I would love to pick up stuff along the way...but alas a small NYC apartment does not allow for stored design dreams. It either fits, or it goes. I've actually had to give up some pieces I probably would have kept if I had a bigger place (And there's no way it's going into paid storage).

That being said, your friend's lamp would fit perfectly with my current look and feel. I would be happy to "store" it for her and let it get all the on display glory it deserves until your friend wants it back!!!

If I find something I love, I'll buy it. Especially finding something at a great price. I always think, 'one day, when I have my own place....' But I usually redecorate a little to incorporate what I love. Plus its fresh inspiration in the house. I can never stick to one look for too long, all about bringing new things in. It's a great lamp!

I'm so excited about buying my first house - with a garage - for this very reason. So many things I have given away over the years due to apartment living that I wish I had back now! Besides, think of the sustainability - if it's in your garage it's not in a landfill, right? Don't tell the boyfriend - he thinks his car is going in the garage. hahah

I've bought a few things that I stashed put away -- eventually I use them all. I'm not sure how it always works out, especially since I just moved into a smaller house, but it does.

My good friend told me while I was living in a smallish apartment to start stockpiling goodies that I'd like in a house because once you actually go to buy the house, you may not have much dispensable income. Plus, when you open them up in your new home, it's like Christmas :) I did this, and now that I'm in the process of buying my own home, I have a few goodies to dress my new place up with.

Great this saying it is ok for me to go and buy these two vintage pink crystal lamps I saw a couple of weeks ago.

As long as I have a place to stash it, I have and I will continue to purchase decor items for future use only.

I think it depends on what it is, if it's in your budget and how much it means to you. There are a few great things I wanted very badly but had no room for them or wasn't ready for them yet. Now that they would go _perfectly_ in my new place they're no longer available. I wish I had snatched them up when I could. I've decided if I fall in love with it, think about it later and still want it's worth buying. If you will be really disappointed later if/when it's gone, get it now. If you don't love it, save the money for something you can benefit from sooner rather than later. Then again my tastes seem to change so often if I bought everything I'd love I might well be sick of it before I ever end up using it. Shrug. :)

I do this too often. and usually it's small stuff. I went crazy when I found 2 different pairs of curtains that normally would go for over $90 were totaled at just under $35 when checking out. I'm glad I didn't pass them up!

I've done this a few times - and always regretted it.

It's just a waste of money and space to buy things I don't need or have space for. I'd much rather have the money in the bank / lower credit card balances / more money for vacations than keep buying excess/useless stuff that just gets stashed away in the closets and storage room / given away / thrown out.

No. Hold on to the cash. By the time you can use things, you'll want something new anyway. I've rarely regretted a non-purchase for very long. (Unless it was an investment likely to increase in value like stocks or real estate.)

A few years ago, I went into a gallery and fell in love with a painting that was just a bit out of my financial comfort zone. I knew it was priced below market, but was still a little spendy for me. I went home. The next day I decided to go for it, and went back to the gallery. The painting was gone. I was seriously, seriously disappointed.

I definitely don't advocate buying whatever you like whenever you like it, but I now have an experience that helps me make my purchase decisions. How much do I love it? Can I afford it? Will I regret walking away?

If an object is just simply cute, but I really have no place for it, I'll usually pass.

If something transcends being just a "thing," then that's notable, and in my opinion, shouldn't be ignored.

By the way, that lamp is killer.

I am frugal, but I buy things I love anyhow (if I can) and find a place for them at the time. I don't store decor, only holiday items (and some fabrics...) I TRY to have a policy of "one new thing in means one old thing out", but that doesn't always work.

One tricky bit is not falling subject to the lure of completism -- collections can kill you!

If what I like or love is unique (original art) I try to decide on the scene how I will feel if I lose it -- because if it is at all a bargain, and I go away, I almost certainly WILL lose it.

I don't usually buy stuff I can't envision using right away. Just recently I snapped up a Swedish birch dresser that I really had no room for and never pictured needing, but liked instantly.
It turned into my beside table, offering more storage and style than my existing stacking cubes. I sold the old cubes on craiglist less than 24 hours after listing for $65 and only paid $83 for the dresser!!
My serendipitous find forced me to look at things differently and wasn't much of a financial risk. I'm still careful with buying stuff I don't need, but sometimes you need a jolt to change things around.

I usually shop at thrift stores, so there's the added pressure that in terms of buying it, it's now or never.

When we first moved into our house, there was a special urgency to find furniture quickly, but now that we're mostly statisfied with the decor, it takes a higher bar (reasonable price, great design, good condition, fits our decor, fits a need) to buy anything because it means it's displacing what we already have.

That said, last month, when I saw an amazing midcentury credenza that I really liked, in good condition, for $150, I bought it immediately. We don't have a place for it and it's sitting in the garage, but someday ....

I like to buy things for future use with a few stipulations...
It has to have a reasonable price, size and use. I have a little section of my linen closet devoted to decor items that are for future use. I usually rotate them in and out to give certains areas of the house a new look!

Oh, gosh! I had no idea that my guilty habit was shared by others! But my apartment is bursting at the seams now, what with all the things I brought back from my parents' house, so I don't buy decorative things anymore now; there's no place to stash anything.

Tablecloths were a weakness for awhile ... I actually bought some beautiful large ones on sale when I lived in my previous apartment, hoping that I'd eventually live in a place large enough to actually use the two extension leaves on my table ... now I can, and I really enjoy having the tablecloths. I was also very tempted to buy a rug I fell in love with at Pottery Barn just before I had to move, but talked myself out of it as I hadn't even found a new place yet and didn't know what size to buy. As it happened, once I found my new apartment, I went back to get the rug ... and there was ONE left, in just the size I needed and on serious sale! So waiting worked out that time.

But if it's something unique, grab it. I went to an art show in my neighborhood a couple years ago and fell in love with not one but TWO oil paintings that I knew were well-priced even though they were a serious investment for me. I went home, then turned around and went right went back to the art show and bought BOTH of them, seconds before someone else nearly bought one of them. I have never regretted it for a second.

I kind of do this, but I will display my new purchases, even if they don't "go." I get excited about them, and want to use them. I will store the old things they displace, because I might need them in my next place (I haven't lived in one place for more than two years in the last 15, and there are at least a couple more moves coming up in the next few years...), which happens occasionally. I wish I were better at gettign rid of the things that I am not using currently...

I've been buying things for my "future" home for three decades and, now that I'm in it, I'm so glad I did. With very few exceptions, the things that I loved are the things that I still love.

My rule is: if you love it, and if you can afford it, and if you have a place to stash it (where you don't have to pay for storage), then by all means get it. I regret things that I DIDN'T get. I rarely regret things I DID get. And if I do, I can easily pass them on or put them in a consignment shop or yardsale.

I have 4 sets of drapery currently living in my parents' house. They were free-I got them from work and do work with the color palatte I like. I'm hoping to use at least 2 pair when I move. But they were beautiful quality and I couldn't pass them up.

I wouldn't have passed up that lamp either, it's gorgeous! But yes, I do this too-- my rule is, if you are going to have dreams about the item/mourn it for years, just buy it. It's only money. ;P Plus, it's easy enough to sell something/give it away if you end up not wanting it, and I find that rarely happens anyway. For me the hardest transition is to switch out of "protective" mode-- after years of keeping my precious thrift store find swathed in bubble wrap and babying it through various moves, it's nerve-wracking when it finally emerges into the general pool of household items likely to be smashed at any time by our cats/my clumsy fiance/the next big quake (this is particularly rough for lamps)! That's life I guess...