You know that thing in your house that you hate? You now have permission to get rid of it forever. Do not pass go, do not ask your mother in law, do not worry that your dead aunt will be mad if you get rid of it. If you hate it, it's out of here. The end. You can thank me later.
This post was supposed to end here, but I already know what's gonna happen:
**for the sofa haters**
Every time I write about this I get the same comments "I hate my sofa, what do you want me to do, take it to the trash and sit on the floor for the rest of my life?". That's one solution. I bet in a matter of weeks you'd have a replacement. But it's probably not the wisest choice. I feel your pain. I hated a sofa for years. It wasn't until I got serious about removing all the things in my house that I hated that I could make it happen--getting a replacement that is.I understand if you have to keep a sofa {or whatever item it is that you despise but have to use every day} around a little longer until you have a replacement Ladies, can we have some ideas on how to learn to love the sofa that you have or how to get a new one for a thrifty price? I set a goal with a date of when our ripped up 10 year old orange leather sofa would be taken out of the house. I started saving up $$ and made a budget and met the goal.
And you know, between Craigslist, bartering and the Salvation Army {I've seen two nice sofas I would have in my own home in the past month for less than $200 each!} I bet it wouldn't take long for you to find a replacement.
Have a sofa you want to get rid of? Feel free to link to it in the comments with your area--who knows, maybe someone here could use it!
What is it that you hate that's clogging up your house?
65 comments:
Actually I have already gotten rid of all the things I hate, or made them into something I love. I don't think there's anything left that I don't love (or am in the process of making it something I love.) My new year's resolution this year was to lose 100 lbs. (I lost 70), and to love every part of my home. I've changed almost every piece of furniture in my home and redid all the rest of them. My blog might be boring next year, but my house will be beautiful! (I guess then I will finally begin working on all those outdoor areas, lol.)
I did just this, I got rid of TONS of things that I HATE, this weekend. I feel fabulous!
I hate our current dining table. We bought it for $120 at IKEA, and we didn't think about the fact that our toddlers would be able to pick it up with one hand. (I'm barely exagerating. Burke can only push it, but Ruby really can pick it up.) Anyway, after several spilt meals, it is getting re-purposed. I'm cutting the legs in half and turning it into a play table/train table for the kids' playroom. I'm really excited about the four chairs that will now be free to use in other areas in the home!! :) :) :)
There are a lot of things I'd love to get rid of. Like my awful 80's bathroom and the 70s dadoin the staircase. It takes cash to change it, something I don not have at the moment. So I must focus on what I like. Sometimes it's hard, sometimes it is easy. Like today. The golden sunlight streamed into our home. I just sat on the sofa looked around and was happy.
I don't love my sofa - the scale, the style. So I bought a surefit slipcover. I still didn't love it - too sloppy. So I headed to Walmart for some cotton duck to match the slipcover and made covers for just the cushions and back pillows, and use the slipcover to cover the sofa underneath these cushions. A custom looking white slipcover until I can afford a new, appropriately scaled one. http://mckevitts.blogspot.com/2008/10/emily-takes-on-sewing-machine.html
We have a couch we got off of freecyle that is not only a really ugly color, but has huge rips in the upholstery. But it has great bones and one of these days I'd love to reupholster it (soon as I, uh, learn how to do that!) but for now it has a $25 slipcover I bought off of ebay. I use old pieces of plastic piping to push down into the crevices to make the fabric fit and hang better (so as not to have to retuck every time someone sits on it, grrrr), and some cute Ikea throw pillows, and it actually looks nice in our living room/computer room.
Our dining room table = puke. It's made from sturdy wood, which I'm grateful for, but it doesn't match anything else in our home. Plus we only have 2 chairs that match. Plus one chair is broken. It has laminate on the top so it can't be easily painted. I'm a little upset we're in an apartment again. It makes things difficult to renovate, especially with winter approaching the Minneapolis area in 12.4 days.
But I'll keep looking. And saving my Gussy $$. And learning from Nester :)
Gussy
I LOVE MY SOFA - it's my forever sofa - it's two years old and I love the look of it more with each iteration of our living room - but with my dog as my witness, I will never have a down cushion again. I can't believe how many of them I sold to folks over the years. If you're one of those squishy sunk down clients, please accept my sincerest apologies, and immediately order yourself a foam core down wrapped cushion and make your life complete. Amen.
