We just finished building a home and moved in 6 months ago. Although I kept a couple of antique pieces (gram's sewing machine etc) I got rid of EVERYTHING else. Right down to the towels and patio furniture. I got to thinking, I hadn't bought new dishes in 20 years and, everything I looked at although in good condition was OLD. So, yeah, I got rid of it all and starting with new and fresh. I'm loving it!
I know most people cannot afford to decorate a complete home in quality furniture up front. It might take years to either afford or find that perfect item. If that bothers you then you might want to bring more than you chuck just for the interim. My thoughts were it took 20 years to get the old house up to my liking and it's going to take a couple with this new one. No worries.

It's taken me 18 years to gather the collection of furnishings I have in my home. Except for the dining table and chairs, and a pair of dressers, nothing matches. It was all purchased at different times, and at different places. It's all decidedly eclectic, though to my eye it's a nice, complementary blend of things I love.

The reason it took so long, and that everything is different, is that DH and I decided at the very beginning that we wouldn't buy things until we could afford them, and that we wouldn't buy things that would be destined for the dumpster in a few years. Some pieces were bought new; some are antiques. The result is that while nothing we own is priceless, it's solid quality stuff that might show wear, but its condition is too good to dispose of it.

So, when we get tired of something, or want a fresh look, we use it in a different way. Upholstered stuff gets re-covered. Other stuff gets placed in a different room, or gets different accessories, or gets moved to the storage room for later use.

Thus far, we've not felt any urge to replace any furnishings. Even when I start imagining my next home, I easily picture it with my existing furniture. The colors and textures and accessories and placements may be different, but the shapes are the same. It's amazing how you can give an entire room a different look just with paint color and upholstery. (Right now, I have this ongoing fantasy about covering my FR sofa in raspberry suede...).

For better or worse, however, none of this applies to non-furniture "stuff"! That's always changing!

Why not take it one room at a time so the process isn't overwhelming. Take the living room for starters if it's your focal point room - picture what you want it to look like and go on a scavenger hunt through the rest of your house. Everything is up for grabs - see what you find. If you make a room from the old, great. If not, fill the empty pieces with new. Then move to the next room and repeat, only nothing in the living room can be used.

I think a lot of the answer to your question depends on what you want for your overall look. All new and shiny can be great, but not if you are going for a worn, quirky look!

Why can't you take some of those older-not-antique pieces and give them a new look? Paint, change out handles/knobs, add trim/mouldings, a painted/stenciled design, or even go so far as to mirror the piece. Personally, I don't like new, or at least everything new. It's nice to have 'odd' pieces as conversation pieces.

Periodically I get tired of an old piece or it wears out or we have a need that it isn't addressing and something new is in order. But more often than not, it end up being something new to me, not necessarily brand new. I love a mix, as patty cakes said. I just feel there's more personality or more soul in a room with a mix of old and new. My attic is full of old furniture I'm not using at the moment. Things get rotated in and out of rooms and I go shopping in the attic before making a new purchase.

I could never just pitch all the furnishings I've acquired over the years. Some are very nice antique pieces. Others have sentimental meaning to me and while old and maybe in need of reupholstery are of a quality I would be unable to afford to purchase new.

Like Callaloo, I feel an attachment to them. When I return home in the afternoon I feel as though I have a house full of old friends.

I should clarify that I dislike (perhaps "hate" is too strong a word, but maybe not) that "bought it all at one store at the same time" look and feel.

Unfortunately, there's really nothing we have that can be spruced up with a little paint. It's just not that kind of stuff.

I guess I start thinking about replacing individual pieces and then realize that (a) everything else is kind of trashed, too, and (b) I'm not really sure if I want to keep it set up in the same formation to begin with.

Sigh.

