Why is it so difficult to give furniture away?

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This old cupboard/wardrobe. Quite cute painted.

Someone chalk painted this quite old bed.

One can add cheap as chips rugs.

Dinahmo

Painted floors in flats don't work because of noise. Unless the flat is on the ground floor of course

Ground floor it is then!

Carpets are also great insulators stopping drafts and keeping heat in a room, another good reason to keep them.

It isn't that difficult for a Social worker and a house maintenance person to visit a property after itis vacated assess the flooring (and curtains, if left) and on a knowledge of the family who have moved out and the visual state and feel of the carpet, decide whether to strip it out or just give it a good professional clean.

We have a local charity whose main purpose is to provide those going into social housing who for any reason, do not have furniture or household goods, with everything they need fro beds, bedding, cookers, tables and chairs etc etc.

Painted floors in flats don't work because of noise. Unless the flat is on the ground floor of course

Doodledog

Many councils run schemes for benefit claimants to take furniture. They will insist on fire certificates and I'm not sure if they take beds, but they are there for just such situations as you describe Calendargirl. I saw that news item too, and it doesn't make sense to rip up laminate flooring and carpets. If the council deep cleaned them between tenancies they could act as a stopgap for the new tenants, and carpet suppliers will usually take away old ones when they get round to replacing them.

Indeed.

Seems to me, if people tolerate carpet/ want carpet, professional cleaning between tenancies would be a good answer.

One daughter painted wood floors in her old home, pretty approach.

Many councils run schemes for benefit claimants to take furniture. They will insist on fire certificates and I'm not sure if they take beds, but they are there for just such situations as you describe Calendargirl. I saw that news item too, and it doesn't make sense to rip up laminate flooring and carpets. If the council deep cleaned them between tenancies they could act as a stopgap for the new tenants, and carpet suppliers will usually take away old ones when they get round to replacing them.

Just been looking at an article on the BBC News site about how poverty groups are calling for housing associations not to rip out carpeting in between tenants (for hygiene reasons) as the incoming tenant can be left for months with bare floors as they can’t afford to replace them.

The pictures show one woman’s flat in Oldham which apart from no flooring, doesn’t look to have much furniture either, clothes piled up, no wardrobe or cupboard in sight.

Seems so wrong that this happens when perfectly serviceable furniture goes to the tip, to say nothing of carpeting.

I realise this subject has already been mentioned, but what a waste all round.

My daughter also found the same but put a cabinet in mahogany outside. A car drew up and two women asked if they could have it as it was good quality and they would strip it down to give it a new life. They were delighted when she also offered them a matching dining room table. We had bought these items for them 35 years ago and had been well used. Our furniture is dark mahogany and also really good quality but it will have to do us now. If we live long enough you never know it may come into fashion again. It did when we bought it as it was considered desirable after our light coloured furniture and as traditional would stay in fashion. Ha ha!

Foxygloves

At the risk of being devil's advocate - perhaps people don't like it?
We all have different tastes and my prized piece may be your living room nightmare.

Agreed

We still have every piece of cast off furniture from every family member. Never selected any major furnishings on our own. Pitiful init?

Older generations were large/ made up of many people - who owned masses of furniture to pass down upon marriage.

Unfortunately "no thank you" is not said in our families.

Somebody prized all the furniture in our home - can't say I know who or why. Logically this passing down needs to end.

I have got several beautiful bits of furniture that my grandmother owned. She loved antique furniture and had a very good eye - but little money. Bombed out of her house in the Blitz, when it was rebuilt, the government gave her a furnishing allowance. Most people rushed out to buy new utility furniture rather than anruques and she was able to buy a beautiful mahogany library table, which she used as a dining table and now has pride of place in my hall, a lovely delicate Edwardian occasional table, a sutherland table that I use for sewing and several other bits and pieces.

DH's grandfather and uncles were antique dealers and we inherited more beautiful furniture from his mother, as well as from an aunt and my sister.

They do, or did that in Germany too. A brilliant idea .

In Spain there was evening a week when they can put outside things they no longer want, for other people to take. If it's still there the following morning it's cleared away.

Interesting reading these comments. Contrary to popular belief, most early 20th century brown furniture was made in a factory. There was a lot of it, mainly hideous in my eyes. Some of it does get up cycled by painting in Annie Sloane paints or similar.

There is a big difference between the brown Ercol and the pale stuff which is popular and getting expensive.

You need to be careful if you start mucking about with antique furniture because it's easy to destroy the value if you do the wrong thing. My DH was a furniture restorer before he retired and some very lovely and very valuable pieces went through his workshop. When we lived in London he was asked to go the home of a wealthy woman in Chelsea who'd bought a set of 18th C dining chairs. They may have needed some repair. Anyway she mentioned that they'd been painted and had them stripped. What was stripped off was the original paintwork from when the chairs were made. Rosewood was a very expensive wood, even then and makers painted the furniture to look like rosewood. She'd paid a lot and asked about the value. He said he didn't know because he didn't want to tell her that she ruined a good set of chairs.

Brazil banned the export of their rosewood back in 1967 and was added to the CITES convention as an endangered species.

Are there any colleges nearby who teach upholstery? They might take some.

My favourite piece of furniture is what we call ‘the desk’.

It was my parents, bought after the war, a utility item I assume.

Darkish polished wood, consists of a glass fronted shelved cabinet, atop a drop down ‘desk’ section, then sets of drawers underneath.

Not particularly attractive, certainly not of any value, looks quite dated, but full of memories,

Will never part with it, hope sone family member keeps it in the future, but doubt it.

All our furniture were other peoples cast offs, we were grateful. We were living a very frugal quiet ( boring) life in order to save for the deposit fir a tiny two up two down terrace. Mortgage rates up to 17%, more than 3 times higher than now so life wasnt easy.
It was years before we were able to buy something new and it was 35 years before i chose my first new kitchen.
Still have an old set of drawers from the early days, its been almost every colour of the rainbow over the decades and I still like it.

I should add we were more than happy to accept hand me down furniture - utility pieces stripped down and repainted or matt varnished were very welcome especially in the early years. I wish I'd kept them now!

At the risk of being devil's advocate - perhaps people don't like it?
We all have different tastes and my prized piece may be your living room nightmare.

M0nica

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!

Assuming it's still popular M0nica and not been displaced by dark oak barley-twist!

I’m not sentimental about inanimate objects like furniture. It’s basically there for a purpose, and be the right size and style. When we married we had very little furniture because it was expensive then (no IKEA) but I would not have wanted any of my granny’s furniture if offered.

We aren’t particularly talented but have always painted wooden furniture which gives it a fresh new lease of life. Shabby chic is still very popular.

AreWeThereYet

^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.

Indeed. No need for us to send furniture to landfill.

We've painted all sort of quite old antique furniture - white or black. Gives it a whole new look and life. Our daughters and granddaughters readily accept painted neo-classical and less ornate Victorian furniture.

We've a large family. Lots of furniture was given at our marriage by old Aunties, Grannies, and singleton cousins. Homes full - never ending.