I got the "oh when you buy a new place you have to buy new furniture for it" too. I also got the "it doesn't matter if you buy at the top of your range because your income will increase or the market will increase."
Seconded. I have a few family members that are just stunned I don't want to go on an IKEA shopping spree to furnish my new apartment with furniture/decorations.
I remember being told when I first moved to CA that I would eventually "grow up" and want "matching furniture". I'm still waiting. Much of our house is decorated in what I refer to as "Late college/ early Navy".
Our TV stand is only a few years old and it hides the electronics from the toddler. But it doesn't match anything else. The kitchen table and chairs are garage sale and hand me down. The computer desk is the one I bought from Kmart in 1994. The bedroom set is also from 1994 (but we are finally replacing the 20 year old mattress for Christmas).
Our coffee table is in the shed - my husband built it. It's nice. Right now our "coffee table" is a kid-sized picnic table that one of my former coworkers built from an equipment shipping crate.
We have an end table that was my stepfather's. We have another end table that my husband's grandparents made out of old green formica from a kitchen in the 70's, and metal legs. We have a glider chair that my neighbor was giving away when I was pregnant.
We are about to build our own "chaise" because the four of us don't fit on the couch anymore.
Mind you, I'm 44 and still waiting for the urge for matching furniture.