What to do with old furniture?

[Bamps]

I would give keep what I wanted, give away what I could and haul the rest to the dump. I have an antique bed frame that I was going to haul to a small town that my family was from and donate it to the local historical society museum.

[smartrock]

I have an antique bed frame that I was going to haul to a small town that my family was from and donate it to the local historical society museum.

That's a cool idea! I'm pretty sure there's nothing of historical significance. One little chest on legs is an antique and probably worth something. It's lovely and small enough to fit in my car to bring home one day when I don't have it stuffed full of toilet paper!

[Lauranj]

I'm sorry for your loss. If you want $$ for the furniture then craigslist, ebay, consignment shop. If you just want to be rid of the furniture and not deal with buyers, then salvation army or goodwill. If you want the furniture or things to go to someone who needs it then craigslist specifying no dealers, only individuals who have a need for it. Sending you good thoughts and prayers.

[LucyTudeOn4Feet]

I used freecycle.org to clean out some of my Mom's stuff.
Here's the description from their website:
.
Welcome! The Freecycle Network™ is made up of 5,167 groups with 8,128,126 members around the world. It's a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (and getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It's all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Each local group is moderated by local volunteers (them's good people). Membership is free. To sign up, find your community by entering it into the search box above or by clicking on 'Browse Groups' above the search box. Have fun!

[Snowshoe]

My condolences to you and your family.

Funny you should post this, Sis and I were at the storage locker on Monday. We have been saddened that no one needs or wants my Mum's furniture. She had nice stuff but the friend who works in consignment sales says living and dining room suites are the hardest thing to move. My parents could not afford the best but back when they were young even the cheap stuff was solid hardwood.

We've made a hard decision. We have my MIL's dining room table and we are going to switch it out for Mum's with her matching buffet and four chairs. MIL's table is a large awkward size, 48" x 60", but it's solid heartwood cherry. A chair does not fit between the middle legs, but it's solid cherry. It's also very low and there's no way to raise it without it being obvious, so no one can sit comfortably at any spot, but it's solid cherry. It's a double drop leaf, gate leg and when a side is dropped no one can sit there, but it's solid cherry. The top is made out of only three boards each 20" wide and one leaf is badly cracked, but it's solid cherry. It dates to about 1800 but MIL had it refinished by someone who did not know what he was doing and that has destroyed whatever antique value it might have had. MIL herself bought it thinking it had been made by her great grandfather but it turned out it wasn't so when she found the one that was she had two solid cherry tables and she gave us this one. Even though it doesn't have the family history we thought, still, it holds a lot of memories of big family meals at it at her house.

But of course so does my Mum's table hold many memories and at 31" x 46" it is literally half the size and fits our smallish room much better. Mum's table also holds some white marks where hot dishes were set. We're going to try the iron trick to see if we can get them out. There's a sale for Fabricland members starting today and I'm going to look for material to replace the pink covers (which I made) on the dining room chairs.

The only big things left then are the chesterfield, coffee and end tables and one easy chair. All that plus books, dishes, knicknacks, bedding, most clothes, are going to Goodwill, Value Village or the Re-Store. It was a sad day.

[smartrock]

We already sent all the clothing to the local PTA thrift store, along with small appliances, chairs, radios, dishes, cookware, books, framed prints. We donated incontinence supplies to the Home Care company that had been visiting her because the assisted living and nursing home areas of her retirement community would not take even the unopened packages of supplies. I tried to take her many LP records to a used CD, record, etc shop but they wouldn't take them because they were mostly classical or opera and they said they couldn't move them. The library in the retirement community wouldn't take her books or DVDs either.

Snowshoe, it's funny you should mention the dining table. Hers is also a lovely cherry table, smaller than the one we have here. She had given it to us when we were first married and then decided she wanted it back several years later (which was a typical move on her part but a whole 'nother story). She replaced ours with a used mahogany table which she and her husband then tried to refinish for us with linseed oil and I don't know what else. They did only part of the job, not the removable leaves, and I've kept it covered with table pads and a tablecloth ever since. The home refinishing job just... wasn't. At some point we hope to move her smaller cherry table back to our house. Her sofa is clearly hardwood as well. The movers thought it was a sleeper sofa because it is so heavy. She took good care of her furniture, had things reupholstered periodically, and it's mostly in very good shape. Even my offspring who live in the same town, though, say it's not their style. I guess if it reminds you of Grandma's house every time you look at it, unless it's something really special or meaningful, it might just seem old or dated. I guess I'm the same way, in a sense. I loved her dining table and a little fruitwood chest, but I prefer our own sofas, chairs and other furniture to hers, and we just don't have room for more furniture in our house anyway. My own mother's house is filled with furniture, many antiques, but there's only one little thing in there that I'd like, a little washstand that she and I refinished together probably 35 years ago. When the time comes we'll be able to do an estate sale but I'm sure there will be things that don't sell and then what? That's what I'm trying to prepare for, too.

Hopefully people who purchase items from Goodwill, the thrift store, or receive things through Habitat will appreciate the quality and style in a way that family members might not. It is a sad process.

[AlexS]

I donate my old furniture to a groups that either do Habitat for Humanity houses or to homes for soldiers returning home. They will even pick it up.