Here are three reason I won't buy new furniture.
1) My kids.
2) My cat.
3) My sanity.
Details on the above: I'd hate to worry about every little crumb or shoe near a new couch. My cat becomes one with anything new. I refuse to go crazy worrying about something that I can replace (cat included…..but that's another article).
If I have to purchase something new; "Hello Ikea."
Twenty years ago a $50 wood coffee table was the perfect addition to my "single-phase" living room. Ten years later, after a move to New Zealand and back, dismembered one of the legs, we got a new one at Ikea (same price $50) and after almost 12 years the table looks as good as it did the day we bought it. Okay – well, there are pink, blue and green paint, marker and crayon scratches all over it, but who cares?
I have kids, I have a "furniture excuse!"