Last weekend we were at at party and, our involvement with AT comes up (very good cocktail conversation starter BTW), AND on two occasions couples mentioned that there was one thing in their home that THEY wished they could get rid of, BUT they couldn't (their partner loves it).
So the idea arose to provide at least an outlet for people to voice their frustrations with their partners furniture by surrepititiously sending in a photograph and lodging their complaint in public. Of course it would be anonymous, but we feel the ability to vent might ease some of the tension. (Pic Craigslist)
Such a funny idea! A great feature, for sure.
Isn't it funny how quickly the "Yes" votes piled up? I love my husband more than anybody on earth, so I'm grateful that he and I have similar taste in home decorating. That said, I'm still sure there must be something of mine he secretly loathes. My biggest pet peeve is that he has 2 CPU's sitting next to one another by our desk. He claims to need them both, I claim it's an eyesore. I don't know why he needs both and he explained it to me but it sounded like that teacher from The Peanuts.
This is a great column idea! I've been steadily whittling down by bf's crappy college furniture over the years. We're (finally!) down to his last two items, a hideous tv stand and a dresser passed down from his grandmother. Needless to say, the sentimental vale redeems the dresser. But the tv stand is headed for the curb this weekend.
Could be fun, but even anonymous postings might be recognized and could breakup a relationship! ;-)
So, it's kind of like "Not or Not?"
I'm bracing myself to be amused when someone posts her boyfriend's horrible HORRIBLE piece of furniture -- and the most stylish people on the board side with the boyfriend.
It's a lovely set-up for people who submit: try to humiliate your significant other, then stomp off in tears if you humiliate yourself.
Do we get a party every time the thread runs to 100 postings?
I can't imagine this NOT nose-diving into one of those kinds of threads that has to be closed pretty quickly, so I voted NO -- partly I really kind of hate to see couples make fun of each other.
However, it does sound "interesting". I just hope that there would be no townhouse explosions because of it, because that would be bad.
Can singles post their own furniture--kind of like "my split personality"? :)
Curtis, I agree, the possibility of townhouse explosions kind of puts a damper on the fun.
well, you could always put a service spin on it: you say what you hate, but also what your partner loves about it. then turn it over to the AT wizards to see if there's a solution (a slipcover, a coat of paint, an unusual application) that would satisfy both parties.
I'd prefer something you weren't allowed to buy b/c of significant other; it is satisfying to think you helped it find a happy home.
isn't there an HGTV show with a similar idea (Designing for the Sexes?) I just wish I could convince my partner to ditch his enormous (but excellent) CD collection for something digital.
Designing for the Sexes is actually a "let's decorate an almost empty room" show, like Designer's Challenge. The schtick is that winsome pixie-like decorator Michael Payne convinces the warring couple that what they both really, really want is "contemporary traditional" furniture in a color scheme of golden-beige, olive, and maroon, definitely with a chenille on the sofa.
The TLC organizing show -- not Mission Organization, but the one with the yard sales -- has the couple compete to see who gets to keep a beloved object that the other spouse hates. I've always winced at this part, as a lot of veiled aggression comes out when the husband wants to dump the equipment for the wife's favorite hobby or the wife chooses the husband's cherished letter jacket to go.
wende: hillarious description of designing for the sexes...
i do sort of have a crush on the winsome pixie-like michael payne though
I got lucky. My BF moved in, but only for six months before he moves to Seattle (well, not so lucky). Anything that entered my doorway had to pass the "are you paying to ship this to Seattle test." Ugly chipped coffee table that had been his parents' didn't make it.
I know he would post my grandmother's punch bowl in a heart beat.
I'm very much looking forward to seeing this column as an observer only.
I like liz's suggestion above, to make it more along the lines of your "Good Question" feature.
The main problem that I imagine is that your partner could very well not even be open to the idea of altering a beloved piece in any way. So, I think a lot of people's suggestions (paint it, reupholster it, etc.) wouldn't be very helpful.
My pre-column gripe: I'd like to take a hatchet to the gigantic, ugly stationary bike that's been collecting dust in the living/dining room for the last year. I bought a bamboo screen to put in front of it, but just knowing it's there, taking up precious space...grr.
I think this has high potential :)
Wende, great descriptions of both shows. I could hear Michael Payne saying "I'm Michael Payne. Welcome to Designing for the Sexes." as I read that.
That TLC show is Clean Sweep. I hate the yard sale choice, too. I would totally throw the riot act on anyone who took the most important thing to me out of my entire pile of crap and tried to get rid of it. I love when they whip off that cover and are like "you're competing for....your great great grandmother's quilt that she brought from the old world after working 8 years to make it! Are you going to work hard to sell?" Still, I am a sucker for any home-related shows, if that wasn't already apparent!
Oh my gosh, that yard sale competition is the second most luridly compelling part of "Clean Sweep." (Number one, naturally, is seeing how much crap these people have.) I am absolutely fascinated by the psychodramas that play out every time someone has to sell, sell, sell, or else the urn containing their first spouse's ashes gets sent to charity.
That said, I think the feature ("I hate it ...") works only if it goes both ways. If it's someone posting her (or his) boyfriend's beloved baseball trophy and the owner gets no say, that seems mean, rather than sporting.
I voted No for reasons similar to Curtis' and Erin T's. Although it initially seems like an amusing premise, I think its appeal would diminish quickly once the novelty has worn off. And I can only imagine how any sense of decorum on the comments threads will degenerate. Bottom line: I think a feature like this "dumbs down" AT for the purpose of novelty and a quick laugh... But, hey, that's just me. I can always just scroll past the posts and avoid the comments thread altogether if the feature actually becomes a reality. I'd still prefer an AT without cheap reality TV-styled set-ups.
wow, what a thread. I hope we hear a response from Maxwell.
What about expanding it to include other reasosn we are stuck with stuff? I, for example, have THREE ugly dressers in my small apartment: One is my boyfriend's from Ikea (not even going to ask him) one is my dear departed grandmothers, and the other was my grandfathers, then my fathers, now mine. Can't toss - what to do?
dig:
easy.
the dressers are not your grandmother, your grandfather, or your father. who they belonged to has little to do with whether or not you should keep them, regardless of sentimental value attached to them. this is the standard line of organizers and other decluttering specialists.
if there is someone who would be upset if you got rid of them, offer whatever dresser they're angsting about to them. it's not fair of them to expect you to keep in your home what they wouldn't keep in theirs.
if they're NICE dressers, and you want to keep them for reasons other than "who they once belonged to," maybe you can do something to them to make them useful in your home in some other way than just holding clothes in your bedroom. Try to think of other places in your home where at least one of those dressers could live. (Could it hold craft supplies? out-of-season clothing? linens? etc etc.)