What should I consider when buying a couch at Ikea?

[oedipa maas]

So I'm finally at a major life milestone: buying furniture. My new apartment is mostly furnished, but I would like to have somewhere comfy for my friends to sit and I currently only have four dining chairs with a somewhat mixed genealogy. I also have a sort of executive chair (what I'm sitting in right now) and another wildly uncomfortably throne which is only really good for people more than 7 feet tall. Anyways, I've decided I need a sofa much like this one:

http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/S09850968

Anybody care to share any furniture caveats, warnings or stories? I thought I might like to have a futon/couch too, but the Ikea futons aren't very comfortable to sit on in couch mode.

I have to be a little careful about dimensions of the sofa if I want to get it upstairs into my apartment. By Dutch standards my stairwell has a shallow grade, but there is a pretty tight curvature around the vertical axis which makes moving furniture a pain. My apartment currently has a single bed frame which is about 0.3 x 1.1 x 2 m so I'm assuming I can manage something with those dimensions.

 

[gravenewworld]

PLEASE STAY FAR AWAY FROM IKEA FURNITURE. Yeah it is cheap, but you definitely get what you pay for. I bought a dresser from them and it fell completely apart in less than a year. The drawers kept coming apart and falling out of alignment. Some of the drawers could only hold about 12 t shirts before the bottoms started falling out.

Ikea uses a lot of cheap compressed wood, plastic screws/pins, and cheap metal hinges that snap after a short amount of time.

 

[wolram]

So I'm finally at a major life milestone: buying furniture. My new apartment is mostly furnished, but I would like to have somewhere comfy for my friends to sit and I currently only have four dining chairs with a somewhat mixed genealogy. I also have a sort of executive chair (what I'm sitting in right now) and another wildly uncomfortably throne which is only really good for people more than 7 feet tall. Anyways, I've decided I need a sofa much like this one:

http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/S09850968

Anybody care to share any furniture caveats, warnings or stories? I thought I might like to have a futon/couch too, but the Ikea futons aren't very comfortable to sit on in couch mode.

I have to be a little careful about dimensions of the sofa if I want to get it upstairs into my apartment. By Dutch standards my stairwell has a shallow grade, but there is a pretty tight curvature around the vertical axis which makes moving furniture a pain. My apartment currently has a single bed frame which is about 0.3 x 1.1 x 2 m so I'm assuming I can manage something with those dimensions.

I do not buy any of this new junk, i find that one can buy furniture made from real hardwood at less than half the price of modern composites, go look in your local auction room
you will be amazed at what you can get.

 

[f95toli]

PLEASE STAY FAR AWAY FROM IKEA FURNITURE. Yeah it is cheap, but you definitely get what you pay for. I bought a dresser from them and it fell completely apart in less than a year. The drawers kept coming apart and falling out of alignment. Some of the drawers could only hold about 12 t shirts before the bottoms started falling out.

Ikea uses a lot of cheap compressed wood, plastic screws/pins, and cheap metal hinges that snap after a short amount of time.

It depends on what you are buying. Cheap dressers, bookshelves etc are just that: Cheap. You can't expect them to be as durable as more expensive furniture. It simply wasn't built to last. But there are also examples of Ikea furniture lasting for decades.
However, the "expensive" (i.e. not the cheapest) furniture at Ikea is usually of reasonably good quality and e.g. their beds are quite good. There is a very good reason for why Ikea is so popular.

 

[NeoDevin]

PLEASE STAY FAR AWAY FROM IKEA FURNITURE. Yeah it is cheap, but you definitely get what you pay for. I bought a dresser from them and it fell completely apart in less than a year. The drawers kept coming apart and falling out of alignment. Some of the drawers could only hold about 12 t shirts before the bottoms started falling out.

Ikea uses a lot of cheap compressed wood, plastic screws/pins, and cheap metal hinges that snap after a short amount of time.

I bought a dresser from Ikea almost 5 years ago, it's still in great shape. Never had any trouble with it. (Just don't spill water on your furniture from there, heh)

 

[Andre]

I like the funny names.

Typical phrases from a past episode:

Now, what is your coat doing on Poäng? how many times did I tell you to put it on Lekvik.

Where are my keys? I just put them on Friel and now they're gone.

And now I'm tired, going to Malm.

 

[f95toli]

I like the funny names.

Typical phrases from a past episode:





And now I'm tired, going to Malm.

Yes, I enjoy going to my local Ikea here in London. Listening to people trying to pronounce the names of the furniture they are buying is quite funny sometimes (I am Swedish).
Most of the names either mean something (Poäng=point) or are the names of places in Sweden (usually the part known as Småland, which is where Ikea was founded).

Btw Andre, you are sleeping on ore. Is that really comfortable
(malm=ore, usually iron ore).

