Is It Time?
I’m in a bit of a quandry here at Casa de Rhonda.
My living room furniture is about 7 years old and still looks nice, IMO. It was relatively expensive stuff–at least to me–and it’s held up well despite the fact that my children and husband have wrestled and wallowed on it since the moment it was delivered into our house. It took me WEEKS to pick out the sofa. Sofas are important. They have to be big and roomy. They’ve got to be aesthetically pleasing, the right shape, size and proportion to your living area. And color choices. Egads, it was a nightmare. I almost never found a sofa I was totally happy with.Â
And until recently, it hadn’t occured to me not to be happy with it anymore.
Back in August, during my daughter’s birthday party, one of her little friends came inside, looked into our living room and said, “Wow, ya’ll have still got the same furniture. How sweet.”
She’s twelve. I overlooked her.
But then last week a good friend of mine stopped by–the one who’d been with me when I bought the couch and had been on the endless search with me–and said “Goodness, I can’t believe you’ve still got this sofa. It’s held up well, hasn’t it?”
 It *has* held up well. It’s a *nice* sofa. But is there some unwritten rule about how long you are supposed to keep living room furniture? Has my time limit expired, even it’s still pretty and in good shape and I love it? How often are you supposed to replace a sofa anyway? Help! I need to know these things!
November 20th, 2007 at 6:15 am
If you still like it and it is not broken keep it.
November 20th, 2007 at 8:00 am
November 20th, 2007 at 8:15 am
Let’s see, my sofa is 11 years old now. I’d like a new one, but this one is still holding on.
Until it breaks, keep it.
November 20th, 2007 at 8:26 am
If you still like it and have no problem with it, keep it. Mine is a hand me down and I’ve had it 10 years and I’m very happy with it.
November 20th, 2007 at 8:39 am
My MIL has furniture in her house that I recognized from DB’s baby pictures. She pays good money, buys nice pieces and keeps them forever. Even if they’re avocado green.
If you like the couch and it isn’t broken down, who cares? I just replaced my old couch. It was about 10 years old, creaked and the upholstery was torn and stained in several places. Now its the cat’s couch upstairs. If it had been in better shape, I would’ve kept it. Its hard to break in a new couch.
November 20th, 2007 at 9:12 am
I think if you pay good money for a well made piece, you keep it until it falls apart or you decide you don’t like it anymore. And, you can have them recovered if you want new fabric. My mom just paid $400 to have a Chippendale camelback sofa recovered. She bought the fabric at Hancock, and paid about $150 for it.
November 20th, 2007 at 9:14 am
If you love it, keep it. After all you’re the one that has to look at it every day.
I bought my living room set back in 1989 and it still looks good. The wing chairs look new (hardly anyone every sits in them) and my sofa still works even if it is starting to get a little frayed around the edges. Besides, I haven’t found a style I like better.
November 20th, 2007 at 10:04 am
If there’s nothing wrong with it - KEEP IT! I’ve had my LR suite since 1997 and its still going strong. Keep that sucker til it falls apart Rhonda!
November 20th, 2007 at 11:57 am
I’m with everyone who says keep it until you hate it or it’s falling apart! If you need a different look/color, maybe you can try new throw pillows or something. We spent money on “real” furniture about five years ago, and I’m assuming that this is it for the next twenty years or so… (if the kids don’t utterly destroy it first). I agree with Jen–I hate the “just-throw-it-away” mentality!
November 20th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
I totally agree. If you had that hard of a time finding the furniture you liked, why get rid of it? If the fabric is what is bugging you, splurge and have it recovered…..voila’!!!! New look for minimal cost!!
is what you tell the next person who dares to judge!!! Unless they are offering to pay for new furniture….. 
November 20th, 2007 at 6:21 pm
Thanks, everyone! I *do* like it. And when it does finally start showing some wear, I really like the idea of having it recovered. It’s comfy.
November 20th, 2007 at 7:31 pm
We bought our living room furniture in Italy in 1983 and only gave it away a few years ago. It needed new cushions but was fine. The only reason we got rid of it was it hurt our aging backs and we wanted the Lazyboy recliners. Growing old sucks!
November 23rd, 2007 at 4:29 pm
It would never occur to me to get a new sofa if I still liked the old one. We’ve had ours for at least nine years and it’s leather, so I don’t see it going anywhere anytime soon. Whenever I want something new in the room, I change the accessories!
November 23rd, 2007 at 4:31 pm
Rhonda, my mother hasn’t bought a new couch in twenty years. And she has several. Chairs, too. She has them all recovered every so often. They look great and it saves a ton of money. But that’s not why my mother does it…she likes what she picks out and sees no reason to throw away perfectly good furniture because it’s out of style…she just brings it up to date! Her tastes are fairly classic, so it’s not hard.
November 23rd, 2007 at 4:47 pm
Julie, I change the accessories frequently. Drives my dh nuts.