Maggie,
"It has laminate on the top so it can't be easily painted."
Sure you can. I have a buffett that I bought based only on size. It was UGLY. The top is laminate. I painted the whole thing using an oil based primer and them oil based paint. Nasty stuff to work with, but necessary for a piece that will get wet often. It is now one of my fav things about my dining room. Good luck!
For me, it is my floors. When we built our house just shy of 6 years ago, we didn't put in the cheapest flooring, but the next one up because it seemed we had to pick everything out yesterday. It is really starting to show wear, but I keep cleaning it and putting up with it knowing that I am slowly but surely saving up to put *EXACTLY* what I want down when the time comes ;o)
I have a gorgeous formal Stickley cherry dining room set (table, 6 chairs, buffet and hutch). Not so much I hate them but I don't have room for them and I refuse to get rid of them without getting a decent amount of money for them considering original value. So they sit. Ruining the flow of my home and driving me crazy and I just can't bring myself to unload them yet. I do love my sofa though :)
There's lots of things around here I really don't like... And with time, they'll be replaced and sent on their merry way.
As far as ugly sofas are concerned... I helped my mom, years ago, re-upholster an old sofa. Turns out purple and butter on a sofa, are uglier than what it was originally... We didn't do a professional job, and honestly, had no clue what we were doing- we just went with it. We didn't even research it before we started. The sofa ended up lasting for years more, until it made it way to the basement, and then was even given away to some college students. It's not as hard as you would think... just gotta pull the fabric really tight.
If you hate it--- Find some good fabric and make it PRETTY!
We accepted many freebies when we got married and many have moved on to other newlywed's and people who could use the stuff. But I still have the dreaded front room sofa that looks like it belongs in a Doctor's office. Way too prissy for me. But it's in perfect condition, it's clean and it will do until I'm done with all the other things I want to do in this house. Then again-I know that feeling about the stuff clogging up your space. Every time I walk by the sofa I think to myself, if this was the sofa I wanted, maybe half the other projects I attempt wouldn't even matter to me!! With a little willpower I will *save* my money up until I have my couch. :)
I hate the carpet in my family...seriously wanting to rip it up and put down wood flooring. Other than that I am happy with......oops..I forgot, I do hate my husbands ugly 'Archie Bunker' TV chair. I just bought a slipcover for it...it is at least bearable to me now. Don't tell him, but I have been chair shopping..shhhh!
Didn't hate our tuxedo couch but it took up too much room and was 30 yrs old so...passed it to a newly divorced friend, bought a leather chair to add to the other wing and windsor chairs. No couch but still cozy and comfy for family.
Its not that I don't like my dining room set because there is really nothing wrong with it. It is the fact that the table and chairs are a set with my china cabinet, and it is very matchy matchy. There is nothing unique, nothing creative about it. Plus it is the first thing you see when you walk in my house, so I am currently trying to give it more razmataz, as my mom would say.
I had no idea that there were so many sofa haters out there! Count me! I actually have two couches that I hate. One on our living room and one in our family room. I've been devising ways to try and get some new couches, but I think at the end of the day, I just need to start saving. Thanks for the inspiration!
I did that very thing recently. I noticed that even though I'd slip-covered my couch, it was falling apart and there was nothing I could do about it. I thought to look on Craigslist and found a nice, sage green microfiber sofa for $50 the next day! I'm still working on everything else I don't like though.
I had a black leather sofa (the kind with the floppy arm cushions)that I hated...every day. Turns out, someone else was willing to buy it for $200(!) and by selling a few other things (I didn't really need) on Craigslist I was able to buy a more attractive sofa for $500. It's not the best quality, but it's beautiful. And it gives me wonderful, fantastical, priceless piece of mind.
I totally agree - where there's a will there's a way!
Oh I so agree, only surround yourself with the things that you use, love and that bring you joy. Cut the clutter!!
nester, i am on my knees begging for your help. :) we just purchased a house and i've got my work cut out for me. i posted pics on my blog today. my biggest most pressing question (well beside paint color) is how to mistreat the huge, wonderful window in the dining room. i would love any thoughts you have.
we have not moved in yet so these are pics of the current owners. every wall is getting new paint in about 3 weeks. i'd love your thoughts.
and about ugly couches, they look better covered with big throw pillows you love
I have to say that I think I love everything that's in our home right now.