 

[EL]

I like the funny names.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IKEA#Product_names

Upholstered furniture, coffee tables, rattan furniture, bookshelves, media storage, doorknobs: Swedish placenames (for example: Klippan)
Beds, wardrobes, hall furniture: Norwegian place names
Dining tables and chairs: Finnish place names
Bookcase ranges: Occupations
Bathroom articles: Scandinavian lakes, rivers and bays
Kitchens: grammatical terms, sometimes also other names
Chairs, desks: men's names
Materials, curtains: women's names
Garden furniture: Swedish islands
Carpets: Danish place names
Lighting: terms from music, chemistry, meteorology, measures, weights, seasons, months, days, boats, nautical terms
Bedlinen, bed covers, pillows/cushions: flowers, plants, precious stones; words related to sleep, comfort, and cuddling
Children's items: mammals, birds, adjectives
Curtain accessories: mathematical and geometrical terms
Kitchen utensils: foreign words, spices, herbs, fish, mushrooms, fruits or berries, functional descriptions
Boxes, wall decoration, pictures and frames, clocks: colloquial expressions, also Swedish placenames

 

[Moonbear]

For something like a sofa, I'd stay away from Ikea too. You can go to a proper furniture store and find an inexpensive one if you just want something small. Just shop around different stores...some specialize in more expensive stuff and others more for normal people. A lot of furniture stores also have clearance/ dent-and-scratch sales if you hunt around and find where they hide it all in the back somewhere. If you aren't fussy about the color or if there's a little ding in the trim somewhere, you can get a real bargain.

 

[binzing]

Haven't you ever heard the jokes about ikea? He he

 

[oedipa maas]

Hey, thanks for all the insider information... I will skip Ikea and look for something second-hand that doesn't smell or have mysterious stains.

 

[Andre]

Btw Andre, you are sleeping on ore. Is that really comfortable
(malm=ore, usually iron ore).

Ah, right, that's why I'm so stiff in the morning.

No, not really.

 

[Chi Meson]

My wife and I just two weeks ago bought a couch and bookshelves from Ikea. That was after shopping around. Most of the other furniture stores have super-aggressive salesmen and prices that are far too high. Ikea has cheap stuff but also not-so-cheap stuff.

It comes down to the price, and how far past the college dorm furniture stage you have progressed. If you have $300, for a couch, then you will get either cheap new couch that won't last, or a used couch. Used couches often have stains and odors, or are at the very least faded. You could get lucky at a yard sale or second-hand furniture shop.

Another thing to consider is that you couch is "temporary." Unless you have moved into your final address, you will be carrying this couch with you through several moves, and Ikea stuff is light, and can be disassembled easily. If you get $300 used, solid wood couch, you will have a hard time moving that sucker (even with an elevator).

So I'd suggest that, until your budget allows at least a $1000 for a sofa, you are still in the "cheap furniture" stage of life. You get what you pay for, but you should only pay for what you need.

 

[Moonbear]

For $400-$500, you can get a decent, new sofa from most major furniture stores...it'll be one of their smaller ones, and you're not going to have a huge selection to choose from with that limit on your price range, but usually that's all anyone wants to put in a small apartment anyway, and they're easier to move.

If your budget is lower and you're resorting to used furniture, like I mentioned above, look at the scratch and dent section in the furniture stores (heck, I still shop there first if I'm looking for furniture, just in case...if the damage is in some place nobody would ever see anyway...like the part of the sofa against the wall, why waste money paying full price). Sometimes you can get really lucky and find something with a really minor defect, or maybe it was just an unpopular color, or it might have been the showroom model with about as much wear as a used sofa.

Or, yeah, look for garage sales. Sometimes you can find someone who is redecorating because the furniture it out of style, but really gently worn (think about those people who seem to keep their living rooms as showrooms for guests rather than actually using them, and insist on redecorating every 5 years). If you don't have a lot of money to spend, it's better to spend it on something that's used and will still get you many years of use because it was quality furniture and likely will last until you're out of the cheap furniture stage, than to spend it on something like IKEA furniture that will wear out quickly and leave you stuck buying new furniture again before you're really ready for it.

IKEA is good for things like storage units (shelving and TV stands type things) for dorm rooms or temporary use (i.e., to furnish a few rooms in a house while taking your time choosing better quality furniture to fill it). I don't know, I've walked through IKEA and thought everything in the place looked like it was already falling apart. You could pick up the same quality particle board furniture in WalMart or Target for a lot less, and you won't need a map to find your way back out of the store.

 

[oedipa maas]

My plan is to look around for used furniture first - I also want to shop for a piano (the kind you plug into the wall) so I can multitask. If that doesn't yield up a suitable couch I'll probably end up at Ikea. I'm not even close to settling somewhere permanently and I don't want something heavy or expensive.

