Do you recall your furniture from your first home?

151949 · ‎03-09-2010

My first apartment was also my first home as a married lady. I bought some chairs at a auction and antiqued them and recovered the seats. I found a table on the curb that someone had put out for the trash and brought it home. My Dad and I used some L brackets from the hardware store to brace the legs and make it very sturdy then I stripped it and painted it. I bought some inexpensive chairs at a place where they had unfinished furniture and painted those as well. Mt dad painted some daisies on the backs of the chairs for me - they were very cute. I got a complete bedroom set from an estate auction - it was perfect and I even took the mattresses as the home appeared to be nice and clean and the set was from the guest room and hardly used. We also got a sofa and a chair there and very pretty end tables where the grain of the wood on the tops made a chevron pattern. I still have them in our den 46 years later.

Cookie06 · ‎04-24-2010

When we first got married we had a 19 inch black and white television and a big bean bag chair that I made. Our first purchase was a very cute dining table and chairs purchase with money from our wedding. Not a nice wood one, just the formica top and padded chairs. Next came our washer and dryer. Lived like that for about a year. But we did purchase our house right before we got married, paid $21,000 for it. The payments were about $150.00. Three bedroom rambler and we were so proud of it. A year later we had enough equity to sell that house and buy a really nice tri level for $38,500. Paments on that were $301.00 per month. Three years later the selling price on our tri level was $69.950. Doubled our money in three years.

Sorry for rambling but I just got started and couldn't stop. Interesting for young people that don't have any idea about prices in the 70's. I am sure there are some of you that have even lower prices on homes, etc.

${#emotions_dlg.biggrin}$

rustysmom · ‎04-06-2010

Our first apartment when we got married (almost 39 years ago) was furnished with a hand me down couch and chair from my mom and dad, coffee table and 2 end tables and 2 lamps that we bought in tradin times (back then it was a little newspaper with stuff for sale in it, the equivalent of today's Craig's List) and a bed and dresser from The Salvation Army. The only things we had new were the gifts we got from wedding showers and and wedding gifts and that was not furniture but dishes, pots and pans, towels, things of that nature. My parents also gave us a little kitchen and chair set and a tv.

fancy pantsy · ‎06-25-2014

this thread has gotten me thinking . . .

the thing i remember the most was this couch. i moved in with my husband-to-be just before we married. he had a green couch that he had bought for this apartment. it was a nice, sturdy couch.

well, fast forward 10 years, then 20 years later ... and by then we were calling that couch "the couch that wouldn't die". we ended up putting it in a summer cottage that we had bought, and when we sold that cottage, we left the couch there. i betcha that thing is still there !!! lol.

they don't make them like that anymore.

Sunnyfield · ‎04-20-2010

Fun thread!!

I remember LOTS of furniture from my first home(s)...first DH and I bought a 2 BR house with a VA loan - paid around $14,000 for it in 1970 - we had no furniture in the L-shaped living room/dining room - in our BR we had a brass plated metal canopy bed (paid $300 for it - a fortune!) and a solid wood armoire (which has been handed around to family and friends over the years and currently resides in Washington with a friend of my brother!) In the 2nd br we had my DH's double bed from his parent's home and a small vintage armoire that I "antiqued" green. We also had plaid wallpaper in that room that DH and I put up ourselves - I thought it was adorable!

Our dining area off the kitchen had a little dining set that I "antiqued" yellow - it was cute! The family room had a series of sofas - can't remember what/where we got them...

We would up selling that house to a single gal around 1972 - for $21,000 - we took a second mortgage for her so she could buy it...and she turned out to be a hooker!!! Never missed a payment though - and was very nice!

The second house we bought for $36,000 and sold for $64,000 in about three years when we got divorced - LOVED that house! It was '30's brick bungalow in a great area...Houston real estate was going crazy back then - everyone was making $$$ on their houses...

millieshops · ‎03-09-2010

lol - of, yes, I do. Our first apartment was landlord-furnished. There was a huge Salvation Army store within super easy walking distance and I would be willing to bet they furnished from there! The sofa bed was so bad, we used to open it, throw the mattress onto the floor and sleep there. Decent table in the kitchen, but we ourselves walked over to Sal's and bought 2 more chairs which fit us better than theirs did.

We'd chosen that apartment so DH could walk to the station and get on the train and I could have a colleague pick me up to get to my job. As soon as we could get a car, we moved - too many months but not a whole year.

Next apartment we furnished ourselves - a few new items, esp. a mattress, as well as "gifts" from friends. I still use two pieces from the metal bookcase we constructed in one corner of that apartment in 1964. Anything else I still have would be from the accessories or items from my kitchen.

BonnieBelle · ‎03-10-2010

Yes, a mishmash of all hand-me-downs. We could barely afford the house.

brii · ‎06-20-2010

I bought a condo in Chicago and moved out of my parents' house. I took my bedroom set and bought new furniture. I bought an ivory leather couch, loveseat, and a coffee and side tables from Marshall Field's. I didn't have an eat-in kitchen, so I just bought a nice looking table and chair set.

When my husband and I got married, we moved out to the suburbs into his condo. I remember the first piece we bought was a beautiful round glass dining table with a stone base. It seated 8.

We used his bedroom set because it was newer. We kind of combined our furniture. I just remember we really had no distinct style - LOL. It was a combination of our stuff, and we just used whatever was either newer or better looking.

We both sold our condos and bought our first home when we were having our second baby.

We've long replaced all of the furniture and the bedroom set. We needed a king sized bed.

I still have that glass table. It's my favorite piece. It's timeless. We've gotten different chairs, but I won't get rid of that table.

Snowpuppy · ‎03-09-2010

Wow.

You lived in a tiny cramped apartment decorated with used furniture with your uber wealthy husband and his children from his first marriage?

Isn't that the husband that took you ""all over the world""?

JeanLouiseFinch · ‎10-03-2011

Oh my goodness, the memories. Our home (apartment) furnishings were a combination of brand new, things we owned from our parents' homes, some hand-me-downs, and a little goofy/tacky thrown in. When we married, DH was still in college, but was also working. I was working full time. It was the late 70's and earthtones were the thing. We had a plaid sofa, a modern styled rust colored chair, and a dark chocolate colored swivel rocker. Our coffeetable and end tables had glass tops with a wide woven raffia type material providing the design underneath. My girlfriend gave us a very large picture for the wall that matched well, but on the opposite wall, above our stereo/tv stand and tiny black and white tv, we had a fuzzy fabric mural of "The Poker Dogs".... ${#emotions_dlg.lol}$