I love to give away what I don't want so we got rid of a bunch of stuff before we moved recently ~ there was no sense in lugging it all with us.
We have had a marimba (wooden xylophone) in our front room for 10plus years. It sucks up an entire wall and doesn't allow us to use the room for sitting and visiting. This is part of my dh's inheritance from his deceased parents and has lots of sentimental value despite the fact that none of our children or him play it. He has finally decided (with much encouragement from me) to allow it to go live at his brother's house 1000 miles away. We are driving it there this summer. I am counting the days! Praise God!
My mom got us a "new" old couch for $50 at an estate sale a couple of months ago. It's cream colored, and old fashioned, but better than the plaid hide-a-bed that we had in our living room! Trust me, red/blue/green plaid does not go with rose colored carpet, and a black fireplace (we are renting)... We're saving the plaid couch in the garage for when we get a "real" house big enough for two couches, and it will go in the "family room".
Does anyone else hate the china they picked out and got for their wedding? Like 13 place settings and all of the platters, etc. I just couldn't stand it anymore and when I painted my hutch and chairs red I went to Pier One and got a plain white set of dishes. I LOVE them and they are so simple and can be used any time. My old set was during my floral blue and mauve stage. It is Mikasa and nice I guess, but just not me anymore. My mother still hasn't asked where it has gone...any thoughts on what to do with it?
I agree 100% get it out if you hate it...good post!
Ok, but what if your hubby LOVES it? Or at least won't let you get rid of it? *wink*
I've got a brass chandelier that is NOT my style, but a new one is not in the budget any time soon so I want to spray paint it as I've seen you and others do - still working on selling the hubby on that one!
I also want to paint the oak hutch blue, but darker and smokier than your favorite color! :) I just need time, energy and paint for that one. Oh, and a borrowed sander.
I hated an ancient, ugly dining table with a gazillion legs for years and years. But every time I suggested getting rid of it, my husband would inform me that his dad used that table when he was in grad school... My father-in-law is alive and well, and moved onto better things a long time ago; in addition, he had no interest in taking the ugly table back. Besides, we just had it sitting in a corner because all the extra legs made it virtually impossible to comfortably use it as a dining table. So, one day, before my husband came home from work, I took the table into the alley and just left it there. Within 30 minutes, it was GONE. Oh, the joy! (And when I told my husband what I had done, he just shrugged and said, "Ok." WHAT? If only I had known it would be that easy...)
I purchased my $1100 Lane Westwood Stationary sofa on CL for just $325 in like new condition. I'm thoroughly pleased with it and am currently looking for chairs to complete my living room. I sold my old sofa and chairs to pay for my new, and made a little profit besides.
I think I've gotten rid of most of what I "hated" already. We had a dumpster here back in May and I think most stuff made it into there. While I don't hate my sofa, I do want a new look for it, so my goal is to get a slipcover made for it. And then I'll just like it more!
If I posted all the things in my home I hate, I'll probably crash your blog! Now that I'm reading this, I guess it is time to either get rid of or update them....Thanks girl!!!
Thanks for this post.
I'm working on this one, too.
Peace.
I have a small china cabinet that I wasn't liking anymore....I still think it's kind of cute but I've had it for years (in my bedroom before I was even married) and was tired of it, plus I didn't really like the shelf placement.....last week I repurposed it into my kids craft/art/game cabinet. I now love it again, it has a totally diff look with art supplies and games stacked on the shelves. I'd tried to sell it this year at a garage sale and it did't move, now I'm glad :o)
Oh Emily, Stickley, you have been absolved.
I have two old, ripped arms, worn loveseats-definitely past their prim. However I couldnt afford new ones and because I like to move them around the room-I decided to look for fabric or slipcovers. One day while at Ross(like a tj maxx)I found slipcovers for $10 &
$15!!! I got two loveseat covers, one chair and bought an extra cover so I could cover our ottaman. Now I love the color and I can wash them when the kids have had lots of kids over. I actually love being able to wash them and then take them out of the dryer all fresh and ready to go again!
I have spent three, long years looking for a replacement for my den rug. It is an oriental style with blue/burgundy/green/beige and I bought this RED chair I love at an awesome price last year. The chair clashes with the rug, BUT I love the chair and know that I wanted it.