I think it all depends on exactly what the old stuff is. Most everything we have in our LR,DR,FR and entry hall were fished out of a relatives basement, or handed down. And all of it has been redone in some way. I don't know what your time table is to redo things, but it's taken us 30+ years to get some of it done. And if you have read any of my posts and seen any of my pictures, you know I'm still trying to get it right! I do get compliments, however, now and then on having some "one of a kind" pieces. But bottom line is this: If you don't enjoy searching, looking around, taking time to redo old things, you should ditch it. And is your husband any help? Mine always has an opinion! Good luck.

Thanks for chiming in. I used to feel the same way (a house full of old friends, etc.), but lately it's started to feel oppressive. Like we're living in a Salvation Army showroom.

Like a lot of people who have been affected by disasters, we didn't have a choice - Katrina did a major housecleaning for us.

Don't worry, this isn't a "pitiful me" message. I just wanted to say I never would have imagined that I could be having so much fun, working from a blank canvas. Don't get me wrong - we had some nice pieces before Katrina that we collected in 35 years of marriage, and the family heirlooms I'll always miss. But we had collected some junk, too - fad things, things that made me wonder why in the world we ever bought it? etc. And hardly ever threw away a thing.....

So, this time around, we're doing it differently. We built this new house where we would enjoy every room, indoors and out, with our special friends and family. No more closing doors to rooms that we only used for company or special occasions. Before, with every house, "resale" was always on the back of our minds - following the rules, etc, decorating so that we'd make as much as we could when we sold, etc. Katrina taught us a valuable lesson - use and enjoy your home and your favorite possessions everyday. Clean out the stuff that doesn't bring you joy. Share your home with those you love (even those you're not so crazy about.) It is the best feeling in the world.

I just had all three of my LR pieces (chair, sofa, fainting couch) reupholstered and I love them. A good reupholsterer can even change the style of a stuffed sofa or chair quite dramatically.

One way to unify all the wood pieces in a room is to paint them all the same color, usually black or white, but it can be any color you like. You can get a whole new look. Unified can be very lovely; matchy-matchy can be very boring and unimaginative.

But if you have a few pieces you just don't like, think about Craigslist. You can ad there for free, so you've got nothing to lose. You can also pick up "new" pieces there that you like better for a bargain in many cases. Do I wouldn't go on and on with something I truly didn't like.

Those catalogues are so seductive--everything goes together, everything matches--but I'd hate to live in one. I have two chairs upholstered in the same fabric which coordinates with a slipcover, but I don't always have these pieces in the same room. I do hate matched up sets, though.

A couple out-of-state moves in a relatively short period of time forced us to purge a lot before we finally moved here, and while it was difficult deciding what had to go, in the long run it did feel good to lighten the load! But...then we moved here and have begun to inevitably accumulate more stuff! It's a blend of his, mine and ours, with a few pieces from both his parents and mine thrown in. I do think that we've been pretty good about only getting things we really wanted or needed, and if we find out something really doesn't work, we've been able to find a good home for it by donating to a fundraiser or giving it to a friend in need. If you don't have the fortitude to get rid of a lot all at once, perhaps deciding on a couple things a month to part with and replace may be easier. By far the hardest thing for me is to part with something of sentimental value and associations, even if the item doesn't really work...does that make me a 'compulsive hoarder' in the making?! It's a definite possibility!

Ten years ago when DH and I started out, we had nothing so we gladly took anything that was given to us. We spent time dreaming about the day when we would replace the mismatched items with brand new items that matched perfectly. We did replace some things, not with nice stuff, but fake wood to get us by. Ironically, I realized about 4 years ago that I like OLD stuff. I like having different items and I started to just buy things to replace the items that didn't fit the style I like. If I didn't like the stain, I refinished and items that are fake wood, I have painted. I like my mis-matched stuff way better than anything else I could get. I like things that look worn and used because they show so much history!

