Why is it so difficult to give furniture away?

I host young people on a site called Helpx.
Over the years 100s have stayed here and in their reviews they often remark on the quirky furniture and decor which seems normal to me.
One lass from Spain was keen to do some renovations and she ripped off a couple of plastic tabletops replacing them with sawn wooden doors she found in a skip.
So it's not all young people who are wedded to IKEA.

Lots and lots of Victorian terrace houses are tiny, even when compared with modern houses and flats. They were furnished with items that were the right scale for their homes and plenty of it is still around.

Go to an auction sale and you would be able to buy enough furntiture of the right scale to furnish a modern 1/2 bedroomed house/flat for well under £500.

When DD bought her first flat, some years ago now, but that £500 covered curtains and soft furnishings as well.

Recently we bought a modern 6 foot tall set of pine book shelves for £20. They hadn't sold at auction, but we spoke to the auctioneer the next day and did a deal. We could of course, have gone to the local pine furniture shop and paid nearly £300 for the same item brand new.

The issue is that a lot of people dislike dark, heavy and carved Victorian furniture, me included. Tastes have changed, I love the simpler lines of Georgian, and have gathered a few pieces over the years, but it tends to be more expensive, and I wouldn’t want to fill the whole house with it - but it goes better with more modern furniture than Victorian/Edwardian furniture does.
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It is possible to furnish your house cheaply, but unless you have absolutely no choice I’m not a fan of ‘making do’. I’ve donated a few things to BHF, but understandably they only want things they can sell on, so I’ve used the local Facebook selling page too, the upcyclers are sometimes interested. If not, I use the Council’s collection service, I think you can only do so much before you have to let things go regardless.

I think people need to ask themselves why they are getting rid of things, before accusing others of being too fussy for not wanting them.

With you on this one. A 3 seater lazy boy sofa in excellent condition cpukd give it away so it's now at the tip. Makes me so sad.

I tried to give away an immaculate z bed and nobody wanted it. They are so useful!

Doodledog

I think people need to ask themselves why they are getting rid of things, before accusing others of being too fussy for not wanting them.

Some posters aren’t getting it 😄

Doodledog

I think people need to ask themselves why they are getting rid of things, before accusing others of being too fussy for not wanting them.

Well in our case, it's because my in-laws have had to go into care and their house is being sold to pay for it, so we need to clear everything out. Family members have taken what they can, but there's still quite a bit left. I've advertised quite a few things on a local free sharing group today, so hopefully we will manage to shift some of it - failing that, we will have to get someone in to do a house clearance.

Yes, but whereas I understand that it would be better for the planet and easier for you if people came and took it away, the reality is that you probably will have to pay someone to dispose of it, for all the reasons mentioned on this thread.

I was able to get rid of some dark furniture which we "inherited" from a friend's parent who died.
We kept several items because it matches our own boring dark furniture.

My own 3 piece suite was sold by a charity shop when we replaced it. Obviously I have good taste 😁

I suspect that dark furniture will be back in fashion soon. Probably not in the same style as before (or people would be able to buy it second hand, so there would be no profits for the manufacturers ), but with what is always called 'a modern twist'.

I grew up in the 60s surrounded by what is now called 'MCM' or mid-century modern furniture, and it was the last thing I would have wanted in my own home. I'd be happy with some of it now, though, and have seen my parents' G Plan nest of tables and sideboard selling for quite a lot on Etsy (not their actual ones, but the same styles).

Each generation* rejects the styles of the one before, but what goes around comes around.

(* not everyone, obviously, before someone tells me about exceptions to the rule )

Doodledog

I think people need to ask themselves why they are getting rid of things, before accusing others of being too fussy for not wanting them.

Downsizing mostly for our age group, surely. And the sadness to see fabulous craftmanship go to waste and replaced with rubbish which won't last more than a couple of years.

There is nothing wrong with wanting other, different stuff- but it often leads to regular replacements due to poor quality, not good for the environment. But mostly. it leads to DEBT for so many, DEBT which drags them down very long term and is also costing society and social services, etc, hugely.

I'm sure that's true for some families. But in others, the young people take a responsible attitude, and buy what they can afford when they can afford it. Just like we did . My children took some of our old things that were in the loft (dining chairs, a coffee table and crockery - things like that), but as soon as they could afford their own things and had decided on a style they liked they replaced them. No debt, and no rubbish.

