When my parents married in 1957 they had nothing -- no furniture, no kitchen stuff, no nothing. Mom had always lived with her parents. Dad had always lived with his parents or his aunt. They got some good wedding gifts and moved into an empty apartment and sat on folding chairs. Then my uncle called about an old sofa someone had left on the street and an old card table, and my grandfather gave them a bed he had bought [used] in 1923 when he had married my grandmother. [My son still uses that iron bed, BTW.]
Like most newlyweds, they didn't care. Unlike most newlyweds, Mom had the good sense to replace all the crappy furniture as quickly as possible with very good quality furniture. [It helped that Dad had friends in the furniture business and they lived a short drive from North Carolina, furniture capital of the world.]
When Mom got her first paychecks for teaching she started saving, and eventually she saved up to buy some very high-quality furniture pieces made from Flex Steel. She was told they were guaranteed to last a lifetime. That was about 1959. In the photo below [my grandfather is sitting on the sofa] you can see the big sofa she bought. It has been recovered numerous times.
Below, the same sofa about 1969, when I was 7 and still played with Barbies. We still have the wingback chair on the left, too, although it has been recovered.
About a year ago I noticed that the sofa was getting a bit worn looking from its 1991 recovering so I had it recovered yet again, and it was delivered last week.
I used a local upholsterer who came highly recommended and he did an awesome job.
Mom often talks about buying that sofa because it was the first major piece of furniture she ever bought, but the point I want to make is simple. Don't go out to some discount place [like I did about 25 years ago] and buy deeply discounted furniture. It won't last. The furniture I bought in 1993 has all been torn up and fallen apart and I had to pitch it out.
I told my son the sofa below will probably be around for his grandchildren to play on!
When it comes to furniture, save your money and buy really good quality, and you won't have to replace it in 10 or 20 years. Just get it re-covered and it will look new. (Also, of course, don't buy anything too trendy looking...)
