On any given weekend – including this past one – millions of people across the world will pack up their belongings and move to a new place. I can only speak on moving in the U.S., most specifically Texas, when I say we are a country lacking good taste when it comes to sofas. One startling fake statistic: Nine out of ten sofas moved are extremely ugly and probably not worth the effort.
And I've been there, too. To wit: My very first sofa was a hand-me-down from my parents. It was from the early 1960s, green and weighed five tons because it folded out into a full-size bed (with a cast-iron frame). I moved the dumb thing five times ... to my first apartment and then duplex at my first post-college job, then out to West Texas where I rented an apartment then a house, then to my then-girlfriend's house and finally donated it to charity. I tried to "dress it up," but that was futile because I used an old brown-black-checked bedspread that was my mom's when she was in high school. Take a look ...
This is me when I was much younger, skinner and better-looking. That's "Bear," the long-haired chihuahua that my sister couldn't care for. Ugly sofa, right? This is the sofa that, as a kid, I watched "Mork & Mindy" and "The Dukes of Hazzard" when those shows were new. It was in our basement, and was also the perch on which we played our Atari 2600 games. Memories!
It gets worse. When I moved to my house in Lubbock, I acquired a sectional sofa that belonged to the newspaper's city editor. It was ugly but not so bad. I had a small extra bedroom that became The Sofa Room because that's about all that would fit. I won't go into what was done on that sofa, often, or the alcohol-soaked parties I hosted with mostly underemployed/underpaid co-workers. Or the fact I moved the dumb thing twice before offering it up to the Dumpster Gypsies to make their very own.
After getting married, our taste was only half better. The Petite Filet had a really nice sofa she bought new after she graduated from college. We kept it in our front room (now the home office), where it became a favorite place for the dogs to lounge (didn't match the wacky color scheme we had going in the living room). Speaking of the living room, we bought a yard-sale sofa and covered it with a new denim slipcover. Classy! We eventually sold the nice sofa to the son of one of the PF's co-workers (he was about to get married and wanted something nice). The yard-sale sofa was in turn sold at a yard sale with the slipcover.
That's when our bad taste in couches ends. I was working in advertising for a national department-store chain when we decided to use my hefty employee discount and 12 months no-interest financing to buy a "transitional" leather sofa and matching chair. We bought some fabric from Ethan Allen, used some of it to cover an ottoman and used the rest for pillows. That made a big difference in our style and comfort in that room (where we spend most of our home time), and led to a green painted ceiling, new carpet, banana-leaf/wicker chair, new back french doors to replace the nasty sliding one, etc. etc. etc. I highly recommend quality leather furniture for anyone with pets or kids; it's easy to clean and can look new for years. It also ages well, getting more comfortable over time.
We've come a long way, baby! And yet I see my fellow Americans languishing with their nasty seating, piled into pickup trucks, crammed into U-Hauls. Big brown and orange flowers. Teal and purple paisleys. Oak-and-brass trimming. Ugh! It's a deep-seated, national crisis. If this describes you, step away from the rent-a-center! Toss out your hand-me-down. Get thee to a nice furniture store and hop into another American way of life ... debt!
Got any good sofa stories? And is your current seating ugly? Sit a spell and tell me about it. We can work through this together.
oi! I only wish I had a sofa! That is the dilemma of the moment- a house with no furniture. The thing is - I am so picky (not to mention broke) that I just can't find what I want...
When I moved into my first college apartment with girlfriends we had a red velvet sofa. It was awesome...it looked like it should have been in a bordello. It moved with us to our next apartment which was in an attic, but we were all going to separate after that so when it came time to move we decided to just heave it off the fire escape. But the sofa actually survived the fall (almost intact) and within 10 minutes of being on the curb three other college students were carting it away.
That was my most exciting sofa....
Our den contains my childhood sofa very much like the one you desribe. It's brown. It's heavy. We just decorate around it, though I'm yearning for a grown-up like actual set of furniture.
I purchased a set of lovely sofas in Texas, my first "Grown Up" couches. Then I moved across the country, left them with my mom and now use second hand couches that I'm forced to cover because they may be much futher removed than second (in fact, they could 4th or 5th hand even).
Ah, such is life.
One of the most depressing things I've ever done is look for used couches on Craigslist. I can't believe that once upon a time someone actually paid good money for that crap.
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I've always wondered what a "transitional" sofa was. Is it one that the place lends you while you transition from a boy to a man?
My sofa is a piece. But, having a kid and 2 long-haired kitties, I hesitate to make any major purchases now.
My mom has a long-haired chihuahua that's mostly brown. I swear, that dog looks guilty all the time.
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