Furniture Regrets

[bebe]

My biggest regret is my glass top dining table. I wish I''d bought something a little more traditional looking or traditional with a slight edge.
I hate the chairs. You sit "on" them instead of "in" them. Too prissy If we ever move, I could always have a wood top made and refinish the
bases. (I already know what I want) And get new chairs. (picture was at Christmas, sorry)

 

[purrfectpear]

I completely change furniture styles at least every 7 years or earlier, so I don''t really get a chance to have regrets. I like to start over with new paint, new rugs, etc. as I''m easily bored. I think the longest I stayed with one look was about 7 years. I''ve had antiques, flea market finds, custom decorator furniture, and I just put it up on Craigslist and have fun with a new round of decorating. I''ve had Mid Century Modern for the last 3 years and there''s a possibility that most of it might stay for the long haul.

I do remember going to the Design Center in West Hollywood with a decorator friend in the early 80''s. I ended up with a flokati, custom art deco mirrored tables, console, etc., chrome/marble arc lamp, and white Haitian cotton sofa, chaise and ottoman. Everything was white/cream. It was perfect for a young single woman. Then 4 months later...surprise...I was pregnant.

The baby threw up on the white sofa, leaked his diaper on the flokati, and once he could crawl, all those sharp mirrored corners were out of there. That was a waste of perfectly good furniture in less than a year.

 

[newsboysgrl777]

Date: 7/24/2009 7:58:10 PM
Author: bebe
My biggest regret is my glass top dining table. I wish I''d bought something a little more traditional looking or traditional with a slight edge.
I hate the chairs. You sit ''on'' them instead of ''in'' them. Too prissy If we ever move, I could always have a wood top made and refinish the
bases. (I already know what I want) And get new chairs. (picture was at Christmas, sorry)

Bebe, I can TOTALLY understand how you''re feeling (especially with the comfort level of the chairs), but I gotta say...it LOOKS magnificient!!! Like right out of a magazine....in your home!!!!!! To me, that''s success....LOL!!

 

[Italiahaircolor]

Pretty much my entire family room set.

My decorator did most of my "buying"...and for the most part, she was good...but the family, eh. I have these evergreen toned leather couches...deep espresso tables and media center. It''s okay...but I wouldn''t have picked it for myself. I''ll probably buy more stuff in a year or two when I can convince Mark that we''ve outgrown these things.

 

[lulu]

Pottery barn bed and nightstands. Very disappointed with the quality of the finish even though I still love the style.

 

[Haven]

Date: 7/24/2009 5:29:40 PM
Author: crystalheart1

Date: 7/24/2009 12:07:00 PM
Author: Haven
HH--You will not be disappointed with the quality of anything from Crate & Barrel. We purchased a lot of furniture from there and love every single piece. (And DH''s family owns a furniture store, so he''s picky!)

That bed looks nice to me!

Haven - I hope you don''t mind me asking this...

Just curious... Have you ordered furniture from your DH''s family? If I had a connection like this I would order ALL my furniture from them...given the mark-up from furnitue

So Lucky.... there are many vendors out there that carry the same type of furniture as Crate and Barrell- Pottery Barn..etc with great quality

I don''t mind you asking this at all, it''s a great question!

We have ordered some furniture from the store, yes. All of our sofas and beds, mattresses, and bedroom furniture, and some end tables and that sort of thing.

However, and this is going to sound a bit bratty but if you knew my in-laws you would understand: *every*single*order* is an enormous ordeal. Everyone has an opinion on what we''re ordering and why we chose this-color over that-color, and this-fabric-will-look-better-with-our-sofas than that-color, and what-are-we-thinking-going-with-this-style, it''s really exhausting.

And then, once we do figure out what we want, the orders don''t go through for AGES. And we don''t want to bother anyone too much, but . . .

Let me put it this way: we didn''t have sofas in our home for nearly a half a year. None. Zip. Nowhere to sit. Why? FIL just didn''t get around to ordering them. So, in the meantime we purchased a lot of other furniture at C&B, and then FIL was all offended--Why would we buy anywhere else? Isn''t his furniture as good as anyone else''s? What''s wrong with the family business? And, look at this shelving unit! What do you like about this shelving unit? It''s too small. (Did I mention that DH''s family is of the mind that ALL wall space must be filled with some sort of storage or display unit because, gosh darn it, you can just never have enough places to store things you don''t need? Well, they are.)

As I said, EXHAUSTING.

But you''re right. It nearly killed DH to spend thousands of dollars on our Big Sur China buffet and hutch from C&B, but it matches our Big Sur dining room table and it''s gorgeous, and not one person at Crate & Barrel questioned our decision at all.

