Couch on the porch; comments?

[hedgehog]

I'm not talking about the sofa left out in the rain. I'm talking about people who haul the old couch out onto the porch so they have a comfortable place to sit in the evening. It seems to drive a lot of people crazy as being the epitome of being low class. On the other hand, wood or metal patio furniture with loose cushions is A-OK. Care to comment?

[Sock Puppet]

1. You should make this a poll.

:D

[dropkickpa]

2. My family has done it

It fantastically comfortable. Of course, we are pretty much white trash.

[Midlodemocrat]

3. Well, personally.

Couches on the front porch are not a piece of furniture made for the outdoors, unlike patio furniture.

So, very soon, they look like crap, even if they were new to begin with, and we all know they weren't.

Thankfully, due to covenants in my neighborhood, not allowed.

[SmokingJacket]

4. They tend to get soggy and musty out there.

I lived in a house with a very comfy porch couch, but it began to smell and disintegrate...

[SteppingRazor]

5. OK in college...

or in other circumstances in which you're young and living with roommates.

Once you settle down, it ceases to be OK.


That's my two pennies.

[democracyindanger]

32. Absolute genius in college.

Let's be perfectly clear.

[LaraMN]

6. I think it looks like crap.

There's a house at the end of our block with a nasty couch on the front porch.
It also has a "these colors don't run," cling and a bunch of "no trespassing' signs in the window; as if anyone would.

[Joe Fields]

7. If it's good enough for Crosby, Stills and Nash it's good enough for me.

[necso]

8. Small critters love a couch.

Outdoor furniture typically isn't as attractive to them, as it has less of nice cloth and padding, hidden spaces, etc.

[Left Is Write]

9. I would choose furniture intended for outdoor use.

[Lyric]

10. In the end, who cares?

If someone wants to ruin a couch by putting it outside, let them. What's the big deal, other than someone's "aesthetic" sensibilities getting tweaked the wrong way?

[undeterred]

11. My dog's loveseat was on the porch for a summer

it was an indoor couch, but being a dog couch, it smelled better outdoors. He loved having it outdoors and he would lay on it on his back with his feet in the air. Low class? I think every living creature was jealous of him that summer.

[Chan790]

12. I do it consistantly...

to piss off the neighbors.

"My couch, my porch, FU." as I told one guy. Got to make sure it's not exposed in any way or else it rots. It's more comfy than patio furniture.

[1gobluedem]

13. They're considering making it illegal here in Ann Arbor

There have been a couple of really bad house fires in the student area that began when couches on the porch caught fire; one was from a firecracker and I can't remember what the other one was.

The students, though, say that the City Council is just using that as an excuse and that they really want to ban the couches because they are eyesores.

[AllegroRondo]

14. They just made it illegal near here

in Granite City, Ill. Just across the river from St Louis.

The offical ordinance outaws "furniture manufactured for indoor use, used in an outdoor space"

[Gormy Cuss]

15. As long as it doesn't look like it belongs in the landfill, why not?

As for the people who worry about it being low class, that's their issue. People who worry about how the neighbors keep up appearances always find something to complain about. If it mattered to me, I'd live in a gated community or a place with restrictive covenants governing everything right down to the size and location of flagpoles and the season for outdoor holiday lighting.

IMO unless the neighbor is creating a hazard or a public nuisance, I really don't care. I'm sure that if I put the old couch on my front porch the first neighbor to complain would be the one who paid big money to install a sports court in his backyard, complete with pole-mounted site lights that evoke a mall parking lot feel to the yards of all of the abutters. Tell me that isn't low class.

[hedgehog]

17. How could it possibly be low class if they spent a small fortune on it?

The leakage of light into other yards is proof that it's high class.

[Omphaloskepsis]

16. I have one on my porch..

It is nice for reading and naps. I would hate to live in a place where people care about how the neighbors house looks.

edit :: to add

I did live in one house where the neighbors bitched about our lawn getting long. They were having a dinner party that night and were afraid their friends would think less of them if our lawn wasn't properly groomed..WTF? I told her to mow it if she wants to. She did, and then she called our landlord to try and get us evicted.

[HuffleClaw]

18. trailer couture at its finest is a bench seat from a car.

at least a couch is comfy. those adirondack things must have been designed by an evil chiropracter. and metal is even worse.

[skygazer]

19. People need to worry less about what their neighbors are doing

And more about their own behavior. I'm so glad I don't live in suburbia where people get all bent out of shape if your fence isn't exactly to specs and your tree drops leaves in their yard. :eyes:

[hedgehog]

20. Technically, we .live in an area zoned for agriculture.

In fact, it's basically a suburb 1 house deep and 10 miles long. It's the state highway along the river, so houses were built up and down the length as farmers sold off their frontages and kept the back acres. We live in the country with chickens and old tractor parts in the yard. They're arranged in a tidy manner, but my husband does seem to accumulate things that will come in handy some day. Our neighbors have lovely suburban lots. One guy even has Chem-lawn out periodically. His wife used to worry about our chickens wandering over. The chickens quickly figured out that there is nothing to eat over there; no bugs and no worms!

My sister has a house in a gated community in South Carolina. She wants us to visit, but I'm not sure they'd let our car in overnight!

[irish.lambchop]

21. I live in a remote area of WV

and not only are there sofas on porches, but fridges and old stoves as well! That's nothing, though, compared to what people here 'park' on their land. Have seen old school buses next to outhouses - amazing!

[hedgehog]

22. Hey - an old school bus makes very convenient storage for other things!

[irish.lambchop]

23. It does indeed!

Just looks kind of silly.

[Burma Jones]

24. Are there devices for laundering apparel in the yard as well? If so,

that would be tacky.

[hedgehog]

25. How about solar driers?

Also known as clothes lines.

[Burma Jones]

26. If the poles providing support for the solar drier are rusted

Then it's tacky

[hedgehog]

31. Some areas do ban clothes lines, believe it or not!

[Burma Jones]

33. We live in one of those areas

I am unhappy with the neighborhood covenant, but the family likes the neighborhood, so that's it.

[ceile]

27. I think it's trashy.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

28. I think it's none of my beeswax.

If it made the neighborhood smell bad, or served as a haven for rats, I'd feel differently.

As for my own porch, I'd rather have the cool old glider sofa that my mom gave away... :grr:

[bleedingheart]

29. don't care but it is a recipe for mold and will house insects and rodents

indoor furniture isn't meant to be outdoors because it wasn't designed to dry out very well and it makes a very easy hiding place for rodents...

I had an aunt that would sit on this musty mildewed couch on her porch...but it was never a place I wanted to sit because it smelled bad....i would rather sit on the ground.

[hellbound-liberal]

30. My first thought was that a couch on the porch usually does go with appliances in the front yard.

Unless it's a frat house.

[LeftyFingerPop]

34. My toilet is on my front porch. Is that wrong? n/t

[hedgehog]

35. It depends

Do you use toilet paper or a bidet?

[tigereye]

36. metal glider or the good old fashioned porch swing, with a nice cushion on it

alas, I have no porch. Some fool made it into a room.

:cry: ;:

[Rhythm]

37. Can't do that here in Morgantown WV... it's now against the law!!!

Well, against a city ordinance in certain parts of town anyway.
Seems the blasted things have a habit of spontaneously combusting on football game-days!

Go 'Eers!