What do y'all think is a reasonable lifespan for your furniture? Say, specifically a couch. Would you be disappointed if you spent good money on a couch and it needed replacing in 5 years? 10 years?
More than 10 years. My question is, what do you do with furniture you no longer want, but is still usable.
Good, upholstered furniture can last decades if cared for. If it’s high quality fabric or leather, the interior cushions can be re-wrapped (basically restuffed) if they start to lose shape or sag.
It can vary depending on a number of different things. Some furniture is just made better than other furniture, so it will last longer. Better frame, better foam, better springs. But, I will tell you that some people are much harder on furniture than other people. Several decades ago I sold furniture. I wasn’t very good at it and I didn’t enjoy it. But, I did learn a few things. Kids are rough on furniture. They jump on it, and play on it, and sometimes damage it. Heavy people are very rough on furniture. I’ve seen chairs and sofas terribly disfigured in a pretty short period of time by people that were very heavy. Foam cushions and zigzag springs can fail within a few years for some people. By the way, yesterday I just replaced a zigzag seat spring on a Lazy boy recliner for my brother. The chair was twelve years old.
Depends on the furniture. I'd like furniture to last 15-20 years at least, because I don't care about what's "in" or "out" in terms of style. It also depends on your household. If you've got kids and dogs tearing the furniture up, I'm not sure it would matter what you get. But if I'm getting new furniture every 5 years, I'd have to re-think my purchases. There are charities that will pick it up. But a lot of them want them to be in good/usable condition without (m)any blemishes. If it's all scratch & dent stuff, they may not want it. Look up charities in your area. Either that or get it hauled away to the dump. You could also try selling it, I guess, but selling common/used furniture is sometimes a waste of time because what you get for it may not be worth effort, nor would having to interact with the weirdos that show up at your door trying to take a look, haggle with you on it after you've agreed on the price, or just don't show up.
It should last forever if it's wood. You may have to re-upholster (new cushions, etc...) at some point. If you're done with it, tired of it, then get rid of it and start over.
Some furniture (specially upholstered items) is notoriously good from afar, but FAR from good. Pottery barn comes to mind.
parents still use the same bed and sofa from way before i was born. gallery furniture saves you money frfr
In 200,000 BC we sat on stumps of wood. Now, we sit on wood stumps with sheep fur. That's not much progress.
I used to move from place to place. Salvation Army will pick up anything you couldn't sell or don't want as long as it's sellable (working, presentable enough, etc). It beats freecycling because you don't have to bust your back lugging it to the front porch for neighbors to gawk at. You also get a tax donation receipt they largely let you fill in.
I did not know that. There's a women's shelter up here that sets up ladies with anonymous housing to get away from abusive relationships, that's where I've taken stuff before.
I think the couch in your living room is naturally going to have a shorter shelf life just because it’s a big show piece of your design and it’s also a first impression piece for guests. You are judged and feel self conscious if your living room couch has piss stains from the dog, spilled milk smells, and brown stains from ice cream spills etc. So I’d say 5 years is pretty typical for the living room. A man cave or office couch maybe 10 to 15 years or more if kept clean. Wood furniture though should in theory last forever. It’s just too easy to sand, restain, paint, patch, etc. it’s really just about style and functionality. But all wood furniture imo should never be thrown away because there’s some use for it even if not in your house.
The couch that inspired this thread has the leather flaking off. Could probably go another ten years in a man cave, but it's in the living room. I paid a bit more to not get some garbage leather, but I know if I paid more still I could have gotten rich people leather that would last for decades.
A lot of "leather" furniture isn't actually leather. Parts of it may be leather, but often the seats and back cushions are pleather.