One of my colleagues pointed out that if the couch was too big to get up the stairs I could also make a winch and lift it in my front window!

 

[binzing]

Speaking of winches. We had a house were the washer was upstairs in the master bathroom, and the only way to get it up was to winch it up from the bottom of the sun room. (Passive solar house)

 

[Cyrus]

Save your money and buy something that's nice for 300 bucks, like an end table, or lamp or whatever, and keep it forever.

 

[Moonbear]

My plan is to look around for used furniture first - I also want to shop for a piano (the kind you plug into the wall) so I can multitask. If that doesn't yield up a suitable couch I'll probably end up at Ikea. I'm not even close to settling somewhere permanently and I don't want something heavy or expensive.

Or you could just drive around the neighborhood early in the morning on trash day and watch for someone to put out a couch...then you don't have to worry about moving it when you're done, just put it back to the curb for the next needy student. I've done that several times with furniture...put it out to the curb early in the evening the day before trash day, and never had it make it until morning before someone stopped and collected it. Easier than trying to coordinate with a charity to give it away. I also had an old loveseat from my parents from grad school that was rather dated, still in good condition, but more furniture than I needed since I had gotten a more complete and modern set from them (after my sister had used it for a year in her house when she got married and was still working on buying her own furniture), so all I had to do was ask some undergrads if they wanted a free loveseat, and they were completely willing to move it out of my apartment for me. Watch around campus for advertisements in the various department buildings. It's common that grad students and post-docs moving for a real job will finally shed old furniture for next to nothing (or even free) just to avoid having to pay to have it taken away by the trash collectors.

 

[Moonbear]

Save your money and buy something that's nice for 300 bucks, like an end table, or lamp or whatever, and keep it forever.

If you can find something cheap to suit your needs now, I wouldn't buy anything with the 300 bucks now. Wait to buy nice furniture when you have a good job and can afford to make it all match. Your tastes and styles may change considerably by the time you're furnishing a real home, or the style of the house may dictate the type of furnishings. Better to save and buy things together so they all match when you're really ready to do the whole thing. When I got my first house, I would just save up until I had enough to furnish one entire room, then I'd do that room, and save up again, do another room, etc. The only room I haven't properly furnished is my office, because I'm waiting to settle into a place where I'm NOT planning to move again and do a lot of built-in bookshelves and such.

 

[Cyrus]

If you can find something cheap to suit your needs now, I wouldn't buy anything with the 300 bucks now. Wait to buy nice furniture when you have a good job and can afford to make it all match. Your tastes and styles may change considerably by the time you're furnishing a real home, or the style of the house may dictate the type of furnishings. Better to save and buy things together so they all match when you're really ready to do the whole thing. When I got my first house, I would just save up until I had enough to furnish one entire room, then I'd do that room, and save up again, do another room, etc. The only room I haven't properly furnished is my office, because I'm waiting to settle into a place where I'm NOT planning to move again and do a lot of built-in bookshelves and such.

I didnt think of that, you're right. Sit on the floor and buy some clothes!

Besides, you'll look so damn good leaning against the wall in that new shirt. Who needs to sit anyways?

If I had \infty money, I would buy a condo with 20' ceilings in downtown DC with a modern look. Wood floors, marble top kitchen with aluminum fridge and stove, wusthof knives, copper pots, highball glasses, simple modern furniture with clean lines, and modern art on the walls, and big HUGE 2080p flat screen tv.

But, I would not want to own a big house like on MTV cribs out in the suburbs with 6 bedrooms and full baths. Those kind of homes don't do it for me, I want a small modern condo in the heart of a major city so I can walk to the bar/club or take a taxi there in 5 mins.

Thats nice.

 

[wolram]

I didnt think of that, you're right. Sit on the floor and buy some clothes!

Besides, you'll look so damn good leaning against the wall in that new shirt. Who needs to sit anyways?

If I had \infty money, I would buy a condo with 20' ceilings in downtown DC with a modern look. Wood floors, marble top kitchen with aluminum fridge and stove, wusthof knives, copper pots, highball glasses, simple modern furniture with clean lines, and modern art on the walls, and big HUGE 2080p flat screen tv.

But, I would not want to own a big house like on MTV cribs out in the suburbs with 6 bedrooms and full baths. Those kind of homes don't do it for me, I want a small modern condo in the heart of a major city so I can walk to the bar/club or take a taxi there in 5 mins.

http://webadmin.styleathome.com/upload/StyleAtHome/pool/9t680015.jpg

Thats nice.

So Cyrus is one of the ant hill mob?

 

[Moonbear]

I didnt think of that, you're right. Sit on the floor and buy some clothes!

I didn't say to sit on the floor, I said to look for something really cheap and save the rest of the money.

