furniture versus built-ins

We've decided that we are going to build our own place soon. It will be a compact home with as little wasted space as possible, which means lots of built-ins. One of the things that we are being forced to re-evaluate is our furniture. Some of it will work with our new floorplan. Some will not. We made the decision several years ago to purchase an entire bedroom set for the master bedroom, and as a result we have always required a rather large space for all of it. We won't have this same space in our new home, so we'll probably have to sell much of our bedroom furniture. I'm a little reluctant to do so, because I know that we won't be able to sell it for much, and I hate the idea of practically giving it away (or losing so much of our investment). My wife says not to let it bother me, and that we've had several years of good usage of this furniture set, but I still can't help but cringe when I think of selling it for 20% of what we paid.

I was even considering the idea of moving it with us, disassembling it and reusing it as built-in furniture. But then I'd feel even worse if my less-than-perfect carpentry skills ruined the furniture altogether.

There are some really good books that detail ideas for built-in furnishings that can convert and serve double-duty. Many of them showcase homes in China and Japan, where metropolitan space is scarce. My only question is if built-in furniture can replace regular furniture completely. Can a murphy bed replace a standard bedframe and boxspring? Can a tv wall mount replace an armoire? Can a set of built-in wall drawers replace a dresser? Honestly, I don't see why not. Why continue to relocate furniture every time that we move? I suspect that one of the reasons has to do with our desire to change our furniture every so often. Conversely, one could argue that built-ins prevent one from giving their furnishings a facelift every so often. But if the furnishings match the style of the home, why change them?

For a while, I was examining several different lightweight furniture options. My thinking was that this would be the easiest way to relocate furniture. However, I am starting to believe that the easiest thing to do would be to not relocate it at all. Built-ins would serve this purpose very well. Now I just have to accept the fact that we're going to lose so much money if we sell our current set. But on the bright side, if all goes as planned, this will be the last time we will have to do that.