These furniture pieces are worth splurging on for your new home: Video
Buying your first home is an investment. Filling the space with furniture is a whole other story. Here’s advice for saving and splurging.
Today’s topic is comfort. And why I’m against it.
It was inspired by a recent House Beautiful magazine spread that somehow wound up on my Facebook feed.
The title: “Designers Are Ditching ‘Boring’ Side Chairs for This Living Room Seating Arrangement.”
Naturally, I was intrigued. What’s worse than guests turning up their noses at your side chairs? Especially at the time of year when so many of us are entertaining?
I quickly imagined the conversations:
“Darling, when we were at Bill’s place last week, did you notice his side chairs? They were so …”
“Dull? Tedious? Monotonous?”
“Exactly, darling! It made the entire afternoon seem …”
“Mundane? Prosaic? Tiresome?”
“Exactly!”
Just so we’re clear, “side chairs” are those winged (or wingless) chairs that are arranged near your living room sofa. They may be placed on either side of the sofa, or opposite the sofa, or …
Oh, I don’t know. But wherever they end up, they’re in the sofa’s general vicinity.
The photo accompanying this story looked traditional enough: off-white sofa, dark brown coffee table, brass lamps, ivory bookcases …
Upon closer inspection, however, I noticed that the two gray side chairs, arranged next to each other and separated by a small off-white table, were rather elongated.
In fact, they were large enough for someone to lie down on.
The text described them as “a pair of lounge chaise chairs.”
(Why are “chaise lounges” now called “lounge chaises?” I don’t know. No one tells me anything anymore.)
In the story, the designer of this room said that “comfort and functionality were key for this family.”
I have no problem with functionality, of course. Who wants a dysfunctional living room?
Comfort, on the other hand, can be a curse.
When I first moved to New Jersey in 1990, I found myself furnishing my place with furniture that was plush and overstuffed.
I wanted people to make “Mmm” sounds when they sank into my sofa.
And that’s precisely what they did. I would invite them over for drinks or to watch a movie and they would spread out on my sofa, tell me how comfortable it was and then …
Zzzz …
Fall asleep.
Just like that. Out like a light.
To be honest, it annoyed me. We’re watching a movie or having a conversation, and the next thing I know, you’re in Dreamland.
“This sofa is sooo comfortable,” they would tell me, as I gently nudged them awake. Or screamed at them. Or jabbed them with a mop.
Comfort, as you may already know, can lead to all sorts of negative things. Complacency. Stagnation. Unhealthy social behaviors.
Was Gandhi comfortable? Was Van Gogh comfortable? Einstein? Lincoln?
As Nietzsche said: “Society tames the wolf into a dog. And man is the most domesticated animal of all.”
And, yes, I hold man’s furniture personally responsible.
When I bought my first house in 1998, I decided that I should invest in some new furniture that suited my new outlook.
I wanted to ditch the overstuffed grandma stuff for pieces that were more modern, structured and severe.
Yes, I was becoming a brutalist, intent on punishing my sleepy guests.
I didn’t want anything mushy that would be too cushy on their tushy.
I had also reached a point in my life when I was making decent money and no longer had to shop in stores that had “discount,” “clearance” or “to go” in their names.
We didn’t use the phrase “comfort zone” in those days, but I was intent on going outside of mine — that symbolic place where everything feels safe, familiar and free of stress.
So I marched into a real, live grown-up furniture store where nothing was cheap or cheesy or stuffed with polystyrene peanuts.
As I moved slowly through the showroom, with my nose in the air, a nattily-dressed salesman approached, unsure whether I was worth his time or not.
“May I assist you?” he asked.
“Yes, my good man,” I replied. “I’m looking for a sofa.”
He asked what I had in mind.
I stared him in the eye and said, “I want something expensive and uncomfortable.”
His eyes widened gleefully. And my guests have been sitting at attention ever since.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.northjersey.com ’
