Furniture Favorites

How is your home decorated? Do you follow a theme and buy furniture to fit a certain look, or do you prefer to purchase items that are useful, comfortable, and will last a long time? Or perhaps you have been blessed with furniture from family and friends as they replace their own living room set or bedroom set? What are your favorite pieces in your house?

Most of the furniture we have purchased or brought into our home over the years has been practical and not necessarily bought to fit a style. My husband and I were blessed with a couch that is quite comfortable and even though it is probably at least 15 years old, we were not ready to part with it when it began to show its age and it had spent considerable time with two small children. I researched several cover options and found one style that fits quite well. It allows us to continue to use what is probably my favorite place to sit in the living room.

While we purchased our kitchen table and chairs new, we are using my mom’s old dining room table – which has been scarred in its 40-year lifespan – and two of the chairs from her original set. Along with those two chairs, we are using four additional chairs that are probably over 50 years old and were around my grandparents’ dining room table. Before my grandparents used them in their small dining room in their row home, they were office chairs. I love that they have a story and – for wooden chairs – they are quite comfortable. I fondly remember my grandpop sitting on them during the day as he listened to news radio, completed crossword puzzles, smoked cigars, and played solitaire at times. On occasion, I would sit or stand next to him, and he would show me different books about Ancient Egypt or World War II and share stories that encouraged my love of history. These four chairs are definitely some of my favorite pieces of furniture, and I am very glad that they were able to find a new home in our loving house after my uncle died.

For me, furniture becomes a favorite when it has a memory or connection to my family. We still have a wooden cradle that my great uncle put together for me when I was young that holds my daughter’s plushes and dolls. I love the connection behind the pieces we own and the fact that I can share them with our children and then share stories about their ancestors with them, too. How would you pick your favorite piece or pieces of furniture?

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Thank you to Kristen at A Mom’s Quest to Teach for writing this article. Kristen is a housewife and mother to a teenage stepson and two younger children. She is a certified social studies teacher and has worked as a volunteer at a National Park site, in the education department of a metropolitan zoo, and as a high school history teacher.