Furnishing Your Home the Frugal Way

Mrs. Child says, “If you are about to furnish a house, do not spend all your money, be it much or little. Do not let the beauty of this thing, and the cheapness of that, tempt you to buy unnecessary articles. …Buy merely enough to get along with at first. It is only by experience that you can tell what will be the wants of your family. If you spend all your money, you will find you have purchased many things you do not want, and have no means left to get many things which you do want. If you have enough, and more than enough, to get everything suitable to your situation, do not think you must spend it all, merely because you happen to have it. Begin humbly

“Neatness, tastefulness, and good sense, may be shown in the management of a small household, and the arrangement of a little furniture, as well as upon a larger scale; and these qualities are always praised, and always treated with respect and attention. The consideration which many purchase by living beyond their income, and of course living upon others, is not worth the trouble it costs.

“ To what are the increasing beggary and discouraged exertions of the present period [1832] owing? A multitude of causes have no doubt tended to increase the evil; but the root of the whole matter is the extravagance of all classes of people. … Let women do their share towards reformation—…Let them prove, by the exertion of ingenuity and economy, that neatness, good taste, and gentility, are attainable without great expense.”

I don’t think I ever set out to be thrifty in my purchases for the house. In fact, I can only think of a few things that we bought new. One was a hide-a-bed when we were first married, because our apartment was three rooms of a big old house and there was no proper bedroom. The color of the Nylon frise fabric was a light mauve, not our favorite for sure, but it’s all there was available at Cohen’s Furniture Store when we went shopping. We lugged that heavy old monster from place to place until finally we gave it to Jim's folks.

In Kansas City we bought a Boston rocker that was never really comfortable. I got it because I thought it would be good for rocking babies to sleep, but the darned thing tended to creep back as you rocked, which necessitated a baby-jarring lurch forward every once in awhile. We still have that chair, although one of the back rungs is broken. It's still not comfortable.

We also bought a desk from Montgomery Wards while we were in Kansas City. Jim was taking courses at the U. of Missouri at Kansas City and needed a place to study. One of the kids has that desk now.

When we lived in Kent, Ohio, we bought a table and chairs and another rocker. Robin has the table now, and most of the chairs are broken. They were the most comfortable of all our “kitchen” chairs though. The platform rocker was of a dark teal nylon fabric that was rough on un-sleeved elbows. The ball-bearing arrangement that made the chair swivel kept breaking. I think we replaced it 5 times. The last time Jim did it, he put in another board or something, and ever after that the chair let everyone in the house know it was being sat in. I’ve wanted to put it on the curb so someone can adopt it, but Bradley insists he wants it. He says it’s the perfect video game chair. Something about the arms being just the right height for holding the control gizmo.

In Kent Jim bought me a Baldwin piano. Oh, I have loved that piano! I gave it to Robin last year when he got me a Yamaha electric piano. In many ways the old one was best, but it sure is fun to have all those different sounds by just pushing buttons.

After we moved back to Peoria I selected another hide-a-bed. This one is from Ethan Allen and we have it still….and I still like it. The cover is gray, but I don’t hold that against it.

I guess we’ve bought other new furniture: a studio bed for Susan, mattresses and springs, an “entertainment center,” etc. But most of the furniture that clogs my house is hand-me-downs or auction finds. I look at other people who buy complete sets of new furniture and I wonder if I could ever do that. I don’t think so. There’s something comforting about living with “found treasures.”

So, if you’re just starting out, don’t buy all new furniture. Like Mrs. Childs says, buy what you absolutely must have and add other things as you go along.