If I had \infty money, I would buy a condo with 20' ceilings in downtown DC with a modern look. Wood floors, marble top kitchen with aluminum fridge and stove, wusthof knives, copper pots, highball glasses, simple modern furniture with clean lines, and modern art on the walls, and big HUGE 2080p flat screen tv.

By the time you're done buying the condo, you won't be able to afford much else! It's insane how much condos go for in the big cities. My friend in NYC has a condo that's basically the size of a studio apartment and it cost as much as a huge house on an acre of property would cost out here. I don't complain too much, because I get to visit NYC without having to pay for expensive hotels, but it leaves me wondering why anyone still lives or works there.

But, I would not want to own a big house like on MTV cribs out in the suburbs with 6 bedrooms and full baths. Those kind of homes don't do it for me, I want a small modern condo in the heart of a major city so I can walk to the bar/club or take a taxi there in 5 mins.

Yeah, I don't understand those giant houses either...maybe if you had a dozen kids running around, but if you have a dozen kids, you probably can't afford a giant house. Otherwise, I just look at those and think, "too much dusting and vacuuming."

 

[Cyrus]

By the time you're done buying the condo, you won't be able to afford much else! It's insane how much condos go for in the big cities. My friend in NYC has a condo that's basically the size of a studio apartment and it cost as much as a huge house on an acre of property would cost out here. I don't complain too much, because I get to visit NYC without having to pay for expensive hotels, but it leaves me wondering why anyone still lives or works there.

Thats why i said \infty money, duh! Location, location, location. Worth every penny IMO. Every day you can just walk to a museum, resturant, bar, club, metro, major airport, local deli, concert hall.

 

[Moonbear]

Thats nice.

What's with the dead cow in the middle of the floor? Otherwise, I like that look...to look at...but don't find it very comfortable to actually live in. I have friends who are into that very modern look, and while it looks wonderful (in the right home of course...you couldn't pull that off in an old Victorian house, for example), it feels really uncomfortable/cold to me. I lean toward warm furnishings. But, thinking back to my tastes over the years, if I was 10 years younger, I'd probably like that style still and would be furnishing my place like that too.

 

[Cyrus]

What's with the dead cow in the middle of the floor?

I don't like that dead cow either.

Otherwise, I like that look...to look at...but don't find it very comfortable to actually live in. I have friends who are into that very modern look, and while it looks wonderful (in the right home of course...you couldn't pull that off in an old Victorian house, for example), it feels really uncomfortable/cold to me. I lean toward warm furnishings. But, thinking back to my tastes over the years, if I was 10 years younger, I'd probably like that style still and would be furnishing my place like that too.

Of course, but an old victorian house would only look good with furniture of the period. When I think of old victorian house, I think of an old couple who restored it in there 50s or 60s and don't have kids living at home anymore.

I think modern furniture is comfortable, as long as you buy the expensive modern furnature, like Ethan Allen (They have great modern stuff).

What do you mean by warm furnishings, how is modern not warm? I generally hate cluttered crap. I want a spartan house - a few things in it, but each high quality and expensive. For example, a huge expensive high quality flat screen tv. But not junk on the coffee table because it 'looks nice', like little boxes, and candles...i.e JUNK .

But, I want it to be a mix of old school and new school. I want an old MaBell rotary phone just because there so damn cool.

But since you can't really call 1800 numbers with a rotary anymore, a cool modern phone too, like this:

http://i.virginradio.co.uk/images/pages/5844.1/phone.jpg​

It has to be simple, but have loads of cool technology.

http://www.bang-olufsen.com/web2/beocustom/images/project/135/135_1.jpg​

Thats cool. I only want stuff that has function. Like that crap on the coffee table in the picture above would be in the trash long time ago: what is that white thing? TRASH. (Im not crazy about that TV and its stand though, or those big cones on the sides [I think they are speakers]).

 

[lisab]

Years ago when I was a stay-home mom, my hubby got a 6-month assignment in Eugene, OR. So of course my daughter and I went with him. I packed as little as I could get away with: 4 or 5 plates, a few glasses and mugs, a minimum of clothes. I mean, we lived a sparse lifestyle. We rented a tiny little 2-bedroom cottage, less than 1000 ft2.

We wanted for nothing, we had just enough.

When we came back home to our HUGE house, with all our STUFF (or, as Cyrus more honestly puts it, JUNK), it made me sick. That experience totally changed how I live. A fortune cookie I got once sums it up: Enough is as good as a feast.

Simple, love the simple.

And yeah, that cow's got to go.

 

[lisab]

Oh, Cyrus used TRASH, not JUNK.

 

[Moonbear]

I think modern furniture is comfortable, as long as you buy the expensive modern furnature, like Ethan Allen (They have great modern stuff).

