass cocktail table and a white damsk sofa) when I got married 30 years ago. Bought an antique japanese tansu chest, an antique guatamalan chest and table and two old and weird wood chairs, a rosewood and brass chest from Pakistan, and a korean chest all purchased on vacation. The rest is hand me downs, dead relative cast offs (my mother had great taste and her pieces are timeless and beautiful), thrift store/garage sale finds, neighbor moving give- a -ways, or garbage picks. I love to refinish furniture. Did buy a computer desk for husband, a vanity for my daughter and a baby grand piano . That's it. I do collect hand knotted carpets from all over the world and I frame art, collectibles, and stuff I pick up along our travels which makes it all tie in (I think). Two kids going to college soon so no more purchases for a long, long time. Soon I will be casting off my stuff to them. Would I love to get rid of it all and buy all new---yeah, sometimes.

@lambskin, I like your style! I do the same thing! A tansu chest! I would love to have one of those! I also have a Korean chest, made of sandalwood.

I don't redecorate. I don't like "new".
It takes me a long time to find furniture that I like. I find furniture at estate sales, yard sales, thrift shops.
So when I find a keeper, I will have it forever. I have Asian vintage and antique in the living room and master bedroom.
I love Asian interiors, so I have been slowly accumulating chests, chairs, and tables over the years. When I find a piece that I like, I rearrange the old stuff, sometimes selling a thing or two in my booth at the antique mall.

 

[MRBXXXFVVS1]

Are you changing your style altogether or just a color scheme change? is there any way you could refurbish/paint your furniture to make it work in your space? If it is in such good shape I might hesitate. Of course we never get to part with furniture that is still in good shape because our cats destroy it and that is ultimately why we redecorate. Oh I would love the luxury of just redecorating because I want to.

I'm changing style all together. Our existing furniture is more modern and contemporary, and I'm leaning towards a more antique, rustic, and traditional style. I think it will have a more timeless look to it and last for many years to come.

For me when things are broken or in not so great shape, it's super easy for me to justify upgrading!

 

[missy]

I'm changing style all together. Our existing furniture is more modern and contemporary, and I'm leaning towards a more antique, rustic, and traditional style. I think it will have a more timeless look to it and last for many years to come.

For me when things are broken or in not so great shape, it's super easy for me to justify upgrading!

Sounds good. I agree about it being easier to justify when things need repair etc but let's face it. When we want something we can always find a way to justify it...

 

[missy]

@lambskin, I like your style! I do the same thing! A tansu chest! I would love to have one of those! I also have a Korean chest, made of sandalwood.

I don't redecorate. I don't like "new".
It takes me a long time to find furniture that I like. I find furniture at estate sales, yard sales, thrift shops.
So when I find a keeper, I will have it forever. I have Asian vintage and antique in the living room and master bedroom.
I love Asian interiors, so I have been slowly accumulating chests, chairs, and tables over the years. When I find a piece that I like, I rearrange the old stuff, sometimes selling a thing or two in my booth at the antique mall.

I loe antique and our Brooklyn home is filled with antique furniture from my grandparents. We refinish those pieces. We have a Mahogany dining room table from my grandparents that my DH has had to refinish many times now due to cat scratches. It takes a licking but keeps on going...the antique stuff is well made.

Unfortunately our couches just do not stand up to our cats destructive behavior. But we have no antique couches now so it's OK. I feel fine replacing the non antique furniture.

Your home sounds lovely @stracci2000 The antique furniture has lots of character and beauty.

 

[stracci2000]

I loe antique and our Brooklyn home is filled with antique furniture from my grandparents. We refinish those pieces. We have a Mahogany dining room table from my grandparents that my DH has had to refinish many times now due to cat scratches. It takes a licking but keeps on going...the antique stuff is well made.

Unfortunately our couches just do not stand up to our cats destructive behavior. But we have no antique couches now so it's OK. I feel fine replacing the non antique furniture.

Your home sounds lovely @stracci2000 The antique furniture has lots of character and beauty.

Yes, cats. Gotta love 'em!
I have a leather couch, chair and ottoman. Lots of scratches on them from the cats jumping on and off. I keep treating the scratches with leather products, but new ones appear. Luckily our current furry-one only claws on the carpets.....but it's still maddening!

