What happens when you grow up but your furniture doesn’t?

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Published Date 6/14/2024

Realtor.com’s dynamic duo couple Jeanine Hays and Bryan Mason address design questions as the two graduate to a larger living space but prefer not to start decorating from scratch. When the scale of your furniture reflects IKEA instead of Restoration Hardware dimensions after a life of “efficient”apartment living, they know it’s hard to face ditching all of it.

“When making the transition from apartment to first home, you’ll likely have to face some questions about your smaller apartment-size pieces and how to make sense of them in your new place,” say Hays and Mason. “Should you get rid of them? Do you need to pare things down? Is there any way to find a place for them in your new residence? We faced the very same questions when we left our one-bedroom Brooklyn apartment and moved into a four-story house in the Hudson Valley. Here are a few things we learned that can help answer all of those pressing quandaries.”

First off, try to pre-empt the issue – even if a new home is a distant dream for you. Instead of simply finding furniture pieces that work, try to invest wisely in furniture. “Look beyond flat pack, some-assembly-required pieces and fast home decor. Instead, opt for items you’ll want for a lifetime such as a solid sofa, hardwood tables, quality rugs, and storage pieces (consoles and cabinets) that are well made.” The couple says that these are the pieces that, no matter where you move to, you know that you’ll want to have with you. It doesn’t have to be everything, as that can get pricey, but even a few key furnishings are better than none.

For Hays and Mason, it was a custom media unit made by a group of female carpenters in Brooklyn — a stunning piece with a marble top and brass feet they absolutely love. It turned out to be a perfect storage cabinet to hide away all of the overflow of apartment living. And when they moved into their home, it was placed in the living area as part of the media center, home to the television, gaming consoles, and a stereo system. “It’s a special piece that we know we will never get rid of. It will always have a home with us wherever we live,” they add.

With imagination and forethought, those smaller pieces can ease the transition into your new space, especially in those first weeks and months, before new purchases arrive or design plans are set. Don’t throw it all out with the bathwater, as you’ll still need some place to sit, sleep, or eat, even if your old stuff doesn’t quite fit the space or the style.

If you consider these items more than placeholders, why not use them as foundation pieces for your new aesthetic? They are, after all, a part of your story, so using them as a stepping stone is a perfect way to make sure the home you’re designing reflects that story, too.

“When we made the move, there were a few other elements that came with us to the new house along with the media unit: a dining table, a one-of-a-kind upholstered chair, custom leather dining chairs from Italy, a pair of solid brass side tables, some modern lighting, and our collection of authentic Persian rugs,” says the couple. “As we were developing the floor plan and style for the new house, we made sure to place all these things in our mood boards as we thought about each room. That way, every new element that we considered had to work with those older pieces. With the right mixes and matches, the existing furniture and decor not only helped guide us to an aesthetic we already liked, but the new pieces made the old feel fresh.”

Repurposing is the name of the game when transitioning apartment-sized furniture in your new house. That means with a bit of time and some creative thinking, you’ll find your moving truck is full of answers to questions you didn’t know you were going to ask. “One of our most memorable transitions in our home was with a handmade Persian rug,” says the Hays/Mason team. “In Brooklyn, it took up our entire living room. But in our new home, it was too small to perform the same task. We gave it new life in our main bedroom, instead.”

As for their dining table, it became a breakfast nook table in their eat-in kitchen instead. “A bistro table can even find a new life as a desk in a home office if you think outside the box,” they suggest.

An apartment-size sofa can be reimagined as a settee, offering a den, library, or bedroom a seating area. “You could even consider getting a second of the same sofa; facing them in your living room perpendicular to a feature like a fireplace is a really elegant design move.”

In some cases, you can’t force the old stuff into the new setting. Some pieces simply won’t work, and that’s okay. If you’re looking to donate, check out local community organizations such as the Salvation Army, the YMCA, and Habitat for Humanity to see if they accept gently used furniture and accessories. And if you want to raise a bit of green to pay for your new, adult-sized furniture, try social media marketplaces or Craigslist.

Realtor, TBWS

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