I came to a realization this past weekend. That I have a hard time letting go of furniture pieces that we bought with our hard earned money. You know, not the cheap thrifty finds that we find at garage sales or thrift stores, but the “real” furniture that we bought at a furniture store. The expensive stuff.
But as our style evolves and changes, or when you crave something different other than that all brown leather living room set, I find it difficult to just get rid of it, or even sell it sometimes because it’s still “good furniture!”
But when the furniture just doesn’t fit in the room, well that’s a whole other ballgame.
Case in point…our living room.
We just rearranged it in July. July!
But I wanted to use everything that was previously in there and didn’t want to lose a seating area by getting rid of something, so, we made it “fit.”
And while I really did love it, after living with it a few months, the hives began to break out last weekend.
The room did feel more cozier, but it felt crammed. And cleaning the floors was extremely difficult because there were so many things to maneuver around.
It just did not work.
So when the realization hit me that I am trying to fit 2 big brown leather chairs (one is a recliner), in our living room just because we paid good money for them, I finally said enough is enough! Then moved the recliner to our bedroom. Haha.
Yes, clearly I have issues, but recently the blue and white Ikat chair that we had in our bedroom bit the dust, so I put it out at the street and it was gone in like 5 minutes. Our neighborhood either really loves us, or really hates us for all the stuff I donate to the curb. :) So our bedroom needed another chair anyway, and while the recliner is not my first pick because it’s big (and brown), it’s just temporary and will work for now.
Sooooo, that’s what I was doing on Friday night. Rearranging the living room again. We’ve always struggled with having the furniture placement centered around the TV, and I know that is a no-no in the design world. But we don’t live in a magazine and we have a real life, so that’s what we did. And we don’t even watch the darn thing.
We are logical people I tell ya.
But, I have to say, it’s so FREEING having that recliner GONE. Or at least moved to another room in the house. :)
The living room is completely different again, and I will show you soon. Still need to take new pictures! But we have space now, and that is what is so nice.
I have sold many things on Craigslist and donated to various places. So I don’t know what my problem is with this brown leather stuff! I think it’s a sentimental thing because it’s the first “real furniture” that we bought as a married couple, at a nice furniture store, and saved up and paid cash for.
There are other pieces of furniture that I am hanging on to also and I just need to let them go. Sell them, and use that money and get something that I love! Sounds easy enough.
Do you struggle with letting go of things too? Try to cram too much furniture into a space to make it work, when in actuality it doesn’t work? Then you’re in good company. :)
xxoo,
Decorchick!®
It can be so hard to get rid of things (I am terrible about finding reasons to hold on to things) but isn’t it so freeing when you do?!
Erica
Ugh!!! I am so guilty of all of the above :/ I play the musical furniture shuffle … then finally something ends up on the curb anyway. Like you, we are often ‘donating’ to the curb. Hahahaha… and it is gone half the time before we make it back to the house.
Glad to know I am in good company.
Hugs, Gee
Yep, I have a hard time getting rid of good furniture–especially if I paid a lot for it. We still have 3 empty rooms in our new house, so as we save up for new, I’ll be moving the old to the less formal areas. The only thing harder than getting rid of the old is making a decision on what the new should be.
We sometimes have emotional attachments to furniture and other objects. I have struggled with getting rid of things that were “inherited” from departed loved ones. I have a vintage sewing machine and cabinet that my mother used to make clothes for me when I was a toddler. I also have an antique Victorian Marble Top table that was in my grandmother’s foyer when I was a child, her transferware soup tureen, an antique vase, and an antique sewing box that belonged to my husband’s grandmother to list a few of the items. They don’t fit with the style of my home so they are stored away until (I have no idea when) I find a way to incorporate them into our home decor. And because they are stored away, I feel guilty for not displaying them. But, I have come to realize that things aren’t people. These items aren’t my lost loved ones. I have been working through this and am contemplating selling or donating some of these items.
So well said. I struggle with this with clients all the time. They are paying a designer and quite often the reason they need me is because something the clients have been trying to make the sofa/chair/rug work when it is time for a change. Don’t get me wrong, I, too, still have some if the first furniture we ever bought, so I see both sides here. I recommend Craigslist to people but have never actually sold on it….any chance you’d be interested on doing a guest blog post for me on it?
Oh my gosh, I thought maybe I was the only one with that same issue! Maybe it’s because I was raised by Depression Era parents, I always figured, that we never want to get rid of anything because, you know, it’s perfectly good and you may need it some day. I was bemoaning the fact this morning that some net curtains I gave to the Purple Heart in 2009 would have come in handy to use as draping mesh on my new “French” style canopy bed. Geesh. I recently moved from a house with a family room (13 x 18) and large living room (16 x 19) to a house with one 14 x 15 living room, and crammed in a queen size sleeper sofa (family room), a desk (living room) and chair (living room), a recliner (living room), a large wing chair (family room), ottoman (family room), coffee table that is 3 ft square (living room), side table (living room), entrance stand (living room), curio cabinet (living room), a console table that holds the t.v. (living room) and a large china hutch that takes up an entire wall (living room). I loved it, felt cozy. My friends opened my eyes though. They said “nice” things and I could tell the room made them feel uncomfortable, but they didn’t want to say anything to hurt my feelings, LOL! I had to find a place to move the desk/chair and shifted the chairs and sofa around, and there is room to breathe in the room now. Reaction from one friend in particular was OH MY, this looks so much better. Thanks, dear friend, LOL! Hard to let go. I removed some stuff but it’s down in the “wreck” room, waiting for inspiration, or for the house to magically grow more square footage. Can’t wait to see the new arrangement in your living room.
I know what you mean, but the person I have a hard time convincing is my husband. Back when we had less disposable income we bought matching coffee table, end table, sofa tables from Lamps Plus for a total of $600. They were mission style which I love but over the years I’ve come to appreciate more of a mixed style; and, they haven’t held up that well since they were vaneer over particle board. Now I’m ready to replace them and my hubby says, “we’re never getting rid of those” and I tell him he’s crazy. I know eventually I will win, I just have to be patient, that or accidentally spill fingernail polish remover all over the top of one LOL