I (and then we, after DH came along) spent years living in apts and rentals with furniture that did the job, but certainly didn't look good while doing it. Once we finally bought our house, my quest has been to replace all that old stuff (college furniture still hanging around, hand me downs, etc) with things that fit our space exactly. Having furniture that looks like it belongs in your room's size/shape makes a lovely and comfortable home. Even some of the new purchases I have made (at used furniture/consignment stores/flea markets) are cute but are probably place holders for that perfect piece when I run across it. Is your problem with how your things look or how they function in your home? Will moving things around to different rooms improve the function? If it isn't working, I say, let it go and find something that does. For family pieces, are there any other family members who may be able to use it? For things without that sentimental attachment, craigslist is great if you want to sell, or you can give it away to a good cause. We give all our old furniture to a local organization that runs a furniture warehouse for families moving from homeless shelters to a house/apt--they get to furnish their new home, and we get the deduction. If you're not happy, make a change--rearrange, repaint, reupholster or start looking for the perfect piece. i would definitely focus on one room at a time to keep things simple.

I do love an eclectic, non matchy look - we tend to have good furniture reupholstered and use Howard products on old chests, tables and buffets to make the antique wood look good...when we redecorated things a few years ago I used much of what I had and added newly purchased antiques and new things to mix with the old - especially accessories like new lamps and rugs, bought antique pillows and art...I love a mix of old and new together and really like reusing and repurposing what we already have (that is why it is so important to buy timeless styles and well made things) but freshen things up with new accessories (antiques and new). I really would rather have one good piece of furniture than a room full of junk.

I passed a handsome sideboard set out for "pick up" tomorrow. Basically Sheraton in style, probably ha "issues" but I didn't stop to inspect, lol. (Still thinking about it, though!!)

I have hauled more than a few people's "trash" home over the years. Some of it has been GREAT, but an equal amount has been... well, Kitch. stated it succinctly.

I am "all about" the thrill of the hunt. And I love waiting for the perfect spring Saturday morning and putting the "culls" out a the end of our driveway with a big, "FREE" sign on them and watching to see who stops and carries them off.

If that sideboard is there tomorrow morning, it's coming home with me. If not... it wasn't meant to be. The point of this is that you should do what feels right. If you're unsure, start by purgeing the things that you like least. I have several young friends who are usually eager recipients of our "junk". Hey, that's how WE ended up with such cool stuff.

I also identified with N2bach1's statement that it took 30 yrs. to get there. It took a lot of years before we had the dough to reupholster some of our "treasures". But, WOW! don't they look sensational now! But they were pieces we really liked and knew we couldn't afford to replace with new things of comparable quality.

Do what feels right, and move carefully when you're unsure.

Thanks for all the ideas. They are helpful.

I think what we're going to do for now is look for a new couch and armchair. The ones we have now are just getting past the point of comfort. Used upholstered furniture of unknown origin kind of skeeves me out, so I'd like to get that stuff new, at least.

Both DH and I liked the couch in the link below -- but we'll have to go to the store and find out if it's comfortable. The color is very much what I had in mind. It picks up a blue-green color in the rug and in the bark cloth chair to the right in the picture.

This is the room as it is now, more or less.

Here is a link that might be useful: C&B sofa

You can have all new stuff without it matching. What you end up with are things that coordinate beautifully. I have a room like that.

Making a very long story short, in the mid-1990's, I had an empty formal living room to fill. I had money but no time, and DH and I could not agree on anything. We went to a high end furniture store and started woring with a decorator/salesperson. The three of us walked around the store, with two of us pointing at things we liked while he took notes. He pulled together a room arrangement for us over a period of months with one instruction from me: no two things in that room were to match.

So while I can appreciate the hunting/gathering aspect of finding that perfect piece for a room that you have lovingly put together over time by yourself, I knew it wasn't going to happen for me. Instead, I got an HGTV type "grand reveal" when the decorator showed up with a car full of stuff.

I still sit in that room and marvel at how well it goes together.

We have a lot of old family pieces mixed in with our "stuff". And much of our "stuff" are curbside finds as well as thrift store and garage sale buys.

