Oddments in the living room

[amethyst]

Re: Oddments in the living room

I will start with my Aunt & Uncles house on my mums side.I remember the bright cherry red front door of the large terrace house,my mum used to take me growing up in the 60s.The entrance hall with the parlour on the left,a small table with an astral what ever you called that plant placed by the window,2 armchairs a sideboard and that was it.I wasnt allowed upstairs so dont remember those bedrooms apart from a few sneak peeps when my uncle wasnt around lol.The lounge was the biggest room of the house with a huge Welsh dresser full of blue and white plates and things against the back wall there was 2 armchairs opposite each other by the coal fire,then there was a table and chairs by the back window which always had a brown thick table cloth.A broom cupboard next to glass door with 2 steps down into kitchen,a small pantry another table with brown thick tablecloth by the window facing the back yard ,there was 2 armchairs by the coal fire,a grandfather clock next to small sideboard,an electric stove behind the back door,cant remember carpets it was probably miss match of mats and rugs.In the back yard there was a wash room no indoor bathroom,the old air raid shelter was still there,my uncle had a grape vine growing around the shelter,also there was a small bedding plot a toilet and shed at the bottom of the yard,the gate lead onto a back lane as they were all terrace houses for ash man coal man etc.A typical old fashioned home for the times love to visit my Aunt and Uncle sadly they both passed away there never married.Probably they were born in that house to

[George 1978]

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...