Why is it so difficult to give furniture away?

Refinishing/ painting old high quality solid furniture is easy for me, but perhaps not easy for others

I'm happy to refinish/repaint old furniture too - lots of people forget that the paint can be removed, and it's a way of stopping things ending up in landfill.

L love Freecycle. I have just got rid of nearly 100 rockery stones of all sizes by a combination of Free cycle, the village Facebook page and speaking to next doors gardeners as to whetehr they knew anyone who would like some.

I have just cleared my late lovely man's shed which since I lost him has gone into disrepair and looking rather wonky I needed the space for a new patio area.
I put it on Freecycle and advertised it for use as a chicken coup and had so many requests for it,the person I chose to have it dismantled it and took it away,he even jet washed the area for me so a win win for me.I do get rid of a lot of "stuff" on Freecycle.

On the other hand NotSpaghetti when you come to sell it, you should be able to buy whatever furniture you want from the proceeds - or have a really nice holiday!

Doodledog it wouldn't work in most of my house either to be honest. I think it's perfect in my workroom though. I was only using it as I'd expanded into a bigger room and needed some shelving quickly. It was going to be a short-term solution as it was sitting about here and convenient.

That is lovely, NotSpaghetti!

I really like that, but if I were to be offered some I would have to say no, as it just wouldn't go in my house.

Callistemon21

NotSpaghetti 😲

I know!

I had not a clue how very "desirable" ladderax had become till I went online to see if I could buy an extra shelf. I just thought it was useful.

The British Heart Foundation will collect furniture donations.

NotSpaghetti 😲

Callistemon21 - re gifting things, I picked up a huge set of ladderax shelving for my son a couple of years ago. He was looking for something for his office in a new house and thought it would do. Someone had been using it in their garage but it was in perfect condition as the garage was only used for storing "clean" things as they also had a workshop and a large garden shed.
It was totally free (on freecycle.org )

I was annoyed at the time as once I'd had two trips lugging it home his wife decided she didn't like it as it was too "old fashioned" - I had it sitting about for about a month then but I have to say it's really useful in my studio/workroom and looks quite smart actually! Being lots of "modules" it's easy to configure it to suit too.

It's pretty much like this:
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/354749416869?hash=item5298b685a5:g:A38AAOSwjX9kS9UK&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA4OikRWpZEdrw3obhd8XATf4qKiX1F1v%2B8ppO20aPAEJ7BZejx2hjTd1wRtvoZkZk%2FrcdI4VTEucZCWBsLF5ACvbXExm5YDvufn7%2BuzZpq14NDdOnA4JDwAC0RyRhPuXPkLSp2XykZtcqJzWsGCh8BP4%2FXjZp5uukDFvEtwC%2FWV2J2eyMk97Gb0xjP1abKaHuZ5pvJWh8sgRQ%2FcpERaWvuCj3nT9QsWb9R2jpB8WG6k9zpLGK1hqDJTXbApN8sWEQvHz2%2FC7vBSNd4HSiBCJMCfrO9cJ4ZDZ9SEnv2NjSM9r6%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR4jB0-6CYg

Habitat hadn't reached the rural extremities when we were furnishing our first home.

We bought a dining table and chairs (G plan) for £15 and tried to borrow a van to collect it. The owners offered to deliver it, they put it all on a trailer but knocked a very tiny piece out of the edge of the table.
My father carefully inserted a piece and polished it to match; you'd scarcely have noticed it, although I did. 🙂
We kept it for 18 years and someone was glad to take it, free of charge, all those years later.

I've just seen some chairs like ours for sale 😲

Set Of Four Vintage Retro Mid Century Teak 'Butterfly' Dining Chairs £545 per set of 4

Good heavens, paddyann54 what an affluent background you had.

We first lived in a rented flat, while we saved for a house. When we bought it and came to furnish it, the one thing we were both agreed on was that we both abhorred the thought of furniture suites, living, dining or bedroom.

Our preference was much more eclectic, a mix of Habitat and the awful dark brown stuff my granny would have had , which was very fashionble in the 1970s and 80s.

We still much prefer the brown furniture, so we now have a house furnished with the good quality antique furniture. We have also never owned any kind of furniture suite. The nearest we have come is the Ercol furniture in our kitchen and that was acquired item by item and is not a matching suite.

