Why is it so difficult to give furniture away?

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

Who is?
I remember those days.

I'm not sure if that was directed at me, FP, but at no point have I said that I was or wasn't given anything, or that I did or didn't do without. My own anecdotal experience isn't really relevant, and you have no idea how lucky or otherwise I may have been. I am simply saying that not everyone will feel grateful for old things that someone else doesn't want.

Callistemon21

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

Who is?
I remember those days.

Ooops I forgot to copy the post by Paddyann, Callistemon

'W e never had second hand anything when we got married.*our families bought us the furniture we liked from shops like Habitat ,The Danish centre and Behar carpets ,we had a suite beds carpets and small items like bedside chests an sside tables etc*.
My parents moved just 3 tmes in their marriage and refurnished each new house when they moved with new furniture that suited it .Like me they changed furniture quite often
I would rather do without than have something I wasn't really happy with,compromises dont work for me ...

I suppose the issue nay be that people who really do need free furniture do not have the transport to fetch and take it home as lots of pople in low paid employment cannot drive as it's so expensive to learn and to run a car (sorry if I have repeated someone)

Fleurpepper

Callistemon21

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

Who is?
I remember those days.

Ooops I forgot to copy the post by Paddyann, Callistemon

'W e never had second hand anything when we got married.*our families bought us the furniture we liked from shops like Habitat ,The Danish centre and Behar carpets ,we had a suite beds carpets and small items like bedside chests an sside tables etc*.
My parents moved just 3 tmes in their marriage and refurnished each new house when they moved with new furniture that suited it .Like me they changed furniture quite often
I would rather do without than have something I wasn't really happy with,compromises dont work for me ...

Oh, I see!
🤔

I think we bought a new bed and 3 piece suite but most of what we had was 2nd hand when we bought our first house.
The Tapley SL was my first new indulgence, still in use 50 years on!

The trend now is oriented towards functionality and usability

I also wonder how child friendly furniture generations ago is, compared to current one.

Younger generations do appreciate craftsmanship and artistic details - it doesnt mean they choose to live with it 24/7

I have cheap furniture from ikea from more than 10 years, it has been used for so many different purposes ( a table for eating, tv, crafts for kids, etc) and so easy to move to a different room that I wouldnt pick a heavy table made of solid wood unable to move by myself

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

Also, smoking was much more common than it is
If that furniture was exposed to smoke, i wouldnt want it in my home

Thanks for explanation Jaxjacky.

Am reminded of Alan Clark. "He looks like someone who buys his own furniture."
What surprises me on Freecycle is how many beautiful but large dining tables there are. People seem to have other uses for their dining rooms. ?? Home offices?

loopylou

I suppose large dining tables are not wanted because dining rooms and dinner parties are out of fashion. It’s all kitchen suppers in the open plan kitchen/diner.

DH and I still eat all our meals in our (unfashionable) dining room in the winter months, in the summer we tend to eat in our equally unfashionable conservatory.

As I said upthread, we had a lovely large table of my mum’s for a while, and got rid in the end because it had to be protected against marks, so the children couldn’t use it for drawing or crafts, and it had to be covered when we were eating. It took up a lot of space and restricted the way we could use the dining room. We now have a pull-out table that means when it’s not being used the room can function as a second sitting room as it folds away to quite small. It’s modern, so it suits the room as it is now styled. It’s not the same ‘quality’ as the old one, which was rosewood and highly polished, but it is much more practical and I wish we’d had it when the children were at home.

Also, a lot of people don’t have separate dining rooms these days - the trend is for open plan living.

Hithere

Also, smoking was much more common than it is
If that furniture was exposed to smoke, i wouldnt want it in my home

I wouldn't either, but most furniture that's advertised will state if it comes from a smoke-free home.

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.

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.

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

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

How about using these tables for sewing clothes?

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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 .