I have to very much disagree here.
I am new and I have a basic Linden home, the Hobbit-hole look.
It has 117 Prims max. I have one cuddle chair, two seat pillows on the floor, 3 fairies on the front porch, and a box and have only a small amt of prims remaining.
Its sparce!
I look forward to learning what a Mesh is and if I can use it because my dreams of owning a home in SL and decorating it are so far dashed.