We have shopped and shopped, the cheapest rug I found I like was $1800. No way! We have two dogs, and two kids! LOVE YOUR BLOG!
this is a great post. if i hate it i put it in the garage, or cover it with new material if appropriate, or paint it. here is the idea i believe nester tossed out: if it is ugly NOW how bad can it look if you try to change it to something better? it's not like it can be hated more, right? MY ISSUE: chipped kitchen tile counters ( the 70's 4 in. size, with narrow white grout). CAN I PAINT IT? if anyone knows about this please reply! of course, dh said NO! period.
please help! jkj
The biggest thing that I hate right now, is the wall color in the great room. I've never liked it, but we splurged and paid someone to paint it, so I felt guilty changing. No more, I'm telling my husband that the Nester says I should repaint! :)
nester, thanks, you are the best! and by the way as i was folding towels tonight a bunch of the frayed ones got the boot.
I don't HATE my dining room table (I mean I bought it right?), but I settled for it because I couldn't find what I really wanted (settling is never a good idea is it?). But, I definitely cannot afford to replace it so it’s staying put for a while. However, when I have the means to replace it, I look forward to giving it a happy home with someone who can’t afford to buy one (assuming they can lift it – it weighs a ton).
jkj, you can reglaze ceramic tile!!! We are going to do it to our 1960's bathrooms --- one is baby pink and the other is brown. I have worked with those tile colors for 9 years and decorated around them but recently discovered reglazing and found a company who can do both bathrooms for about $1800. I would imagine kitchen tile would be cheaper. It seals the grout so no grout to clean and they can repair chips and cracks. We haven't done our bathrooms yet but I've seen the finished product and it's AWESOME! You might google tile reglazing companies in your area. HTH!
Kim C
Hi Nester ~ Just came back to let you know that I gave you a shout-out in a post I just did {mis-treatment involved}.
I hate our couches. But I have a 7 year old, 3 year old and a puppy. They are/were light blue plaid. I actually still love them but they are filthy and I have to keep nailing up the bottom of our loveseat bc my child broke out the bottom by jumping on the couch when he was younger.
BUT...I am going to take my time to really figure out what I want to buy next time around.
And ever since I admitted I just dont care about them now, its alot easier to relax and if they get dirtier, whatever.
I think I love everything else in my home.
I hate my light fixtures and my kitchen counters. My husband is leaving on a business trip next month, I think I'll paint them.
The fixtures, I'm headed to Habitat this week, I'll keep an eye out for some. Short of that, I'll get the courage to sell a pile of stuff on ebay and make money for brand new.
Well what I HATE are my kitchen cabinets-some numpty pulled off the banged up but actual WOOD doors and refaced big solid wood cabinets with...plastic fake wood laminate. Horrible stuff.
I also hate the harvest gold bathroom with the vile chipped sink. I MIGHT, however, be able to replace the toilet, sink and vanity this summer...maybe in a year or so I can get the tub reglazed...
However, I most likely will have to live with them for many more years because my windows are gradually falling out-they're not even identifiable any longer to any of the window companies around my area so I can't order replacement parts (the house was built in 1963 and still has all the original windows). For now two of them are held in with insulation tape and I'm trying to figure out what to put on the ones with cracked corners so that when it gets really cold I don't have to worry about them cracking more and falling out(and it gets COLD here-not Canada cold, but it did get to -22 last winter).
So, unless and until we have about ten grand to play with to do the windows, most of the cosmetic interior stuff will probably have to wait, as will furniture replacement.
Such is life though, and no one ever guaranteed that you would always have all that you might want. I'm so glad to still have my home, grateful that my husband was able to find a job finally after retiring from the Air Force and being unemployed for nine months of this year, grateful that we had some money saved that I had planned to use on the house and instead had to use just to pay the bills, grateful that it was ENOUGH that we could keep the bills paid until that job finally materialized...I'm not a religious person, at all, but I can totally relate to simply being glad for what I have and appreciative that I have it, when so many are losing everything.
Also-my hubby, bless him, is learning woodworking, and has started learning to make cabinets. He's got a bunch of garage cabinets made already and says he learns something new with each one. So, when I am finally able to afford new cabinets, mine will be made for me, with love, by the man I love and would do anything for.
You just cannot buy that.