That's where one of my friends gets his furniture from. I haven't liked any of it (but maybe that's just his and his wife's taste, not necessarily reflective of the store's selection). We don't have that chain out here, so I don't have to worry about it.

What do you mean by warm furnishings, how is modern not warm? I generally hate cluttered crap. I want a spartan house - a few things in it, but each high quality and expensive. For example, a huge expensive high quality flat screen tv. But not junk on the coffee table because it 'looks nice', like little boxes, and candles...i.e JUNK .

NO, not cluttered. I don't like that either. I like simple, and elegant. But the stuff in that photo was very sterile looking to me. You're right, you can be modern and warm, but usually when people talk about modern decorating, they're thinking along the lines of the photos you posted, where everything looks white, steel, glass...sterile. I prefer rich colors on the walls, some warm, inviting colors for furniture, wood rather than steel.

 

[Cyrus]

That's where one of my friends gets his furniture from. I haven't liked any of it (but maybe that's just his and his wife's taste, not necessarily reflective of the store's selection). We don't have that chain out here, so I don't have to worry about it.


NO, not cluttered. I don't like that either. I like simple, and elegant. But the stuff in that photo was very sterile looking to me. You're right, you can be modern and warm, but usually when people talk about modern decorating, they're thinking along the lines of the photos you posted, where everything looks white, steel, glass...sterile. I prefer rich colors on the walls, some warm, inviting colors for furniture, wood rather than steel.

Is this the high power lawyer? I agree, it has to be the right combination of color and material. I really like the colors in the last pic I posted. That coffee table is great with the black, red, yellow, and light stain on the wood.

 

[Cyrus]

Oh, Cyrus used TRASH, not JUNK.

Tomato, ToMAto.

 

[Moonbear]

Is this the high power lawyer?

Yeah, one of them (I have three friends working at the same law firm...I joke that I should start collecting headhunter fees if my friends keep going to work there...these are all friends I know from different places, so they didn't even know each other before working there...of all the firms in NYC, I don't know how or why they all wound up at the same one, not even like any of them asked me about it before they applied there). Though, I'm not sure how much of the decorating is his taste and how much is that he just gave up and let his wife have her way since he hardly ever sees the house anyway.

I agree, it has to be the right combination of color and material. I really like the colors in the last pic I posted. That coffee table is great with the black, red, yellow, and light stain on the wood.

See, I lean toward dark woods. I don't like those light woods. They look bare to me. I'm not criticizing your taste...I see the aesthetics of it, and can appreciate the look, it just wouldn't suit my personal tastes for what I want to live in. Looks more like something for an art museum (and, well, that one condo floor plan is looking WAY too much like the lab I used to work in...minus hardwood floors of course...that building was pretty to look at, but lacked functionality...too much wasted space).

And, I prefer backs on my bar stools...otherwise it's too easy to fall off!

 

[Cyrus]

Yeah, one of them (I have three friends working at the same law firm...I joke that I should start collecting headhunter fees if my friends keep going to work there...these are all friends I know from different places, so they didn't even know each other before working there...of all the firms in NYC, I don't know how or why they all wound up at the same one, not even like any of them asked me about it before they applied there). Though, I'm not sure how much of the decorating is his taste and how much is that he just gave up and let his wife have her way since he hardly ever sees the house anyway.

See, I lean toward dark woods. I don't like those light woods. They look bare to me. I'm not criticizing your taste...I see the aesthetics of it, and can appreciate the look, it just wouldn't suit my personal tastes for what I want to live in. Looks more like something for an art museum (and, well, that one condo floor plan is looking WAY too much like the lab I used to work in...minus hardwood floors of course...that building was pretty to look at, but lacked functionality...too much wasted space).

And, I prefer backs on my bar stools...otherwise it's too easy to fall off!

Thats odd, because you said you like a 'warm furnishings', but dark woods does just the opposite. Its old and stuffy. (Look at the cow condo, appears dark with those dark brown wood floors).

I really really like the colors in this house though, and could see myself living here:

http://www.bang-olufsen.com/web2/beocustom/images/project/135/135_1.jpg​

I retract the cow house. Its too gloomy (But I like the modern style, that's all I wanted to show).

Side: what's that red devil cat thing off to the right? TRASHHHH.

Oh, and NO pets. I don't need a cat clawing the expensive furniture, or a dog taking a sh$% on that nice red carpet. Pets are a disaster on a house.

 

[Moonbear]

Thats odd, because you said you like a 'warm furnishings', but dark woods does just the opposite. Its old and stuffy. (Look at the cow condo, appears dark with those dark brown wood floors).

No, dark woods are warm, not old and stuffy. It can be overdone if it's overly ornate and large, but that wouldn't be modern styling. Like in the first picture you posted, that's all dark woods. I'd just swap out the sofa for something other than white (white isn't good for a sofa anyway...it looks really dingy with just a short time of use), maybe a dark tan, or the sage color of the furniture in the cow house (I could do without the fuzzy pillows in that one too).

