Struggles with Cushions
Posted 12 May 2008 in Life, the Universe, and Everything by Catriona
Nick has claimed for many years that we have too many cushions. In fact, when we were watching a season of Coupling and Steve went into a rant about the uselessness of cushions, Nick couldn’t even meet my eyes.
But I love my cushions. Partly, it’s that I don’t like my sofas. One—salvaged from a share house many moons ago—is brutally uncomfortable, especially now that the foam cushions have reached the couldn’t-bounce-back-even-if-they-wanted-to stage of life. The other two sofas came from a family member’s estate and, while we were and are very grateful for them, they’re shallow with low arms, which means you need cushions to sit on them, given the orientation of the living room.
However, I admit I may have gone too far. I’m attached both to the idea that cushions are a convenient way of adding colour and texture to a room and to symmetry in room furnishings. These two notions have led directly to a cornucopia of cushions, all in neat pairs.
But which ones could I possibly get rid of?
The ones in pseudo-Chinese “silk”: one gold and one a beautiful dark green? Nick bought them for me, so they have sentimental value. (That’s my excuse, and I’m sticking to it.)
The ones that look like someone skinned and stuffed a Muppet? Well, two Muppets, pink and blue. Those are pleasingly furry on cold nights.
The big, square ones shaped like fuzzy dice? Those speak for themselves, surely—as do the furry blue stars.
The retro-patterned blue and red ones made out of the material you get when you turn a tracksuit inside out? One would have to have a heart of stone not to want cushions made of that fabric. Is there anything more comforting than the inside of a tracksuit?
No, I can’t cull my cushions, although I may curse them when I have to tidy up my living room or when Nick gets frustrated and throws them all over the back of the sofa.
The best I can do is not to buy any more.
Share your thoughts [13]
1
Tim wrote at May 12, 12:51 pm
If you can’t cull, repurpose. The Chinese cushions, having sentimental value, shouldn’t be used as furniture, so they could go on a shelf or mantelpiece. The fuzzy dice — I can’t believe I need to point this out — belong in the car. The stars go on the ceiling, to mimic the night sky. And the tracksuit material cushions could be decushionised and used for clothing.
2
Catriona wrote at May 12, 09:32 pm
I think if I put the fuzzy dice in the car, my death will almost immediately follow—they’re a foot square. I suppose I don’t have to hang them from the rear-vision mirror, but still . . .
I can, however, work on finding a way to make cushions adhere to the ceiling.
And on getting a mantelpiece, shelf space being already at a premium.
3
Matthew Smith wrote at May 13, 03:33 am
Photos please. Or at least an illustration.
4
Catriona wrote at May 13, 03:55 am
I can probably manage photographs, but, Matt, you’ve been to my house—you’ve probably, at some point, enthusiastically thrown my cushions off the sofa in order to be able to sit down.
5
Tim wrote at May 13, 09:02 am
Big dice go on the back seat, of course.
And ‘already at a premium,’ … ?
6
Catriona wrote at May 13, 09:56 am
Firstly, congrats on getting to be the 200th comment! That sounds ridiculous, I know, but 200th commenter would have been equally ridiculous and also misleading.
Naturally shelf space is at a premium. I already keep rebuying books books at the Lifeline Book Fest, because I’m sure it’s something that I really want, but I’ve forgotten I already own on since it’s been two years since I dug that deeply onto a shelf.
With the exception of the deliberately shallow shelves that Nick’s dad made for me, every bookshelf in the house (and that’s fifteen, at last count) is at least double and more often triple stacked.
It’s a sickness.
Or were you querying my use of a cliche? That is inexcusable, I know.
7
Tim wrote at May 13, 10:16 am
Ooh! Do I win a prize? Who made the 100th comment?
Actually, I was querying your unfinished sentence.
8
Catriona wrote at May 13, 10:18 am
Now updated with photographs—purely because Matt asked so nicely.
9
Catriona wrote at May 13, 10:24 am
What unfinished sentence?
;)
(No, I don’t have the ability to edit my comments after they’ve been posted? Why do you ask?)
You do win a prize: you win a trophy made of a highly rare metal that is, unfortunately, completely intangible and invisible in this dimension. Still, you have the satisfaction of knowing that it’s yours.
(For the record, you also made the 100th comment—but you don’t get a prize for that. You did get a write-up in the local newspaper of an obscure backwater moon in the Horsehead Nebula, but I forgot to ask for a clipping, alas.)
10
Tim wrote at May 13, 11:58 am
Nice pics! And … uh …. thanks for the trophy.
11
Catriona wrote at May 13, 12:09 pm
There’s something to be said for the simple satisfaction that comes from the personal awareness of owning an object, regardless of its intangibility.
12
Matthew Smith wrote at May 14, 01:24 am
I think the photos have complemented the text nicely thanks.
13
Catriona wrote at May 14, 08:12 am
You’re welcome. However, you may have unleashed a monster; I’m starting to think—now I know how easy it is to resize and upload images in Textpattern—that I should have photos in all my entries. After all, the only images I uploaded before this were a boring picture of my study and a Victorian engraving of a half-naked woman.
(Although the last one was pretty cool.)