 

[Big Fat Facets]

I upgrade or toss our furniture when it has worn out.
The restoration hardware seating arrangemnt has lasted a REALLY long time.
I feel guilty if i throw something out just because im bored or sick of it. i think of the landfills. So even if i am bored or sick of it, i hang onto it until it cant be used or irretrievably broken down.

I buy furniture and homegoods the way i buy diamonds and jewelry. I ensure its very high quality. I dont care for disposable, "use for a few years and get rid of it" type of thing. Its too much trouble for me to begin the research on furniture every few years. Id much rather save that time and effort to research jewelry.

 

[kayla17]

We just moved into our home in March and I kept all my furniture. I haven’t purchased one large piece other than a desk from PB for my daughter’s room. I’m embarrassed to say that my furniture is 8 years old or older.
I can’t figure out what style I’m going for and I don’t want to buy anything unless I’m certain I really like it. COVID has also made me not want to go out and look and because what I have looks okay imo, so I’m not in a rush.
I definitely think if your furniture looks good and is in style then maybe a change of paint color and wall decor/rugs/pillows may do the trick. That’s basically what we did in this house.
But if you really want something new, try selling stuff on FB marketplace. I was able to sell a few things from my old house on there.
My living room set is 8 years old. I want to purchase something new but then we also don’t use the room that much so part of me is like why should I bother.
My bedroom set and dining room sets are 19 years old! I finally just purchased a new mattress in May.
I know for sure I want to get a sectional for my family room but I can’t decide on style, size and color. Our old family room sofas (from old house) we moved to the basement here and right now I have a sofa that used to be in our sunroom in the family room. It is 13 years old. The leather sides are scratched up from our cats and faded from the sun. Even my TV stand and shelves are 13 years old.
My kitchen table is 8 years old! I have cheap chairs from Wayfair bc of the cats. They scratched up my black leather parson chairs so I purchased chairs made out of plastic and metal!
Here is a picture of the sofa in the old house sunroom and now in my family room. In January I will have had it for 14 years.
Edited to add that the curtains are from previous owner so we left them up until I can figure out what I want. The bookcase in the old sunroom I moved into the new kitchen here.

 

[kayla17]

@missy
I love your kitchen! Our new house has white cabinets but they are painted and I can see the paint chips in different areas, mostly around the edges. It drives me crazy. I keep yelling at everyone to be careful. Also, we have cheap builders grade cabinets. I can definitely tell the difference from the old house which had solid cherry cabinets and the ones here. There is a difference in feel. But I have quartz here and it is lighter colored and I love love love it! I’ve never had light colored counters and I truly feel it makes a difference. The room looks brighter and cleaner.
On the other hand my husband hates this house. He thinks we definitely downgraded and wants to move back to our old house! Lol! He just feel that this house is so basic and our old house was upgrade everything. I wish I could change his mind.

 

[Big Fat Facets]

We have to replace furniture generally every 5 years at least because of the cats. And repaint every 7 years.

However because we have 2 homes and life has been crazy this past year plus we are quite overdo re our Brooklyn home renovations. We need to paint and replace some of our couches at the very least. Most of our furniture at our Brooklyn home is antique so we do not replace those but we do refinish it as necessary. The cats really scratch the heck out of everything.

Not sure we are going to have the time or energy this year to do anything here at our Brooklyn home but we shall see. We won't do it at the sacrifice of going to our beach house as soon as the weather turns nice for cycling so we might have to postpone til next winter. And that is OK. I have let go of being a perfectionist or else I wouldn't have survived these past 5 years.

We did repaint and replaced all our couches at the beach house and re did the entire color scheme less than 2 years ago. It really freshens things up. Also gut renovated our kitchen. Went from blah to yeah. IMO.

Before:
Kitchen:



After:
Hard to show the kitchen in photos. Here it is from south, east and north. We put 2 fridges in one on each side.








Living Room before:






Living Room After:
Couches replaced but original area rugs


Area rugs replaced shortly after we got our new couches

Missy,

your cats are adorable. they look like they've got the run of the house!!
I also really like what you did with the living room. So light bright airy and beachy!!