apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I don't own anything expensive or sentimental enough to warrant not using it. But even if I did... I probably would use it anyway! I think things that are made to be used should be used, and enjoyed.

While there are some items that I use more frequently than others, there's nothing "Off Limits"

I live alone - if I didn't use something, who would???

I love to use my beautiful things. I would rather use them than fret about stains or breakage. My mother is the opposite and has candles that are older than I am. I just don't see the point.

I'm the same as "missmouse"!!When I was little my mom had the sofas with plastic cobers and not only the sofas also some china ware we never got the chance to enjoy them, then we move out of state and we couldnt bring them with us and guess what?, well we store them in a small room in the house and my Aunt (dads sister) was the one who stay incharge of our house and guess what??well she sold them orgivem away with out telling us!!so the Moral of all this is enjoy and use everithing you have cause you never know..maybe they will end up in goodwill,or even worst in the trash...

Nothing is off limits. Things are meant to be used. That said, there are things that I used to keep in my closet to hide them from my old room mate, who was just plain careless. Breaking my cheap tumblers is one thing, but breaking a hand blown red wine glass is a whole different story.

I do have a set of glasses that belonged to my Grandfather that I don't use, and I don't let guests use them either.

For a while I have been collecting vintage china pieces and one of my friends put one out at a party and I was all freaked out about it, but then realized it looked great and no harm was done, so why not? Now I use them all the time.

And I totally used to be the person that wouldn't burn nice candles, but then Erma Bombeck died and they re-printed her column about not using "nice" things and it really changed my thinking on that! Well, except for my Grandfather's glasses....

We only used the fancy china at Christmas and Thanksgiving but Mom has been trying to use it more often lately, which makes me smile. Her favorite couch is the "fancy" one, too.

As for me, I'd rather use the stuff. I get pleasure out of using beautiful things, so why not? And if it breaks, it's just stuff. I still have the memories attached to it. I once read an interesting article, I can't even remember the topic, but I remember reading "She holds up her teacup and tells us 'This cup is already broken,'" meaning that she knew it would break so she was going to enjoy it while it lasted. I love that sentiment.

Nothing is off limits. We have raised our daughter this way and she lives in and is comfortable in the whole house. We have mid century modern pieces, white slip covered sofas, original art, and art glass. Being raised like this, she know how to act in other peoples homes and in homes that do not have children. When she turned six she was allowed to pick the decor for her room, she wanted a Tord Bjoontie light and a Charley Harper lithograph, I am still so proud!

I like to enjoy everything. Of course then I realized we haven't started using our wedding silverware yet (4 years old). But that was mostly because we lived in a tiny apartment and didn't have room for everything. Um, now my excuse is that I'm waiting until we remodel our kitchen....so I think this evening I'm going to get them out and put our old silverware in my new camping box :)

I don't have fancy enough things to reserve for occasional use. But I don't think I'll ever be the kind of person who has two sets of everything: one for everyday use and one saved for special occasions. A home is a home, not a museum.

Not yet, but when I have kids my cream-coloured leather sofa and chairs will definitely be off-limits. They can chill in the kid-friendly den instead!

Some things are meant to be used in the utilitarian way. Others are "used" simply by bringing enjoyment. Once you begin to invest in art and items of beauty, you will understand.

So the real question is, do you have limits on how things are used? I think you can do that without resorting to plastic covered couches. But, I can't imagine any responsible adult using their best white bamboo towels to remove eve makeup? Or serving peanut butter sandwiches to a 6-year old on their grandmother's wedding china.

Nerdnik, children will have the capacity to ruin far more precious things than leather. Daisy weathered many storms prior to becoming your sofa ;) Relax, baby wipes [ Huggies ] will remove EVERYTHING - and a little jif or ajax on a damp cloth will remove what it doesn't. Enjoy your sofa and your kids :)

Nothing is off limits in my apartment. I use my sterling flatware, Limoges china and linen napkins every day. I don't have a dishwasher so must wash by hand anyway, so it's no extra trouble to take care of -- and when you use your sterling regularly you don't need to polish it very often at all. (I don't have kids however -- would be tougher if that were the case)

A set of rather cheap Andy Warhol plates, in plastic. I bought them for decoration but they kept falling off the wall. At night, not fun. But I don't want to eat in them, I don't want to scratch them!

The wonderful thing about eBay is that if any of your good china or good glassware gets broken, you can source replacements fairly easily.

I have some early 90s Italian designer china that I only use on special occasions, as each piece is a different colour and as such if any piece was broken the whole set would be ruined. But I use my 1950s vintage silverware every day, because it's beautifully designed and a pleasure to use... and a common enough design that I can replace any lost pieces via eBay.

I am much more concerned about maintaining my precious things than protecting them from potential wear and tear. I collect a lot of vintage kitchen bits and pieces, and if, say, a teacup handle breaks off, I will carefully glue it back on instead of just chucking it or stashing it out of sight.

It drives me crazy the way my partner doesn't scrub the outside of pots and pans (like my vintage le Creusets!), because then the dirt hardens and eventually ruins the pot. Whereas if you take the time to carefully clean it off every time you wash the pot, it doesn't build up. That is pretty much an analogy for how I approach everything, vs how my partner does. I don't see why you shouldn't use something just because it's old or precious, but just put the effort into keeping it in good condition.

Also, a lot of my furniture was picked up from the sides of roads, and then restored in some way - sanded, waxed, oiled, repainted, scrubbed. Because I'm so involved in making my stuff beautiful to begin with, instead of just acquiring it already perfect, I'm a lot more inclined to keep it that way, even when it involves regular effort.

yeah - i feel that things i own should be used......however my point of reference is myself and how i use things. i just simply don't understand how some people can be perfectly at home ruining someone else's things. if i am in someone else's home - i treat their things with the utmost care - and would hope one would do the same for me. so until i can afford to live without a roommate [who does not take the same care in using items - particularly when they're mine] - some things will have to wait.