Yes, there are many people struggling these days, thanks to low wages and high house prices. But these people are not likely to live near the people who want to downsize, and who have the sort of furniture they think is valuable. Factor in the expense and hassle of going to see it to see if it will fit and whether it is what they are looking for, then organising transport to collect it and get it up the stairs/round a tight corner in the hallway etc, and a 'free' or cheap item suddenly costs more than its modern equivalent that comes flat packed, or will be delivered by someone trained to manoeuvre awkward house layouts. Plus the new item will make the young couple feel that the house has their stamp on it, not that of people a generation or two older.

I read an article a while ago about the mismatch between older peoples views of the value of their 'stuff' and the reality. In the past, we were encouraged to see purchases as investments, and to collect and acquire items that we thought would hold value because they were 'quality'. The truth is, though, that young people just don't want it, so there is no value. Capodemonte and Lladro ornaments, Sylvac pots, bone china dinner services, silver teapots and so on are all the sort of thing that many older people see as things to pass on to their children who should be grateful for them as they were costly. In fact, there is just no market, as young people don't want clutter. Many dealers refuse to take things like that, and also refuse to take furniture such as china cabinets, TV cabinets, and heavy old items. Maybe Biglouis can confirm whether the author was right?

Talking to a friend earlier, her neighbour had a two year old range cooker, cost £2.5k, eventually advertised, in desperation for £50. It ended up with the scrap man, no one wanted it, even with transport costs it was an immaculate bargain.

Doodledog I agree with your list of collectables that no longer have value. We had an antique stall for some years and that and bone china dinner sets, we wouldn't buy because we could not sell them, although were always odd items that remained popular.

However, I do not think that older people have any illusions about the value of their goods, they know younger people do not want them - well, you only need to read this thread to see that. We have a house full of good antique furniture and we have seen the value tumble over the last 15 years, to about 20% of what it used to be, one or two items are the exception to the rule, but we have been able to save on house insurance because our contents have fallen in value over the years.

Every cloud, M0nica .

Everyone should keep what they enjoy (except for my husband, who has an unnecessary attachment to a hideous clock that belonged to his grandmother), but I don't think it's unreasonable of the younger generations to say 'no thank you' to things they really don't want.

Jaxjacky

Talking to a friend earlier, her neighbour had a two year old range cooker, cost £2.5k, eventually advertised, in desperation for £50. It ended up with the scrap man, no one wanted it, even with transport costs it was an immaculate bargain.

I would have been delighted to take that off her hands, but I probably live miles away and would have to have my kitchen remodelled to fit it, which illustrates my point, really.

Doodledog* I quite agree.

Doodledog Everyone should keep what they enjoy (except for my husband, who has an unnecessary attachment to a hideous clock that belonged to his grandmother), but I don't think it's unreasonable of the younger generations to say 'no thank you' to things they really don't want.

Funny. The unreasonable attachment here is a very large collection of ridiculous Royal Dalton ladies - I ask to bin his china tat yearly.

Unfortunately it's up to our daughter to bin his excess tat, later. Very fortunately everything I own is useful and wonderful.

Refinishing/ painting old high quality solid furniture is easy for me, but perhaps not easy for others - I love the results, of course opinions vary.

Refinishing/ painting old high quality solid furniture is easy for me - I can't do this. It feels sacrilegious!

Jaxjacky

Talking to a friend earlier, her neighbour had a two year old range cooker, cost £2.5k, eventually advertised, in desperation for £50. It ended up with the scrap man, no one wanted it, even with transport costs it was an immaculate bargain.

Just wonder why they want to get rid of a two year old, £2.5k range cooker?

Am sure there must be a reasonable explanation, but it does make you wonder.

On our local Facebook page, someone was trying to sell a sofa which he claimed was only a month old, going for about a third of what he had supposedly paid for it.

I assume it didn’t fit/ wasn’t comfortable/ wrong colour…

Calendargirl both have increasing infirmity, arthritis and scoliosis means bending and lifting from the oven is a problem.

Doodledog 'I suspect that dark furniture will be back in fashion soon'

of course it will, by the time most of it has been burnt or crashed. And so many people will realise what amazing craftmanship was involved and the amazing designs.

It's how the economy works though. If everything got passed on as much as it could be (or should be if we were serious about conserving resources) then there would be job losses in the timber industry, as well as furniture making and retail. The government would lose VAT and have to pay benefits to those made unemployed by the loss of sales of new furniture.

you were very very lucky, I hope yu realise this.

For all sorts of reasons, we had nothing at all given to us when we got married- nothing. So the choice to 'do without than have something I wasnt' really happy' - just was NOT an option. Same when we had our first baby- all simple hand me downs.