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When I say Oddments, I mean furniture in the same room (usually living room) that don't match the colour, pattern, texture, and so on - mostly in lieu of three piece suites.
When you were younger and wanted to take a friend over to your home to play in your bedroom (and trying to get up the stairs and perhaps through one or two rooms as a result), or perhaps one was a little bit older and wanted to take your new girlfriend home to meet your parents (i.e. future in-laws), or were you ever embarrassed as to how disorderly the house, and even the furniture in the front room was like?
Think of it a bit like wearing odd socks - the chairs do not match and the settee (I prefer the word "sofa" myself - it adds class) doesn't either. We were a few years away from a proper three piece suite in the living room, and we weren't going to take advantage of any ELS or Wades Bank Holiday sale to do just that either. My older sister was like that - she was embarrassed by the tartan-patterned rocking chair that my late father used to sit on; a brown reclining armchair from Cavendish Woodhouse which used to block the view of the TV set when raised up. I prefer leather ones instead of fabric - for a start, leather can be cleaned easier and does not let any smells through if you know what I mean.
I vaguely remember a black "Mastermind" swivel chair in the front room (incidentally I am sitting on an Ikea one as I am writing this), but it was a vague memory, you understand. Of course, to add tastefulness, anything in brown will be described in the catalogue as being "chocolate" coloured as if Cadbury's had made them - nothing at all to do with someone getting chocolate all over them. I know that suites do sound like sweets but isn't that taking things a bit too far?
Yes, my sister was exactly like that - she was embarrassed that the sofas and chairs don't match, and she was going to bring a friend home for dinner as well - oh the shame of it! I won't even attempt to mention the leather pouffe (whoops, I have just done that!) But, go into most homes, and the armchairs wear a "uniform". I think that the TV-am and Breakfast Time sofas back in the mid 1980s must have had something to do with this as well.
Looking back, I suppose that we could easily say that all tastes in home design including chairs and sofas look twee 30 to 40 years on, but my sister had those impressions even back then. Never mind Ikea and Billy bookcases... Come back ELS and Cavendish Woodhouse - all is almost forgiven...
When you were younger and wanted to take a friend over to your home to play in your bedroom (and trying to get up the stairs and perhaps through one or two rooms as a result), or perhaps one was a little bit older and wanted to take your new girlfriend home to meet your parents (i.e. future in-laws), or were you ever embarrassed as to how disorderly the house, and even the furniture in the front room was like?
Think of it a bit like wearing odd socks - the chairs do not match and the settee (I prefer the word "sofa" myself - it adds class) doesn't either. We were a few years away from a proper three piece suite in the living room, and we weren't going to take advantage of any ELS or Wades Bank Holiday sale to do just that either. My older sister was like that - she was embarrassed by the tartan-patterned rocking chair that my late father used to sit on; a brown reclining armchair from Cavendish Woodhouse which used to block the view of the TV set when raised up. I prefer leather ones instead of fabric - for a start, leather can be cleaned easier and does not let any smells through if you know what I mean.
I vaguely remember a black "Mastermind" swivel chair in the front room (incidentally I am sitting on an Ikea one as I am writing this), but it was a vague memory, you understand. Of course, to add tastefulness, anything in brown will be described in the catalogue as being "chocolate" coloured as if Cadbury's had made them - nothing at all to do with someone getting chocolate all over them. I know that suites do sound like sweets but isn't that taking things a bit too far?
Yes, my sister was exactly like that - she was embarrassed that the sofas and chairs don't match, and she was going to bring a friend home for dinner as well - oh the shame of it! I won't even attempt to mention the leather pouffe (whoops, I have just done that!) But, go into most homes, and the armchairs wear a "uniform". I think that the TV-am and Breakfast Time sofas back in the mid 1980s must have had something to do with this as well.
Looking back, I suppose that we could easily say that all tastes in home design including chairs and sofas look twee 30 to 40 years on, but my sister had those impressions even back then. Never mind Ikea and Billy bookcases... Come back ELS and Cavendish Woodhouse - all is almost forgiven...
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