They just smiled, put the order through, and a few days later--voila! Furniture.

It was like magic. Sweet, predictable, dependable, agreeable magic.

 

[wapila1]

The leather, reclining Lazboy sofa we bought for our apartment two years ago is undoubtedly the best piece of furniture we own for the price. So, so comfy. The whole thing reclines. And if it''s gets crumbs on it when we eat popcorn watching a movie or wings while watching a game, I just wipe it with a damp cloth. Seriously, I don''t think I can go back to non-leather sofas anymore!

 

[IdLikeToBuyAVal]

We just bought a new dining room set last month and it turned into an ordeal! We ordered it, it was delivered on Thursday, set up, gorgeous, I loved it. The following Saturday we got engaged, came home and our 9 month old border collie mix puppy ate a corner off one of the upholstered chairs. We were really upset, called on Monday and ordered the fabric so I could recover the seat. Monday night, she ate a corner off another chair.

I love my dogs like they''re my kids but I nearly had a black and white RUG to go in the dining room!

 

[pennquaker09]

I try to make sure to purchase the best quality if furniture. It''s something that I am very picky about. I know what my style is. It hasn''t changed, it has just been refined more and more. I do regret buying the furniture that I have in my dining room. The table just isn''t big enough and we don''t have enough seating. I also wish I would have our based something more traditional and timeless.

I don''t like any of the ikea furniture. I imagine all the wood is soaked in formaldehyde.

 

[crystalheart1]

Date: 7/24/2009 10:02:02 PM
Author: Haven

Date: 7/24/2009 5:29:40 PM

Author: crystalheart1

Date: 7/24/2009 12:07:00 PM

Author: Haven

HH--You will not be disappointed with the quality of anything from Crate & Barrel. We purchased a lot of furniture from there and love every single piece. (And DH''s family owns a furniture store, so he''s picky!)


That bed looks nice to me!

Haven - I hope you don''t mind me asking this...


Just curious... Have you ordered furniture from your DH''s family? If I had a connection like this I would order ALL my furniture from them...given the mark-up from furnitue


So Lucky.... there are many vendors out there that carry the same type of furniture as Crate and Barrell- Pottery Barn..etc with great quality

I don''t mind you asking this at all, it''s a great question!


We have ordered some furniture from the store, yes. All of our sofas and beds, mattresses, and bedroom furniture, and some end tables and that sort of thing.


However, and this is going to sound a bit bratty but if you knew my in-laws you would understand: *every*single*order* is an enormous ordeal. Everyone has an opinion on what we''re ordering and why we chose this-color over that-color, and this-fabric-will-look-better-with-our-sofas than that-color, and what-are-we-thinking-going-with-this-style, it''s really exhausting.


And then, once we do figure out what we want, the orders don''t go through for AGES. And we don''t want to bother anyone too much, but . . .


Let me put it this way: we didn''t have sofas in our home for nearly a half a year. None. Zip. Nowhere to sit. Why? FIL just didn''t get around to ordering them. So, in the meantime we purchased a lot of other furniture at C&B, and then FIL was all offended--Why would we buy anywhere else? Isn''t his furniture as good as anyone else''s? What''s wrong with the family business? And, look at this shelving unit! What do you like about this shelving unit? It''s too small. (Did I mention that DH''s family is of the mind that ALL wall space must be filled with some sort of storage or display unit because, gosh darn it, you can just never have enough places to store things you don''t need? Well, they are.)


As I said, EXHAUSTING.


But you''re right. It nearly killed DH to spend thousands of dollars on our Big Sur China buffet and hutch from C&B, but it matches our Big Sur dining room table and it''s gorgeous, and not one person at Crate & Barrel questioned our decision at all.

They just smiled, put the order through, and a few days later--voila! Furniture.


It was like magic. Sweet, predictable, dependable, agreeable magic.

I totally understand... sounds like a lot of families I know... It sounds like it is a challenge .
I was laughing as I read this . I could just " hear " those things being said to you ...

 

[LaurenThePartier]

A Rooms To Go *Package*.

In 2001, I bought my first house, by myself, and because I was already living with my best friend in an apartment, she moved in to the house with me, with her living room furniture. She decided to go back to school a few months later, and decided to move back in with her Mom. So, while struggling to find a roommate, I had to replace an entire living room of furniture. The package I had decided on was a red couch with s swirly pattern, with a slightly arched back, and a bright green chair and ottoman group. Plus tables, that were light wood and brushed nickel coloured metal.

Well, my house was older and smaller, and the living room was about 12'' x 13''. OMG, because that couch had such an arched back, it grew by 6"+ into my living room. Same with the chair. It was just too much furniture in such a small place.