Oh, and NO pets. I don't need a cat clawing the expensive furniture, or a dog taking a sh$% on that nice red carpet. Pets are a disaster on a house.

[/quote]
No they aren't, not if you properly train your pets. I've NEVER had a dog that soiled inside the house once we had it more than a week (and even then, the puppy accidents were really rare because we'd watch and catch them before they had an accident). My cat doesn't claw my furniture either. She's been properly instructed on what is and isn't a scratching post (some aren't so good at this). She does occasionally think my pants are for scratching...while I'm wearing them ...but my furniture survived her kittenhood.

 

[lisab]

Oh, and NO pets. I don't need a cat clawing the expensive furniture, or a dog taking a sh$% on that nice red carpet. Pets are a disaster on a house.

But Cyrus - so are children!

And I guarantee you, you really will love your kids--once you have them--way more than you love your couch! It's just hard to see that now.

 

[Cyrus]

No, dark woods are warm, not old and stuffy. It can be overdone if it's overly ornate and large, but that wouldn't be modern styling.

No they aren't, not if you properly train your pets. I've NEVER had a dog that soiled inside the house once we had it more than a week (and even then, the puppy accidents were really rare because we'd watch and catch them before they had an accident). My cat doesn't claw my furniture either. She's been properly instructed on what is and isn't a scratching post (some aren't so good at this). She does occasionally think my pants are for scratching...while I'm wearing them ...but my furniture survived her kittenhood.

Our cat used to be an outdoor cat, she would run and jump up trees; however, she would nap all day, wake up on the nice comfy couch, and start clawing it as she stretched out. You would hear, 'tatt tatt tatt'. If my mom caught her she would spank her on the butt hard so she flew off the coutch. Every time she would do this, and didnt care one bit about the consequences. Pretty soon the expensive couch had threads hanging off the arms, so my mom wrapped the couches in heavy towels and tucked them into the cushions so she would do damage to the outer layers and not so much on the sofa. If you walked into our house all the couches had towels all over them, the things we do for our pets .

Oh, then there is the times they barf all over the floor, which leaves nice green or brown stains on the white rug, which have to be steam cleaned out. It only happens a few times, but see how good one or two barf stains look in your nice white rugs before it gets old. Once they get old, they make even more of a mess. I know one person who has a dog that's getting old and sometimes pees on the rug by accident. Sorry, pets are nice, but not if you have stuff in your house you want to keep nice.

 

[Cyrus]

But Cyrus - so are children!

And I guarantee you, you really will love your kids--once you have them--way more than you love your couch! It's just hard to see that now.

I was a good child. My mom says I never wrote in the walls, and when I was done playing I always put my toys away. We know a family who has kids just like this. They came over and played with old toys I had in the basement. When they were done (two brothers), the older one (about 5) packed it all up in the box and said thank you. His mom did not tell him to, he just did it.

Whats good about the modern style is that there's not really much small kids can break. Its very simple. (But there are lots of sharp steel edges, and razor sharp chef knives).

I think kids that do bad things, like throw a book at a TV and break it, are just a reflection of bad parenting.

http://www.statesman.com/shared-gen/blogs/austin/360bazaar/media/MessyKids.jpg​

[/URL]

Ebay, for sale, two brats. Needs slight cleaning.

 

[Moonbear]

Our cat used to be an outdoor cat, she would run and jump up trees; however, she would nap all day, wake up on the nice comfy couch, and start clawing it as she stretched out. You would hear, 'tatt tatt tatt'. If my mom caught her she would spank her on the butt hard so she flew off the coutch. Every time she would do this, and didnt care one bit about the consequences. Pretty soon the expensive couch had threads hanging off the arms, so my mom wrapped the couches in heavy towels and tucked them into the cushions so she would do damage to the outer layers and not so much on the sofa. If you walked into our house all the couches had towels all over them, the things we do for our pets .

I've never had that problem with Ember. When she was a kitten and started scratching where she shouldn't, I never spanked her though (that doesn't work at all), I just picked her up and put her paws on the scratching post. Once shown the right place to scratch, that's where she runs to when she wants to scratch.

Oh, then there is the times they barf all over the floor, which leaves nice green or brown stains on the white rug, which have to be steam cleaned out. It only happens a few times, but see how good one or two barf stains look in your nice white rugs before it gets old. Once they get old, they make even more of a mess. I know one person who has a dog that's getting old and sometimes pees on the rug by accident. Sorry, pets are nice, but not if you have stuff in your house you want to keep nice.

