Advice on getting rid of great quality but damaged furniture?

Unclutterer ForumsChallenges

Advice on getting rid of great quality but damaged furniture?

(9 posts) (8 voices)

Started 1 year ago by Anita
Latest reply from suzjazz
RSS feed for this topic

Overall Rating: votes

Tags:

Anita
Member

After my last move, I bought 4 beautiful dining chairs upholstered in white leather. Then I got two kittens. Barely a year later, my beautiful chairs are covered in nicks and scratches from the cats climbing on them, and for a while one of my cats even took to chewing on the corners of the backrests.

Now my boyfriend and I are moving in together (in just under 3 weeks), and have started to think about what furniture to keep. Turns out keeping my chairs is more trouble than they're worth: I refuse to move them in their current condition, reupholstering them would cost more than their original price, and the model was discontinued so I can't get a new set; besides, I don't want to run the risk of the cats ruining a second set of chairs. All things considered, I'm planning on replacing them with something cheaper and more cat-friendly.

My question is: what to do with the cat-damaged chairs? I don't expect anyone would pay any worthwhile amount of money for damaged chairs, and I'm not keen on donating something damaged unless someone is specifically interested in them. The only other option that comes to mind is putting them out by the curb and seeing if anyone picks them up, but I'm wondering if anyone here has a better idea. Any advice welcome!

Edit: I'm putting this under "challenges" because I can't see a better place for it. Maybe we need a generic "advice" thread?

Posted 1 year ago #
glassrose
Member

Posting on Craigslist might find you someone who will come get them. Some places like Goodwill or AmVets might as well. If you are in a college town, someone would probably pick them up from the curb.

Posted 1 year ago #
chacha1
Member

I'd curb them. If they have only cosmetic damage, someone will say "four matching chairs! WOOT!!" and scoop them up to refinish or paint and re-upholster. :-)

Posted 1 year ago #
EraserGirl
Member

Freecycle or the free section of Craigslist....lots of folks are looking for furniture and only care that it does the job. and without the initial cost, they may actually get around to fixing it up.

Posted 1 year ago #
bandicoot
Member

what about reupholstering them in something that isn't leather? surely that wouldn't be more expensive than buying a new set?

i hear you on cats and leather, o yes indeed.

Posted 1 year ago #
Amy
Member

Why don't you get some chair slipcovers? Try Bed, Bath & Beyond, or eBay.

Posted 1 year ago #
Anita
Member

Thanks, everyone, for your responses!

@bandicoot -- oddly enough, it would be more expensive. It may also have something to do with the fact that I got my chairs at half price. On top of which, I like the look of them in leather. I don't need it to be genuine leather, but the way they're designed, fabric just wouldn't look as good.

@Amy -- hadn't thought of slipcovers, actually. Thanks for the idea! I'll look into that, and if I can't find anything good, then I think I'll just curb them when I move. I live quite close to a university, so someone's bound to pick them up, especially in early September...

Posted 1 year ago #
Olga
Member

I find placing stuff by the curb is a good thing ,I'm happy the new owner is happy. I read that if you are not sure about and item, get rid of it. I have to confess that a few times I put something outside and a few minutes latter brought it back in.Good luck

Posted 1 year ago #
suzjazz
Member

Last week I put a broken electronic keyboard (with a sign saying it doesn't work) out on the curb, and someone took it! In my neighborhood, the curb approach usually works.

Posted 1 year ago #

Reply

You must log in to post. If you do not already have an account, you can register here.