I have since been able to gift the entire living room set to a friend of mine, but yeah. Never again will I not do the "She''s Having a Baby" thing and cut out pieces of newspaper in the size of pieces I''m considering and lay them around the room I''m trying to furnish. And I''ll pay attention to the angle of the support structure, too.

I opened a bottle of wine the day our friend took the last of that furniture away.

 

[House Cat]

Chenille couches + Pets + Teenagers + Preschooler = Total disaster!

What in the world was I thinking? 3 years and they need to be replaced!!!

(They were comfy)

 

[Tuckins1]

I LOVE our dining room set. It is so elegant and "grown up".

We have a platform bed from IKEA. I like it, but I wish we would have gotten the dark finish instead of the medium/chestnut... I don''t really care for that color furniture.

 

[bebe]

Date: 7/25/2009 10:24:14 AM
Author: LaurenThePartier
A Rooms To Go *Package*.

In 2001, I bought my first house, by myself, and because I was already living with my best friend in an apartment, she moved in to the house with me, with her living room furniture. She decided to go back to school a few months later, and decided to move back in with her Mom. So, while struggling to find a roommate, I had to replace an entire living room of furniture. The package I had decided on was a red couch with s swirly pattern, with a slightly arched back, and a bright green chair and ottoman group. Plus tables, that were light wood and brushed nickel coloured metal.

Well, my house was older and smaller, and the living room was about 12'' x 13''. OMG, because that couch had such an arched back, it grew by 6''+ into my living room. Same with the chair. It was just too much furniture in such a small place.

I have since been able to gift the entire living room set to a friend of mine, but yeah. Never again will I not do the ''She''s Having a Baby'' thing and cut out pieces of newspaper in the size of pieces I''m considering and lay them around the room I''m trying to furnish. And I''ll pay attention to the angle of the support structure, too.

I opened a bottle of wine the day our friend took the last of that furniture away.

Ha, ha !! yeah the lessons we learn.
My son needs furniture (college). I told him to go get what he needs at Rooms To Go or Roomstore or some place similar.
Dreading what he picks out I''m insisting on pic''s before he does it. Right. He has no clue what he is doing.

 

[DiamondFlame]

Oh my...where do I begin? When I bought my first apartment, I furnished it with furniture that looked fabulous but provided little in terms of comfort. The most comfortable spot for me then was actually the floor. I''ve learnt my lesson since. Now I''ll pay for a good mattress, but not for fancy bed frames.

 

[Cehrabehra]

I hate my mattress. I had a serta for years and it was annoying when either of us moved the whole bed moved, but it was much better for, um... hehehe.... anyway we have a simmons with the individual coils and I gotta say it''s better for sleeping but if given the choice I''d rather have my old mattress back!!!

I love my couch. I have always been somewhat frugal and not indulgent in material posessions (diamond excluded lmao) but I layed a few grand down on my couch and I really love it. It''s very unique and a soft robin''s egg blue almost (not so bright) and it''s eyestopping and comfortable and microfiber so super easy to clean and I get complements on it constantly.

 

[SarahLovesJS]

Right now I''m kind of regretting the chest I bought of Craig''s List that matches my furniture due to the smoke smell in the wood. I HATE the smell of cigarette smoke. I only paid like $50 for it so no biggie..and so far the tricks PSers recommended are working, I am just kind of regretting it until it''s definitely a functional piece. Who wants their clothes to come out smelling like smoke?

 

[Skippy123]

Me, I think if we had to do it over we would have researched our living room sofas and coffee table. I think I wanted something quick to fill in our empty living room and went with the first decent thing I saw.

 

[sbde]

i am kinda disappointed with the Pottery Barn couches i purchased a year ago. we moved into our first house and wanted to furnish it was nice furniture and not worry about price/saving hoping that the pieces would last for the long haul. well we've had our couches for a year (the greenwich sofa, i LOVE it's clean lines) but the cushions are kinda saggy now. very odd since DH and i are really thin people. boo. has anyone else had a similar experience?

hudson_hawk - we have a gorgeous dark wood sleigh bed that i simply LOVE and has held up super well in the past year. it still looks brand new. here's a linky: GiselleBed

 

[Lady_Disdain]

My dining chairs. I was taking my time decorating my first apartment, looking for perfect and inexpensive pieces. I lvoe the table, but it turned out very hard to match. Until a week before my mother came to visit. Since there was no way I was going to admit to her I had being sitting on the floor for 4 months, I went out and got the first reasonable set of chairs I could find. I still want the cream upholstered straight back, though.