Replacing furniture and appliances

[july]

I am curious how long you expect furniture and appliances to last?

[Deleted]

Some things depend on how much you use them. If you have a big family with a bunch of kids jumping on your furniture you probably aren't going to have a sofa last more than 5-7 years. A smaller household that is more careful will have items that last longer.
In my family (2 adults, 4 kids) I expect brand new appliances to last 10-15 years, more commonly used furniture (sofa, dining table) to last 7ish years, lesser used furniture 10 years. I don't think the items will be in great condition this whole time because it is inevitable that some member of my house will get pens/paint/slobber on the items fairly quickly. However, I wouldn't plan for them to be bad enough to replace for a while.
Our dining table is 8 years old this May and it is looking pretty rough. I will try to lightly sand it and reseal it but I don't have my hopes up.

[july]

We bought everything new when we moved into our house eight years ago. Washer and dryer are 11 years old. Everything has held up well, but our kid is pretty gentle with furniture. The kitchen table was from target and looks the worse. A few years ago I wet sanded the top and applied another coat of black stain. I did that to our coffee table after D scratched it and you can't even tell.

We bought the sofas because they match the chair and ottoman that H bought for our apartment. I was hoping it would wear out faster to get something else. Red wine, dog pee, kid pee, kids messy hands. It is still holding up well. I shouldn't complain, right?

[illgetthere]

I'd be disappointed if I didn't get 10-12 years for appliances and 7 years for textile furniture with mid-range stuff

[ddi741]

I'd hope at least 10. My parents had a refrigerator that lasted 37 years.

[Deleted]

Forever!

Seriously, I don't really think about things breaking down or needing to be replaced....so I guess I just hope & pray they live for all the times?

Since we are DINKs with no pets our furniture better damn last forever

[audette]

I don't really plan an expected lifecycle...

We have a couch and loveseat that were cheap in 2003 that came out of two years of storage yesterday. They smell a bit musty from the storage, but are still comfy, and still look pretty good. So long as they air out OK (and get rid of that storage smell), we'll keep them for at least another couple years.

Our washer and dryer were bought in 2001. I'd call them mid-range, when they were bought. They also came out of storage yesterday, but we're not sure we'll happen with them, because the rental here has a W/D in it already.

Some of our furniture is hand-me-downs from my folks that _I_ have had the sole use of for 15+ years, and they were 20-30 years old when I mooched them. However, I don't think most modern furniture lasts as long as older stuff...

We have some mid-range coffee/end/couch tables that were bought in 2005. They scratch at the slightest touch, though, and the couch table is just a wee bit too delicate - it has broken on _every_ move (including this one), always in the same place (so I'm well versed on fixing it now).


So, uh, I think it's hard to put an exact number on how long furniture will last...

[orangeblossom]

Feb 28, 2015 17:40:05 GMT -5 @shoegal said:

Forever!

Seriously, I don't really think about things breaking down or needing to be replaced....so I guess I just hope & pray they live for all the times?

Since we are DINKs with no pets our furniture better damn last forever

I don't know why, it for some reason I thought you had a dog.

I don't really expect much out of appliances. Ours were brand new when we brought the house. And eight years later, we replaced the dishwasher, dryer and fridge. The fridge was about two years in.

Furniture it depends on quality. Our couch is about six or seven years old, and we won't be taking it with us when we move.

[cjeanette]

Feb 28, 2015 17:38:49 GMT -5 ddi741 said:

I'd hope at least 10. My parents had a refrigerator that lasted 37 years.

That was back when they were made to last.

[agnes]

FOREVER. Unrealistic, I know.

[imojoebunny]

I was at someone's house the other day whose 50 pound 6 year old was jumping up and down on her lovely sofa...

That ship don't fly at my house. I would be surprised if her sofa last 5 years with that kind of treatment.

I have had my first leather sofa for 15 years. I just ordered a new one , but only because DH wants that sofa in his man room. It has been in a bunch of different rooms, but was more a living room sofa for 10 years, and a main sofa for 5-6 years. It was good quality to begin with, and is still in very good shape.

