Sunday, May 31, 2009

house cleaning -- part 20 of 487

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Just because we were spending time in Baltimore, enjoying the weather (and the flowers) and eating our way through its culinary delights, doesn't mean that we have come to a dead halt on the house-cleaning front.

This weekend we took a load to the not-dump. Some of these bags were ours (and we got rid of a lot of dead cardboard, too).





Then comes the "fun" part -- shopping for furniture to replace the furniture that has become unacceptably ragged.

There is so much hideous furniture. Astonishing quantities of hideous furniture. Mind-boggling amounts of hideous furniture.

Here are a couple of couches that don't make me actually retch.





We are trying to be very cautious of "furniture-store syndrome." You know -- when you are in the (huge, enormous, cavernous) furniture store, and you look at a nice little 8'-square coffee table and think "this would be fine, in our 10'x18' living room"? Then you go home, and get out the tape measure, and realize that what looks just fine in that very (very) large space would be absurd in your room?

This couch is 44"x98". That is a Really Big couch, and almost certainly TOO big..... Seriously -- 44" depth???





We wandered into the clearance section. It's hard to say it's the "comic relief" when there is so much comically horrible stuff in the regular-price section.....

Can you even believe these lamps?

I mean -- would someone take them, for free, as a joke? Surely (SURELY) no one would pay $58 dollars for one????????????







A closeup of the shade. I am not making this up.





We are finding this whole furniture-shopping thing to be an ordeal. In addition to difficulty of finding anything one might actually find tolerable in one's home (that would fit!), and the prices desired for most of same, is the way the salespern Will. Not. Leave. You. Alone.

Even after you've said, repeatedly, that you will ask if you have any questions.

Oy.

This is another reason we love IKEA. They seem to only ask you if you actually HAVE questions. They don't pester, the way the people pester in other furniture stores.

While I can understand the reasons furniture salespern are anxious to make sales, we are more likely to flee than buy if they pester, and this is something we seem to be unable to communicate.

Alas.

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4 comments:

Kristine said...

Those are some SERIOUSLY ugly lamps...

I need orange said...

Indeed!

I mean -- there is a LOT of ugly home furnishings, but somehow lamps seem to really attract the worst ideas...........

Kim said...

HEY! I have those lamps!

kidding! =) I like the heather grey couch, it would hide dogger hairs well!

I need orange said...

There is so much furniture that seems totally hideous to me that I know someone must buy it....

I knew there was a chance that someone might be offended by my post, but figured the chance was small as anyone with that kind of taste probably doesn't like what I do anyway............

:-) :-)

Yes, hiding dog hair is always one of the top criteria when we are furniture shopping.

Unfortunately the pale beige that will hide undercoat the best is not good for hiding dirt, etc.

What I would pick, if I were really in control of the fabric, is a random blotchy tan/brown/dark brown..............

Our new carpet, which we had put down last Aug or Sept, makes me happy. It's dark (I wondered if I'd be ok with that, and I am), and speckledy. It shows clumps of white (if you pick tufts, those will show), but not individual hairs. And it's dark enough that the black hair doesn't show at all.