Its not difficult to get rid of furniture if its furniture people like .
I have never liked mid century style G plan was bland and not for us or the awful dark brown stuff my granny would have had .It may well have been stylish in its day but its days are long gone
We may have been lucky but most of my friends were the same ,parents paid for the wedding inlaws bought a suite ,granny bought bed and bedroom furniture my aunts chipped in with small pieces We were the only children of my mothers siblings they always bought for us from we were born .

Doesn't mean we can't comment about it - or pass judgement on it, for that matter.

Hithere I doubt everybody gets in debt for furniture. If they do, it is their call. Their bad judgement is their decisin, nothing you can do about it.

Indeed!!!!!!

Who cares, none of my business if it's not my money.

Sorry - in case it's not obvious, that was to FP. I cross posted with Hithere, with whom I agree on this one.

That's a massive leap though. The thread starts with someone saying that furniture is difficult to get rid of.

People point out that younger people may not have transport for bulky items, and getting them into houses can be tricky if there are no trained delivery people on the case. Also that tastes and fashions change, everyone would prefer to have their homes styled in their own style, and flat pack furniture is now available much more cheaply than furniture was 'in our day'.

From there we go to feckless young people rejecting marvellous craftsmanship in favour of things they can't afford and getting into huge amounts of debt. There is no logical leap between the case and the conclusion.

Some people get into debt buy buying from Brighthouse and similar, or taking high interest loans to furnish their homes. Are these the people who have been offered things from downsizing relatives? Would they have taken Auntie Nellie's old sideboard and china cabinet if they'd been offered? Would their Auntie Nellie even have an old sideboard to pass on, or would she have had to buy cheap things herself? We really don't know, and the assumption that people are getting into huge amounts of debt because they are rejecting old furniture is not based on anything concrete.

I doubt everybody gets in debt for furniture

If they do, it is their call. Their bad judgement is their decisin, nothing you can do about it

TVs can be on the floor, box + mattress on floor too
Bean bags for sofas and plastic garden chairs, a box upside down is a good table too....

I would rather do that than get stuck with a dinosaur piece of furniture that wouldnt work for me long term

Hithere 'I fully agree with doodledog- dont blame the younger generation for not sharing the same values

Vilifying the younger generation because they dont behave the way you expect them to is only going to widen the gap

I remember a tv series where they wanted to sell homes but the decor was a problem.
Couple A would visit house of couple B and be horrified with the decor

However, when couple A got feedback from people that their decor was outdated and house would sell if it was more neutral, got surprised and question the bad taste of others

Every single episode - the same thing
"I don't like your taste but everybody likes mine" mentality'

not at all- no-one is blaming, or expecting one's taste to be loved by youngsters starting off. It is about expectations which don't match the financial reality - and the concern that for many, it leads to huge amounts of debts on the never-never.

Very few of us were given all we needed (or a house for that matter)- and to our taste, when starting off. And no, it meant that not everything we could get for necessarily to our perfect taste.

We've been having a bit of guestroom bedroom furniture discussion - as we have a long term guest arrive end of month. Finally it sorted, my pragmatic husband is better with in-home decisions.

Normal I think, men like to do appliances, decor, and furnishings. Me? I dislike engineering layouts and the planning.

How about using these tables for sewing clothes?

Much better than lying the fabric on tbe floor to cut the pattern

I don't think dining tables can be used as work desks

They are still too big and heavy.
Work desks these days are preferrably L shaped, ergonomic, adjustable (height wise), or also what is called walking desk.
They are not fully flat either, the top can be set on a slope

I just put a link on another thread which is worth posting on here too.

Dunelm will take furniture as well as other goods, if you have a store in your area.

www.dunelm.com/info/about/take-back-scheme

Ercol is well made though and good British design and manufacture (I know Lucian was Italian) I found it interesting that they used the craftpeople to make the initial design and then worked out how machinery would help in that process.

Calendargirl You need a table, even for kitchen suppers.

We recently extended our kitchen to give us a big dining/family room with wall to ceiling doors onto the garden. We went out and bought a vintage Ercol dining suite, in the fashionable light elm colour, or rather, we assembled it, a mixture of auction and ebay purchases. The table is from the much more recent Ercol for John Lewis range, because it was much cheaper than the price of 1950s/60s originals, but indistinguishable from. The table top is covered by table protector and then a large thick plastic table cloth so that the table top doesn't get damaged when DH puts his DIY tools on it. On special occasions I whip the table cloth off and lay the table up in style.

Vintage elm Ercol is much in demand and commands high prices.