The sofa we had in our last house that got the most use, a sectional, is 10 years old. It is in pretty bad shape, but still looks ok. It's in the kids playroom. They love it. It was pretty cheap though, it is basically the size of a love seat, a sofa, and a chair. It easily seats 6. It was $2400 with delivery and tax, and is leather. It has had someone sitting on it 4-6 hours a day for 10 years though.

We have 30+\- major appliances (washers, dryers, dishwashers, fridge, and dishwasher at 6 different residences). It's a crap shoot. We have some that have hung around for ever that were inexpensive and some that are super expensive and crapped out after a few years (never ever buy a microwave oven combination, horrible). We have everything from a restaurant quality Hobart stove in one rental to some random ass brand that has been trucking along for 20+ years. Spending more does not = better quality or longer lasting in my experience. My mom just replaced her Hot Point washing machine after 20 years. I have had the repair man out twice for my sub 1 year old Bosh appliances, both the stove and the dishwasher.

[Deleted]

I think solid hard wood furniture should last a very long time. Upholstered furniture which was $500-$1500, I'd give 7-10 years and most appliances should last 8-15 depending on what it is and how much use it gets.
Veneer stuff and things which you put together with a few screws or dowels, up to 5 years.

[spunkarella]

I expect our dining set and bedroom sets to last forever aside from the mattresses and chair cushions. The guest room sets are from DH's childhood, solid wood and made in NC. They need to be refinished, but are otherwise in great shape.

Our sofa is about 7 years old and it's looking tired.

[crashgizmo]

It really does matter how it's made. My parents have their original bedroom set from when they were married 37 years ago. They replaced the mattress a few times, but the headboard/footboard and dressers are really well made. On the other hand, my less than $1500 faux leather sofa from MOR Furniture lasted about 4 years and it was toast.

Appliances are different, I expect them to last according to how often I use them. DH and I use the shit out of kitchen appliances since we cook so much, so I wouldn't expect them to last as long as my brother and SIL's appliances, since they never cook.

[krystee]

We bought almost all furniture and appliances new in 2007 when we bought out first home and haven't replaced anything yet (knock on wood).

The one thing we bought later was a cheap set of couches from World Market. They are only four years old, but I plan to replace them in a year or two. With our two dogs and heavy daily use, they just haven't held up great. But I got two couches for less than $600, so that's about what I was expecting.

The dressers I used as a baby still look brand new at my parents' house, and those are now almost 33 years old. I really need to stop buying IKEA-type furniture and start buying pieces that will really last like that.

[lys]

High quality furniture can last long enough to be passed down to another generation -

[gt7301b]

I've yet to replace any of my adult furniture.  I purchased my living room sofa when I purchased my first house in 2004 and it is still going strong.  If it wasn't so much trouble I'd switch it out with DH's sofa set in our basement, but that is just cause I am bored with it.

As far as appliances go, I expect them to last 10ish years.  We've replaced our dishwasher, stove, and microwave in our current house.  I think they were all around 10 years old and still worked, but weren't performing at my expectations.

[badtzmaru22]

We bought most of our furniture in 2005. Our bedroom set still looks brand new, but DH thinks our mattress needs to be replaced. I still think it's comfortable, and ten years is a good life expectancy, I think. Our microfiber couch/love seat/chair look the most ragged, and we've re-padded the cushions, which helped. We've had all manner of dogs and children ruining them though. We definitely won't be replacing them anytime soon though, due to said dogs and children.

Kitchen table and chairs: totally over it (bought to match our old kitchen) but I can't see replacing stuff "just because" at this point in our lives.

As for appliances, our washer (10 years old) just got a new sensor, and the dude said we are lucky it's lasted this long. We had to replace something in our four year old dishwasher last fall as well. And the five year old furnace needed a new part recently as well. Freaking computers! Blarg.

[Deleted]

I guess I never really thought about it but I'd like my washer and dryer to last 10 years+. We have had 2 different couches in 7 years but we sold the old one and just liked the new better I think our fridge is 5 years old but we already had to buy a new drawer thanks to the kids and we desperately need more freezer space. I actually hope the lifespan of things varies because much of it was purchased around the same time and that would SUCK if it all "died" at the same time. DH no longer gets the amazing corporate discounts he used to