June 11, 2012

Interior Decorating with Endangered Species

My friend Jordana posted a link to this article: 9 Furniture Staples Going Extinct
Here's Yahoo's list of furniture on its way out:

  1. Clocks
  2. Coffee tables
  3. Folding lawn chairs
  4. China cabinets
  5. Waterbeds
  6. Bookcases
  7. Futons
  8. Roll-top desks
  9. CD racks
I'm not going to argue with some of these, but I do have to wonder where the author of this list is shopping that she has trouble finding folding lawn chairs. Walgreens, Wal-Mart, half the roadside souvenir shops along Highway 19 near Myrtle Beach - they're definitely out there. I would also like to point out that the "modern" alternative to the futon she touts is nearly identical to my parents' Danish Modern sleeper sofa from the 70's.

Anyway, this list got me thinking about how much "extinct" furniture I have in my house. We mainly decorate our home based on practicality and price, so we do have a lot of stuff passed down from relatives or picked up at bargain sales and antique malls (did you know, solid wood antiques can be cheaper than brand new composite furniture?).

From the list above, I have clocks (even a cuckoo clock!), coffee tables, folding lawn chairs, a china cabinet, and bookcases. We also have the following dinosaurs which were probably too obscure to make the list:

Drafting Table
Drafting Table: Has CAD rendered this obsolete?
Secretary
Secretary: Nobody has time for hand-written notes anymore
Music Stand
Music Stand: Sheet music for acoustic instruments? How quaint.
I know this doesn't look like your typical music stand. It's a very old-fashioned one that used to belong to my husband's great-aunt. The slots are for holding sheet music and music books, and you can also put music on top to play it. Right now, it's holding my messy piles of sheet music and my husband's LP collection.

What other pieces of furniture ought to be on this list? Do you have any endangered furniture species in your home? Leave a comment and let me know!

1 comment:

  1. Your mom approves your observations and is very sorry we got rid of the 1971 Danish modern fold down foam mattress sofa bed (yellow plaid polyester cover) that we purchased at SCAN furniture in Washington, D.C.

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