Ok, that wasn't phrased right-he's GOOD at woodworking and he's LEARNING cabinetry! LOL!
I already have the spice rack that every woman who sees it drools over that he made me, a stand for the bedroom laptop, nifty shelves in several bedrooms...he's very handy!
I really need to do this! I have a 10 year old (in good condition) FLORAL (yuk!) mission style sofa with a matchy, matchy green chair.
I really dislike my sofa and dining room table, and most other furniture in our own.
they are all hand me downs, old and barely functioning, but we make it work!
and putting slipcovers on the sofas with custom pillow case covers really help :)
One of the good things about being military and moving all the time...we get rid of the stuff we don't like pretty regularly!
I do hate it that you don't post twice a day! Oh I know, if you did then your family would get ignored and you'd never shower, but is that really so bad? It would all be for the general good of the people!!! :)
I so enjoy your site! I know it's a labor of love, but thanks for all the time and effort you put into this!
Hi there,
Great post (I am loving the series!), but sometimes you can't get rid of something you hate and you just have to embrace it.
I recently did a post on embracing my much hated leather orange (isn't that a coincidence) chair.
You can read it here http://songbirdisnesting.blogspot.com/2009/09/embracing-unwanted.html
Love ye, Marianne (you know the one from the Netherlands)
Well, la tee da. My professor just emailed me to cancel class. So now I have three hours all to myself. I can find a lot in this house that I hate in three hours time. I don't *hate* my sofa but apparently it hates us because it's broke. I keep putting off buying a new one but I think I will do as you say (I always do, you know) and make a plan, and a budget, set a date and buy a new one (with CASH!). I am getting rid of so much stuff in order to move into a smaller, cheaper house to get rid of debt to go on the mission field SO I have to balance all of that, right. There's no sense in moving a broken couch. Is this the longest comment ever about nothing?
I really don't like my leather sectional. Except its only 2 1/2 years old bought brand new from Lazy Boy!! Can't figure out hosw to like it. It didn't seem so big at the showroom. LOL! But its too big for the room we put it in.
Any solutions?
So funny that you post this and then specifically mention sofas. We had a sofa/loveseat set that we cought at a garage sale 3.5 yrs ago and sat in our family room. I have 3 small children, 2 large dogs and do daycare. This furniture was used a LOT and showed. It was worn, had tears in the cushions, then tears in the slip-covers...we finally got rid of them this past weekend and bought a brand-new sectional at a going out of business sale (for 55% off, no less!) We are just thrilled with our early Christmas present to ourselves!
I read this post and another post this weekend about getting rid of/changing stuff I hate in my house. I left the computer and my husband and I ripped up the carpet from our stairs. I feel so much better.
Thank you!
Thank you! I am now saying goodbye to that Victorian teaset my Mom gave me, and the drab, beige comforter on my bed! I feel liberated already!
As you know, I recently took the plunge to rid myself of all that living room furniture that I don't like. I sold a few things in a yard sale and sold the sofa to my sister-in-law. If it had been up to me I wouldn't have brought the unsold stuff back in the house, but hubby thought differently. Currently, we are making do with three chairs and an entertainment center.
Is it comfortable? No way! But I've found it's a huge motivater to get some money saved to buy new furniture. If I hadn't made a drastic move I would have lived with that stuff I didn't like until it was worn out. I needed something to motivate me and not having a sofa to lounge on at night while my husband rubs my feet is a serious motivater!
Plus, it's already been awkward when company comes over. I love the look they have when they see no sofa in the living room and only a paltry of chairs. It gets even better when I offer to get a pillow for them. hee hee
Hee, hee... I commented on one of your previous posts about how much I despise my current dining room chairs and a sofa/loveseat set that I inherited when I married my hubby. This post is so for me! We are pinching our pennies so we can afford our first home (hopefully very soon), but I do have to say that when I got serious about replacing my sofa a few months ago, I was totally blessed with the very couch I was already looking at purchasing on Craigslist for $100! It was barely used, so it was a complete steal! I purchased a white slipcover b/c I SO wanted a white couch (and I have two boys!) and sold the one that came on it for the same amount I spent on the new one. Rock on! Sure it's IKEA and not "the best," but I totally and completely love it! We still have the ugly gray vinyl hubby inherited yuckiness around, but once we can get another pretty sofa, that couch and loveseat duo will be finding themselves a new home on the curb (or Craigslist).