Technically, they don't go together, but somehow they work in our home.
Maybe it's because the colors tie the pieces and rooms together or maybe we are just fooled into thinking they work together. I enjoy the challenge of using a piece of furniture in a room where the decor rules aren't strictly followed and that's what we've done.

Unless something is beyond use or repair we just recover, repaint or relocate the piece.

DH and I used and enjoyed our hand me downs and cheap used furniture we purchased for many years while we moved around and had no money. However it wasn't our taste, didn't really go together and we always hated it. Slowly over time we have replaced most of it and we have no regrets. Instead we are thrilled with our new furniture which has been choosen on various trips so that when we can look around and remember from where it came. I have kept those pieces which we do love and mixed them into our new for an eclectic style. I was happy to give my old furniture to people who needed it more than I.

I love your choice of the C&B couch, beautiful lines and color - I hope it works for you. Having a houseful of old mismatched furniture is a blessing because it allows you time to slowly replace what you truly don't like until you find a happy balance. Reuse, repurpose and restyle what you can and let the rest go to new loving homes.

Sky

The color of the new couch is nice, but it doesn't look comfortable.

...if you care about comfort, that is.

See, to me, it's all about emotion. Do you love what you have? No? Then get something that you DO love.

Oh do I know what you mean! I don't have any good advise for you. I, myself, cannot wait until my children get an apartment and I can give a bunch of stuff to them. I'm dreaming of cutting down on clutter and getting some new stuff. Sigh!

I love getting new stuff. On the first floor I am very careful not to have any clutter or excess furniture. Upstairs is not so streamlined. Four of our six bedrooms are upstairs and only two of them are used as bedrooms. I have living room funiture in one bedroom and the gameroom. My husband actually uses our old dining room table as a desk in his office. When my kids move out I am taking back 3 of the bedrooms and making them into very simple guest rooms.

My MIL never gets rid of any furniture, she just moves the new stuff in - she is a very neat hoarder. She just can't let go. Her house hurts my eyes.

I hated it when I had a set of living room furniture that all matched. Huge mistake!

I think it's great to move into a new house with mostly new stuff. My previous house was mostly brown and I was so done with that when we moved to this home. Ten years later I've gone full circle with colors and now this house has a lot of brown. I guess never say never.

Last Spring I sold a rug I'd had forever. It had long been my prized possession -- the center of my living room -- but I looked at it one day and knew it was time to go.

I haven't replaced it and don't miss it. I used the proceeds to help pay for something else.

There are many things I've had all my life -- literally -- including art and certain pieces of furniture.

Basically, I think you keep it until you decide you are sick of it and then sell or donate it and replace it.

Most people change the way they dress, or move, or change cars, hair whatever -- other style components of their lives. No harm in changing furniture. Sometimes you just want to and that's enough for me.

I think the only things in my house that I wouldn't miss would be a dresser I bought years ago for $12, a few pieces of art, and the beds. Everything else has such an emotional investment for me. Things my grandfathers have made for me, the few antiques I've been able to afford, hand-me-downs from relatives that have so many memories attached to them.

Often, it's a challenge to arrange everything so that it's pleasant to look at. I get there eventually :).

Anything that is not well-made or you are not attached to can find a new home, though.

Agree with rococogirl. When the time came when I had to pack up after selling my condo, I got rid of a lot of stuff I thought I would never part with. My condo was build in '84 and 'took to' my cottage decor very nicely. However I just couldn't envision it in my *new* home, as much as I loved it in the condo. I really was emotionally attached to the majority of things cause I 'hunted' them down, and didn't just buy anything~it was a labor of love.

My motto is, I WON'T buy furniture that isn't REAL wood, so maybe that's why I have so many older pieces, but not necessarily antiques. For accessories I look for ceramic, glass/crystal, porceline/china, pottery, iron/silver/copper or a metal you favor, and try my best to stay away from resin. I've looked at so many beautiful lamps, and when I go to touch them, they're resin.

Purchase items over a period of time~don't give yourself a time limit. You won't be sorry! ;o)