I always thought it was terrible to have furniture, rooms, or kitchen-wares that were off limits. Something about it just seemed undemocratic and unfair.

And then I had two children who have destroyed my home and broken some of my beautiful, irreplaceable things. One just shattered the glass door on the entertainment center this morning.

Look, I love my little devils, but we have definitely grown into having off limit rooms, linens, tableware, and most assuredly furniture (like my perfect ice blue velveteen MCM chair.) What I used to think was unfair has changed into a defensive state.

We have off limits in our house, and I'm great with that.

Only two silver and porcelaine tea cups are off limits. There are only two of them, so I can't use them when guests are here; and one of them is nearly broken. My grand-mother gave them to us for our wedding, along with 19th century silverware, which we constantly use.

It's the one and only thing in my house that I look at, without using it. Oh, and one chair is off limits, because it has been claimed by the cat, but Kitty reminds guests by himself, so I needn't worry.

I have two place settings of my grandmother's luncheon service. I use them extremely rarely because they can't be replaced. Nothing else is off limits in my house.

I have an elaborate inlaid mahogany center table in my foyer that I scraped and saved for 3 years to purchase. To prevent scratches, the rule is absolutely nothing metal may touch or come near that table.

@quiltmaster, well, sure I have limits on the ways things are used... you clean up kitchen spills with an old rag, not a bath towel. Everything does get used, though. I just don't buy a lot of precious junk. What's the point?

I love using my Dad's vintage 1950's dishes every day. I've been able to build the set to 8 place settings through online resources. They remind me of my early childhood, a more elegant time. Living in NYC I really don't have space for multiple sets of anything. I've gone on to mix the dishes with rustic amber glasses from Target, reminiscent of the originals we used way back when.

I understand keeping some items off limits from little ones, of course. But when they hit the hay and the grown ups are left. Do yourself a favor and pull out the good stuff!

My current roommate really changed my way of dealing with this. He is 21 years old and is simply careless with both his own things and mine. He superglued something to a wall because I asked him not to put a nail in it because the plaster is old... I do not think I have cursed that much in my life.

So, yes, some things are off limits in my house. My vintage dress collection, my knicknacks from Australia, my Hamlet 2 poster...these are not things that are expensive, but they are things that are very precious to me.

The current roommate situation has also delayed me in purchasing the needed $300 yards of silk to make a summer duvet cover, because I do not want to come home one day and find in stained.

I have what may or may not be an authentic Arne Jacobsen Grand Prix chair that I don't let anyone sit in, due to the stress marks that have developed where the seat bends up into the back. I have horrible visions of someone sitting down into it too abruptly and snapping the back off, so I keep people from using it. Stupid I know, since what is a chair that doesn't fulfill its functions as a chair, but I love its look and legacy too much to risk its careless destruction.

My attitude is that you survey your life and make sure all the things you own fit into it -- so if you have kids, you need to have a different kind of home (regardless of your ideals) than you can have if you don't. Ditto pets.

I would rather have cats in my life than untouchable upholstery. My sofa is microfiber just for ease of cleanup. I don't want any dishes too delicate to use -- and I want my everyday dishes to appeal to me. (Time for an upgrade, there, when cash flow permits!) My new place strikes people as large, but the rooms are small and the storage is minimal, so everything has to earn it's keep by being functional or by being amusing! I buy most of my decor and collectibles second hand, so I am not shattered if something gets broken: although I DO find some really special things that, BEING second hand, probably can never be replaced. Still, nothing too precious to use.

I learned this lesson once when my mother-in-law (a heavy woman) used my strictly decorative sofa pillow to prop herself up for reading. Totally destroyed the delicate Chinese silk embroidery and mashed the pillow insert. Mothers-in-law are more important than pillows, though. Since I made that pillow, I would in future FRAME such delicate embroidery to protect it.

When I was a child, I never understood why people were forbidden to sit in living rooms, that place was almost off-limits in every home. As a grown up I understand, but still, why spend time and money on living room furniture if it will not be used? Same with tableware. My mother has a china set and in 27years I have never seen it being used. Now it is stored in boxes, and once I wanted to use them for a family diner and she almost fainted after I proposed using it. Then why have such a luxury if it never will be used?!?! In my home nothing is off limits, thus we live in a small apartment. We watch tv in the living room, we use our good glass wine goblets, plates, tableware, etc. They're not the most expensive, but why let visitors only enjoy them?!

Nothing in my apartment is off limits... except what has been dubbed "The Bunny Glass." The Bunny Glass has a simple pattern engraved in it that looks like little bunny heads in silhouette and looks like it may have been made in the 1960's. After I discovered it buried in the back of my grandparents' kitchen cabinets, whenever my brother and I went to my grandparents' house and decided to have a glass of chocolate milk, we would always end up fighting over it. One year my grandmother, remembering how much I loved it, gave it to me for my birthday. Now, I'm the only one who uses it because I'm afraid anyone else who uses it might break it and I only use it when I want a glass of chocolate milk just to keep with tradition. ;)

We have a couple of etched crystal goblets that belonged to my great-grandmother; sentimental or expensive objects like that warrant only special occasion use to minimize the opportunity for breakage.

But the cited ban on use of those decorative tea-towel strikes me as silly, primarily because they're out in the open! Eventually they'll get greasy or dusty and need to be laundered.

SherryBinNH is on to something: anything worth preserving should be behind a glass frame or in a case. And those tea towels would look lovely if framed.