I recently read an article that was all about never getting a used sofa, love seat or over-sized chair because you take risk of it being infested with fleas, bed bugs, rodents {not likely...but you never know}, etc. Ever since reading that I am completely against that type of used furniture. It stated that it is very common for bed bugs to be in couches and that if they infest your house you literally have to call in a professional because they are that difficult to get rid of. Obviously if I know the person well and have been to their home it is a different story. But if not...what do you think?
Arg. What if I hate everything in my house? Because mostly, I do. I don't know where to start, even. I try not to see most of it. We don't have the money to do anything beyond pay the bills, so sitting on our 30 year old blue plaid couch with only 3 feet (the 4th corner is sitting on top of the box for the power-drill, how klassy is that?!) is what we have to do, for now. And, my kids ruin everything that I try to make pretty.
overwhelmed,
Lindsey
wow! thanks KIM C. for leaving a reply! i will investigate reglazing.
nester, have you ever felt a pang when a new person comes to your house and they see that the curtains aren't "finished" in the perfect, traditional way? i DO subscribe to i.d. h.t.b.p.t.b.b. but i really judged myself when i had a recent first-time visitor and i saw all the imperfections through a non-residents eyes. including my dust! (cleaning is another issue, i know) please share! jkj
I bought a sofa and loveseat 6 months ago and I hate them. It wasn't really what I wanted and I felt pressured by my husband to buy them. I'll never do that again. Plus, I bought them at a furniture store that I had already written of as being of inferior quality - and it shows now that the sofas are home.
They're going on Craigslist and we're going to bring the old sofa upstairs until we can find something better.
I guess I'm in a pickle. I hate our couch, and my mother in law gave them to us. arghughhh!!!!
I just got rid of something I hated--my tiled center island counter and cooktop. I HATED having the cooktop on the island, instead of on the perimeter of the kitchen. The tiled counter was chipped, the grout was filthy and caked with the previous owners decades of grease--ugh!
I had my local handyman relocate the cooktop to its previous location--a surprisingly easy job to just cut the hole (my perimeter countertops are formica) and reroute the electical hookup via the basement.
Next I found a gorgeous granite remnant at a local countertop fabricator. I had them cut it 11 inches longer to provide an eat-in space.
It's been less than a week, and I can't tell you how much I love the change! I now have the granite countertop I've always dreamed of--it's such a pretty focal point. I love having not trying to work around the cooktop. And I now have a space to perch while reading the paper/sipping coffee.
The cost of freeing myself from the hate? $425 for the granite counter plus installation, and $50 to the handyman for relocating the cooktop. As far as I'm concerned, it has already paid for itself in my joy and the improved work flow.
Thanks for this series, Nester!
Sue
Ok! I must share! I got rid of my sofa set and was GIDDY! It was extremely comfy, which is why we got it, but the color overwhelmed me. In hindsight, I could have gotten a slipcover, but I'm glad I didn't. We went about a month with nothing to sit on. It got old fast, and then we found a set with a beautiful color, but it turned out not-so-comfy once we got it home. For several months, I looked on craigslist until I happened upon the perfect sofa for us! LEATHER! I never thought we'd afford leather, but that was my dream choice! Not just leather. A leather sectional in a neutral color so I would be able to decorate the room in any color and easily change my mind. :) I got the idea for a sectional when I realized that is part of my ideal vacation. All of us snuggling on a sectional with room to spare. The leather sofa was on sale for an affordable price--something I guessed I could probably get close to by selling our sofa. But the seller was desperate to get rid of it for a move, and gave it to us for half of that. Now it did have an area where they cleaned it and lightened the color, but it is not noticable where we have it, away from the window. Since it is tan, it isn't very noticable anyway, and I put throw pillows there-right in the bend. We picked it up and immediately sold ours for what we paid for the leather one! I'm sitting on it, smiling right now. So my advice it to find what you want, and wait however long it takes to find it. In the meantime, sell anything you no longer want to save toward it in case it costs more than you'll get for your current set. If your sofa is comfy and and you just want a new look, a quality slipcover is a good option-maybe a stretchy one that stays put and doesn't look like a slipcover. However, it would have cost more for me to slipcover my old 3-piece set than I paid for the leather sofa! :)
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