Scavenging Furniture

That's a nice couch. Americans never throw out something like that because they seem to favor ugly fabric-covered couches.

@ Martin: Nice catch, especially the table + chairs set. The sofa is not my cup of tea. Or my kind of sofa either.

@ David: Tomorrow I'm going to IKEA to buy a new sofa. I assure you I'll try to keep away from the most hideous fabrics :)

If one has a nice quilt-making granny like mine, one can always cover one's ugly couch (or sofa or divan, whatever one prefers to call that thing) with a nice quilt, preferably one with the Lone Star or Double Wedding Ring pattern on it. If one is lacking in such artistic grannies, one might try piecing a quilt-top by cutting lots of 6-inch by 6-inch squares and sewing them together in patches of 9, then sewing those squares together. That's the basic quilt that one starts with when one is 9 years old, called the 9-patch, says granny. Then sew the completed thing to a bedsheet with diagonal lines of wide stitches with a little cotton batting in between and lo! one has a quilt. If one uses old shirts and pants that one is fond of (or that one's kids outgrew), one can point out patches in the future with nostalgia. It's great fun!

Some thiry-odd years ago a friend of mine living in New York furnished a small apartment entirely from stuff he found on the streets of Manhattan. But as I recall, none of it was as distinuguished as what you've fallen heir to.

The sofa is designed for office use in a waiting area or some such. We're gonna use it as a kitchen sofa, that is, replacing the chairs along the side of the dining table that's orientated towards a wall.

I don't care what a sofa looks like. I always sit with my back to it.

That backrest doesn't look very comfortable.

hey Doc, congratulations on the new home. yep, looks designed to keep people from sitting on it, much less sleeping or being in any way confortable.

Thanks Mary! It's a good dining-table sofa. Though the table is too high for the kids.