Well, don't get a white carpet then (that's so dated anyway...reminds me of my grandmother's house...she had white carpet and white furniture). Ember had a few hairball incidents (especially with one type of food that I quickly stopped feeding her), but I just cleaned the carpet quickly and there aren't any stains (it's a medium-beige carpet). One spot required getting out the carpet cleaner and not just the spray-on stuff, but even that's clean now (and the rest of the house too, since I did the whole house while I had the cleaner out). Hardwood floors are even easier to clean and are cat-scratch-proof too.

And, yeah, as lisab points out, kids are FAR worse than pets. My friends' and relatives' kids do more damage to my furnishings than any pets (I don't even bother inviting one set of friends to stay with me anymore...if they want to visit, they stay in hotels, because their kids are too destructive and I can't stand it).

 

[Cyrus]

Our cat used to belong to the neighbors. They had another cat and two dogs, which she hated. So she decided it would be more befitting for a cat of her status to live alone with us, and not with 3 other pets. We got her a few years old, so she was well past training. When we tried to take her back to her owners house, she would start clawing you like mad to run away. Finally, they said you can keep her. She doesn't want to stay here anymore.

More to the point, I don't want to be cleaning up cat doo-doo/voimt on my furniture. There are fun to have once, but then you get tired of it. I don't want to walk a dog, and I don't want to run around the house with a cat. And It would be cruel to have a pet and not keep it busy or active. I am selfish

 

[lisab]

I was a good child. My mom says I never wrote in the walls, and when I was done playing I always put my toys away. We know a family who has kids just like this. They came over and played with old toys I had in the basement. When they were done (two brothers), the older one (about 5) packed it all up in the box and said thank you. His mom did not tell him to, he just did it.

Whats good about the modern style is that there's not really much small kids can break. Its very simple. (But there are lots of sharp steel edges, and razor sharp chef knives).

I think kids that do bad things, like throw a book at a TV and break it, are just a reflection of bad parenting.

http://www.statesman.com/shared-gen/blogs/austin/360bazaar/media/MessyKids.jpg​

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Ebay, for sale, two brats. Needs slight cleaning.

The thing is when (if) your kids do this, you'll still love them...you might even think it's funny. If the parents of these two weren't a bit amused, why then did they take the picture?!?

But, like you, I was a pretty good kid too - and my daughter was almost from another planet, she was so well-behaved. When she was 3, she would get up in the morning and make her bed. Then she would go make my bed, and then come out to greet me with a good morning hug. Yeah I know...strange, very strange!

 

[Cyrus]

The thing is when (if) your kids do this, you'll still love them...you might even think it's funny. If the parents of these two weren't a bit amused, why then did they take the picture?!?

But, like you, I was a pretty good kid too - and my daughter was almost from another planet, she was so well-behaved. When she was 3, she would get up in the morning and make her bed. Then she would go make my bed, and then come out to greet me with a good morning hug. Yeah I know...strange, very strange!

Theres nothing strange about that. No offense, but I mostly see American kids acting bratty (And probably because parents don't have the balls to discipline their kids anymore). Kids of foreign parents are much more well behaved and respectful because if there not there going to get it when they get home. I think your daughter simply reflects good parenting on your part.

However, I was at an event for a family day down in dc where kids would come in and make paper helicopters. They were all VERY well behaved and interested. It really depends on the kids parents keeping them in line.

If my kids put paint on the tv, I would NOT find that funny. I would hit them, and tell them if they ever do it again they won't live to see another day. That kind of behavor is beyond unacceptable.

 

[oedipa maas]

Save your money and buy something that's nice for 300 bucks, like an end table, or lamp or whatever, and keep it forever.

I already have a cardboard box that is working out rather nicely as an end table. It draws the eye away from the incredibly ugly bedside lamp.

Or you could just drive around the neighborhood early in the morning on trash day and watch for someone to put out a couch...then you don't have to worry about moving it when you're done, just put it back to the curb for the next needy student.

This is also a rather nice idea - I hope it doesn't rain on garbage day!

I forgot to mention: I don't have a vehicle. In fact, most people don't have cars in town here. It's just much easier to get around on bicycle. Cyclists move at least as fast as cars do and parking is a huge headache (150 euro/month for a space?) Even the professor that I work with doesn't have a car! And I feel a lot of admiration for anyone who can parallel park on a canal.

 

[Chi Meson]

It really depends on the kids parents keeping them in line.

If my kids put paint on the tv, I would NOT find that funny. I would hit them, and tell them if they ever do it again they won't live to see another day. That kind of behavor is beyond unacceptable.

Ironic. Tis true that kids' behavior reflects the parenting. And the worst behaving kids I get as students in high school are those who have parents that hit and threaten them.

I first wondered what idiot of a parent left an open can of paint near a toddler. Anyone who hits a two-year-old in diapers after an escapade such as this should be removed from the child. But since the four-year-old in the picture (I'm guessing the ages, and I'm pretty good at it) is smiling broadly, I think the parent must be also, and they know who's fault this really is.

