Discarding furniture...

Today we were in Costco just getting a couple of items and we saw a couch. Now we have been saying we wanted a couch for 2 years now since we moved into our new place. But we've never been able to find something that fits, we like, and is in the right price range.

The couch we saw was $1019 for a sectional sofa. The fabric seemed sturdy (microfiber), it was comfortable, and the size appeared to be the right dimensions. We have to go back and measure it more to see if it fits in the doorway.

But how do you buy furniture? For us it's been a real struggle buying furniture and since we've moved in we didn't really add much more than a spare bed and TV. Which is crazy when you consider we went from 570 sq ft to 1800 sq ft. We have the same bed, couch, couple of dressers, etc.

Our house is definitely barren looking. I feel that furniture is meant to be kept a long time. Or at least our super frugal parents keep warning me don't buy furniture. You have to keep it 30 years. DH for once, says if we hate it in 5 years or it breaks we can get rid of it. But who really gets rid of their couch, dining set, bedroom furniture if it no longer fits (because they move) or it breaks? Isn't it supposed to last a lifetime? Thus the dated look of people's furniture?

Philosophically it's only $1k, and we spend more eating out annually or on our dogs. But we do have a couch that works and so I quantify this desire as a want, not a need. But granted it only really seats two people and so with our new roomie, we do need to pull up a dinner chair to sit watching tv together.

But perhaps I'm being way to stingy and cheap by thinking that we have to keep our stuff until it breaks? Maybe DH is right, we buy the furniture that fits our needs as we can afford it. I don't know, I guess I'll have to mull this choice of discarding perfectly good furniture.

To put it into perspective, it's like getting rid of a perfectly great car because your family no longer fits in it, but it's hard to part with because the only justification to ditch it is the size.