How much of the stuff in your home was bought "new?"

[Bustercat]

I was talking with my fiancee about supporting the economy vs. environmental impact, and it's funny; we were trying to figure out what percentage of what we buy is second hand in some form or another.

Just looking around my house.... it's maybe only the groceries, home electronics, and (ironically) the rug. Even the groceries go frequently into vintage containers.

My first stop to buy pretty much anything we plan to keep is our local (giant) antique store.

How about you?

 

[Paisley]

When I was furnishing my house 14 years ago, almost everything came from estate sales. I already had a few pieces. Almost all the appliances came with the house.

Then the price of antiques went up: $275 for a small footstool. Four hundred dollars for a simple bookshelf. Something like $10 for an old bar of Fels Naptha soap when a brand new bar costs a couple of dollars at the grocery store. I stopped buying antiques.

I still buy used things, though: my computer printer, some of my clothing and purses (though not vintage), and my car. My microwave oven and TV are hand-me-downs from my parents.

Mostly, I try to avoid running out and buying stuff if I don't have to.

 

[LizzieMaine]

When I buy things I want things that are durable, honestly-made, and easily repairable if something goes wrong -- so I don't have a whole lot of "bought new" in my house. All of my furniture except the mattress is second-hand -- some of it was scavenged from my grandparents' house, and some of it was found at yard sales or simply brought home from the side of the road. (I'm still looking for a good bedroom dresser, since my ex got custody of the one we had...)

All my appliances, dishes, silverware and kitchen gadgets are second-hand, and I've had most of them for over 20 years -- my fridge and stove were bought very cheap from a second-hand dealer in 1988, and my dishes were liberated from the basement of an abandoned lunchroom around the same time. My family joked that my wedding registry should have been at the town dump, but my sister got married a week after I did, and has had to replace all her appliances and such at least twice since then, so who's laughing now?

The second-hand appliance I've had the longest is a 1930s flip-over toaster I bought at a junk barn for a dollar in 1980. I still use it every morning.

My bed linens are vintage Pequot Service Muslins that wear like iron. Modern sheets just feel too flimsy to me -- like sleeping on tissue paper. Bah. My favorite blanket is World War 1 army surplus.

I've never bought a new computer -- I currently have two Macs, both well-used before I adopted them. I did, however, put a new hard drive in one of them.

I did buy my cassette decks and turntable new, but I needed specialized equipment for the transfer work I was doing at the time. My TV set is now 55 years old, and followed me home from the dump one day in 1986.

I'd never consider buying a new car unless they built one with no extraneous expensive gadgets -- no $250 computerized keys, no power windows that freeze up in the cold weather, none of that stuff I neither need nor want.

I have two bicycles -- a 1962 Schwinn I got secondhand when I was 14, and a 1946 Westfield I brought home from the dump and fixed up a couple years ago. Nothing wrong with either of them, and I don't expect there ever will be.

I buy the fabric for sewing my clothes new -- there are no local sources here for vintage fabric, and I won't buy fabric unless I can feel it first.

I do buy my shoes new, but wish I didn't have to -- I hate rubber soles that wear thru after a year or two and have to be patched with plastic goo, but vintage shoes in my size are way out of my price range. When I do buy shoes, I go out of my way to buy American-made, but it's getting more and more difficult to find them.

I don't object to buying something new if it meets my standards for quality -- but few things today do, so I don't.

 

[Martinis at 8]

Originally everything new. But I have learned since.

 

[Warbaby]

Aside from consumables like food, medicines, cleaning products, toothbrushes, and light bulbs, the only things that we've bought new are my digital camera, scanner, printer and my wife's Mac Mini (I do all my design and graphics work on an 8 year old Mac laptop), sox and underwear, and 2 sets of L.L.Bean flannel sheets. I think that's about it...

 

[willyk57]

I too buy durable goods based on exactly that, how durable they are. Kitchen items and home furnishings make up the majority my used acquisitions, but an increasing portion of my dress clothes are also lightly used. I try to buy as many household items as I can from second had shops, antique shops, and flee markets. I find, as many other here have as well, that the quality and serviceable live of items produced as recently as 20 years ago is much better than the products being produced today.

A significant portion of my cookware and came out of dumpsters while I was in college. I have never come across a more waist-full population. Between the affluence of the college faculty and the transientness of the students I salvaged more cookware, household items, and clothing than I could use. A lot of the items were barley used and would have been quite expensive when new.

All of the furniture that my my wife and I have has been given to us from relatives and friends.

In the future I plan to buy only antique furniture. Even though the prices of antiques have been rising steadily, the quality of construction of old furniture far surpasses that of new furniture in the same price range.

 

[HadleyH]

Apart from a few art deco ornaments and the clothes and hats that i buy sometimes at the op shop, everything i buy is new.

 

[KittyT]

It depends on the room in the house! The livingroom is almost entirely vintage at this point, except for a few items - the couch (Ikea), my boyfriend's bookshelf, the box shelves holding my vintage pomade tin collection, the Kandinsky print above the couch, the hardware holding my "floating" books, the picture frames, and the tv/stereo/boyfriend's turntable/etc. All of the furniture, lamps and decorative items are vintage, as are most of the magazines.

