I had a friend that replaced three piece suites every two years or so when she got fed up with it and because she was so house-proud. It was ridiculous, she made such a fuss, no-one was allowed to sit on it unless it was covered in polythene so we would be there rustling and squeaking around while nervously drinking tea for fear of spilling it! Myself I was happy to buy secondhand ones which were mostly perfectly alright and with a young family I couldn't see the point in spending all that money and worrying about the wear and tear of a brand new one when there were more important things to think about.

Talking about buckets when I was 10 and visiting my grown-up married cousin they were just starting out and not too well off he only had an out building and bucket in their first home in a creepy middle of nowhere and he had the job of chaperoning me outside with flashlight. His wife also assigned him the job of getting rid of it, it was scary and freezing as well as embarrasing! It made me move though.