Many couples, married or not, get together late enough in their lives that they each have a full household of furniture. When you both have couches, dining sets, and beds, it’s easy to assume that when you combine your households, you’ll just get rid of…the other person’s stuff" You can see how this supposedly positive time of moving in together can quickly become a shouting match over whose bookshelf fits the living room better. Here are some ways to head off “The Great Furniture Debate” before it ever happens?and when you get right down to it, how to respect each other as you advocate for your own favorite end tables.
Evaluate the New Space Versus the Old Spaces
When combining households, you and your partner should look at the raw square footage differences between your old places and your new place: if you are buying a house, you may be in the enviable position of gaining square footage. Others, having left roommates or spacious studios, may find themselves substantially downsizing in space, maybe in favor of a nice neighborhood or less space to clean. Either way, knowing the square footage of the old living spaces and the new living space can give you a good feeling for how much you are looking to “downsize” in the furniture department. If your new home is only a couple hundred square feet less than the combined two past places, you may not need to eliminate more than one or two pieces of furniture. If you are savin...