I don't have a vehicle. In fact, most people don't have cars in town here. It's just much easier to get around on bicycle. Cyclists move at least as fast as cars do and parking is a huge headache

Do you have a friend with a bicycle that has a sofa basket on the handlebars? That might come in handy!

 

[Chi Meson]

http://www.statesman.com/shared-gen/blogs/austin/360bazaar/media/MessyKids.jpg​

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Isn't that the Ikea Vraadl couch on the left?

 

[Moonbear]

Ironic. Tis true that kids' behavior reflects the parenting. And the worst behaving kids I get as students in high school are those who have parents that hit and threaten them.

I've noticed that with kids too.

I first wondered what idiot of a parent left an open can of paint near a toddler.

Indeed, lack of supervision was the problem there. The kids probably had a jolly old time finger painting! You never know, they may have also witnessed their parents getting a bit silly with the paint while painting (aw, c'mon, we've all given someone a swipe with a paintbrush while painting, especially if they're being way too slow just to stay clean...that's what drop cloths are for!), but didn't know they needed to do that in a room prepped for painting.

As long as it's latex paint, it might take a while, but it'll clean up with some soap and water and elbow grease.

 

[Cyrus]

Ironic. Tis true that kids' behavior reflects the parenting. And the worst behaving kids I get as students in high school are those who have parents that hit and threaten them.

I first wondered what idiot of a parent left an open can of paint near a toddler. Anyone who hits a two-year-old in diapers after an escapade such as this should be removed from the child. But since the four-year-old in the picture (I'm guessing the ages, and I'm pretty good at it) is smiling broadly, I think the parent must be also, and they know who's fault this really is.


Do you have a friend with a bicycle that has a sofa basket on the handlebars? That might come in handy!

Who the heck hits and threatens their high school aged kid? They should have enough respect NOT to talk to you that way by the time they are that age. I wouldn't dare speak back to my father they way I see some kids do. The majority of respectful kids I met in school growing up were from foreign parents. One thing that was always foreign to me was 'time out' and being 'grounded'. My parents never did anything that stupid, they basically taught me to respect them at a very early age so that it was never an issue as I got older.

I remember being on a field trip in high school one time and the kids were acting just awful. I told one of the parents, these kids need to be smacked silly by their parents so they don't act this way in public. The guy looked at me funny, and I just shrugged and walked away. HIS kid was one of those. Even growing my, my friends and I simply shook our heads in disgust at the kids that acted like morons.

 

[Cyrus]

As long as it's latex paint, it might take a while, but it'll clean up with some soap and water and elbow grease.

...and child labor.

 

[Moonbear]

...and child labor.

I can tell you haven't been around many children. Believe me, a 4-year old trying to "help" clean something only makes it take three times as long and spreads the mess 10 times as far. The best approach in that situation is one parent picks up the children and places them into a bathtub or shower without allowing them to touch anything in between, and the other parent (the one who left a paint lid loose), gets to start scrubbing the room.

 

[Cyrus]

Seriously though, I am not talking about beating a 4 year old, but spanking him on his butt so he gets the message. I don't know, how old is old enough to hit a kid if he acts bad? 5?

 

[lisab]

I see spanking as an admission by the parent that they are just clean out of ideas of how to deal with their kid. I never hit my daughter - giving her a 'look' was all it took to get her in line.

Now, that's easy for me to say...I have just one kid, and she's always been amazingly well-behaved, as I've mentioned earlier in this thread. But I've never met a parent who is completely level-headed and rational as they spank their kid. They're always angry...how rational can you be when you're angry?

CM and MB are right, the person who left the paint available to the kids, then didn't monitor them for a while, is at fault.

My sister-in-law would smack her kids two constantly. When those kids started school, they were little terrors. Why? They quickly figured out that no one is allowed to spank them in school!

 

[Cyrus]

I never really did anything that warranted getting hit when I was young, but my mom would have hit me if I did act horrible. One thing my mom and I take issue with when we go out are kids that don't behave. One time I was at a restaurant with my two friends and there were kids running around the damn place. I was starting to get REALLY annoyed. There was a family at the table next to us with a boy and a girl, both sitting quietly eating their food. Meanwhile, these other brats were running around. In that situation, I would want their parents to smack them and tell them to sit down and shut up. No, 'please stop running', 'please don't chase your sister', more like 'Sit down and shut up NOW!' Thats exactly how my mom would have phrased it, no 'please' in there. What I also don't like is parents that don't teach their kids how to hold a knife and fork. This translates to adults who hold a knife and fork with a fist grip - no class. Kids need to learn tableside manners.

I do agree; however, that a small kid really does not know any better (Under 5).