I get all of my furniture used, if anything because the quality and style are better, and usually cheaper than something new of lesser quality. Even my crappy post-college furniture that hasn't yet been replaced with nicer items is all used stuff, purchased in local shops, on CL or found on the street (like my vintage sewing machine cabinet). I own one furniture item that I purchased new - my coffee table - and it goes as soon as my 50s one gets refinished.

Kitchen stuff is all mixed - some used, some vintage, some purchased new (or given to me new as gifts). It will slowly all get replaced with old stuff, as the pocketbook allows.

 

[jessesgirl08]

sadly almost everything is new *sigh* though i wish it werent. when my hubby and i got married and moved into our home we we had nothing to furnish our home we had only bedroom furniture and a couch from my in laws and with not much money we did what every other person would do.........we bought our stuff on credit:eusa_doh: i am now beginning to search out yard and estate sales as well as thrift shops to begin decoratingour home with vinatge items. i am looking forward to adding these items to our home. as my home evolves i will post pics. right now the biggest compliments we get is on the paint and people mostly say our house looks very IKEA so cant wait till i start hearing how retro or classic etc it looks.

 

[KittyT]

right now the biggest compliments we get is on the paint

That's great! paint is such an easy, wonderful way to change the entire mood of a room.

and people mostly say our house looks very IKEA so cant wait till i start hearing how retro or classic etc it looks.

Well "very Ikea" isn't bad. It's a clean, modern, simple style, and that's pretty classy to me.

 

[Edward]

Most of my furniture was, and will continue to be, bought new. One day I'd love to have a place I could furnish with as much antique furniture as possible (my fantasy home would be a la Poirot's apartment, with a dash of Blade Runner noir retrofuturism...). Actually over here antiques have dropped in value big time, so if I was going that way I could save a lot.... My problem is that space is at a premium in my little flat, so modular furniture is really the only practical way to go. Antique bookcases simply aren't as efficient in their use of space as I need. Shame. I'm trying to stick with stuff from Ikea that has a reasonably old-style look so it won't be too bad.... Too much of the style of contemporary furniture to me would make my flat feel like something out of Clockwork Orange.

The other serious killer for me all too often with much antique stuff is locational issues. I live in the inner city and don't own a car. I have no need of one for day to day purposes, and given what it would cost and how much of a limitation that would put on my life (bye bye most of my nights out, for a start), it's not something I'd want. That does mean that I can only buy from places that deliver, which has ruled out some great used bargains in private sales especially.

If ever I'm in a position to afford a much larger house (unlikely, frankly, given the London property market even at this point in recession, and given also that I only really need space for me and two cats, so much bigger would be overkill....), I will be on a serious mission to stock it with pre-1955 furniture as far as possible.

 

[Lokar]

Excluding things that cannot be vintage (e.g. computers, food, cleaning supplies, etc.), I think we have hardly anything bought new. One of our bookshelves was bought new, and about half of my wife's clothing. That's about it, though.

 

[Ethan Bentley]

I would say a least 80% of my books are used. Thank you Amazon Marketplace and my local charity bookshops.

 

[Dr Doran]

Target had some tallish bookcases made of dark stained wood-like stuff that fit in with the general aesthetic and were on sale for about 110 dollars each recently with free shipping, so I got 2. Otherwise almost everything is roadside or lo-price antique. Really, almost the entire apartment is dark wood free antique.

I do buy a lot of books, and many of them are new, as my line of work requires that I be "up" on recent scholarly work in ancient history and in evolutionary psychology and related fields.

Otherwise -- I'm the Road Warrior of old furniture. I keep my eyes peeled WHEREVER I go. In fact I just found something amazing today on the street that I should post.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

I have some Ikea bookshelves...and other random things like lamps...

but beyond those things pretty much everything in house is used. I can't say that its all classy great vintage stuff.....but all of it was either free or thrift store type stuff....

tv and fridge= friends were upgrading and thus I got their old ones
sofas = freecycle and a thrift store
bedroom furniture and dining table from craigslist


etc etc....

 

[Lady Day]

I have rather 'specialty' items floating around my apt. If Im going to pay for something new, Im going to get as close to what I want as I can.

I have a lot of industrial shelving, and Ive been adding to the collection for years. That I can only buy new as it really does not ware out its usefulness.

I also invested in two swinging arms for my computer displays (an investment Im still glad I made).

Most of my furniture (table drawing desk, chairs) Ive gotten at second hand stores. Even my sewing machines are hand me downs.

I only buy new what I cant find used and I generally will spend the money required so I dont regret buying it new in the first place.

LD

 

[swinggal]

I have a good mix, but whatever I do buy new has to fit with the rest of the feel of my home. Almost everything in my lounge is Art Deco. I have a love for the streamlined deco look so it all looks kind of modern anyway. The only new thing is my chase couch. I have a gentleman's wardrobe as my TV cabinet, a deco buffet as my liquor cabinet, lots of old framed 1930s posters and my cigarette case collection.

My bed is new but my wardrobes and dresser are deco. I have lots of vintage things in my kitchen but my appliances are new - but do have an old feel. I like a minimal look rather than clutter.

 

[Paisley]

Beware if you get upholstered furniture used: it could have bedbugs.

 

[Ethan Bentley]

I've used freecycle a few time to pick bits up, very very useful.

 

[Hamilton_Honey]

pretty sure my toothpaste is new....