UPDATED! The underrated features in furniture
From berber fleece, vegan leather and sintered stone, learn how durable and eco-friendly your furniture will be
If you love Jay Z (or Brooklyn), chances are pretty high that you’ve heard of Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass (DUMBO). Courtesy of Jay Z’s “The Story of OJ,” we rapped along to:
I coulda bought a place in DUMBO
Before it was DUMBO
For like $2 million
That same building today is worth $25 million
Guess how I'm feelin'? Dumbo
It was the first song I hummed when I looked at a recent couch promo.
The reason I hummed the beat to that song? I was browsing 25Home’s site and noticed a few similarities in the furniture brand’s U-shaped sectional. One specific picture caught my attention and made me turn to examine one of my living room couches. I’d been vacuuming and shampooing both of my couches by hand (not sold from them) every Sweeper Sunday for six years.
On the larger couch, I never paid attention to the zippers on the back of each pillow. Even when I would unfold the couch (this couch does not do so) to form a bed, I’d convinced myself you couldn’t take the seat pillow covers off — until I tried. Guess how I’m feelin’? Dumbo.
On the upside, I got a nice bicep workout every Sunday morning from all that scrubbing and pet hair removal!
Sometimes homeowners (and tenants) buy furniture without realizing all the perks beforehand. Here are six other underrated furniture features that you may not be taking advantage of before making a purchase.
VEGAN-FRIENDLY FURNITURE
For animal-friendly shoppers, faux leather is easy to find by looking for signs or labels with “polyurethane leather” (an artificial leather made of thermoplastic polymer) — or vegan leather. Vegan-friendly furniture does not use animal byproducts or extracts in its manufacturing process. The bed is also stain-resistant, odor-resistant and water-resistant.
ADJUSTABLE BACKRESTS
According to the World Health Organization, risk factors for non-specific low back pain (LBP) are usually caused by low physical activity levels, smoking, obesity and high physical stress at work. While furniture can’t solve majority of these problems, for non-smokers, it’s a credible reason to tell guests (and family members) to not smoke indoors. (Who wants a couch that smells like an ashtray anyway?) Additionally, for those who already suffer from LBP, being able to adjust the backrests can make sitting on the couch far more comfortable. Consider doing some seated exercises during commercial breaks though.
BERBER FLEECE
In my college days, whether I was in a dorm room or at my first off-campus apartment, finding furniture that didn’t take up too much space and was easy to move became a challenge. I knew I needed to find furniture that was comfortable without needing a moving truck when I returned home. This Berber Fleece chair, made from high-quality polyester, would’ve been the kind of item I was looking for. Known for its cozy feeling, it’s easy to spot clean with mild detergent. Use a lint roller or sticky tape to get rid of pet hair.
SINTERED STONE
In addition to being one of the coolest tables I’ve ever seen, the turntable on this dining room set is the answer to “pass me that dish over there.” Just swivel the turntable around like a microwave glass plate. What intrigues me more is that the sintered stone — made entirely from natural materials — cannot be etched, scratched, burned or stained.
NESTING TABLES
In at least two apartments, I’ve skipped the idea of coffee tables altogether because I didn’t want them to be in my way while exercising. I also didn’t want them to be the same height, depending on what I was doing. Some are too low to reach for coffee. I needed others to store books and magazines. It was easier to buy end tables and plastic magazine racks. However, nesting tables give me all kinds of ideas and can easily slide in place if you don’t need both. Microfiber (on the square tables) is very easy to clean. And the carbon steel frame (on the circular tables) makes it much easier to avoid that painful “ouch” moment when you accidentally bump a table corner.
After you buy the furniture, make sure you take advantage of all of its perks!
Did you enjoy this post? You’re also welcome to check out my Substack columns “Black Girl In a Doggone World,” “BlackTechLogy,” “Homegrown Tales,” “I Do See Color,” “One Black Woman’s Vote” and “Window Shopping” too. Subscribe to this newsletter for the monthly posts on the third Friday.
If you’re not ready to subscribe but want to support my writing, you’re welcome to tip me for this post! I’ll buy a dark hot chocolate on you. Thanks for reading!