September 24, 2023 Furniture Today, “An Insider’s View

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I am proud of my 20-year-old granddaughter who is a rising junior at Virginia Tech. She is doing well in her courses, which is in a medical field that works with people with disabilities. Imagine that.

We had a long conversation this weekend about her plans for graduate school and life. Of course, I enjoyed hearing about her furniture feelings.

One frustration was how some furniture is almost disposable when you buy it. Her new apartment at Tech has a balcony, and she needs chairs. Her choice according to her are “junky” folding or plastic ones at a mass merchant or much more expensive metal ones that often cannot be bought except in a five-piece set.

Another consideration is transporting every item the four hours to Blacksburg, Va. Her SUV barely holds all her non-furnishings as it is. Her current boyfriend recently got a car barely large enough for him. I owned the family pick-up but gave it away when we migrated to a condo.

She needs a sofa, preferably a sleeper. Do you buy the mattress separately? I never considered that. Her experience with futons (yes, multiple futons) is too miserable to discuss. Do they make futons for anyone but poor students?

Then we discussed other options like stealing our stuff so her grandmother gets to buy new. I’m less than enthused.

Looking for pass-me-downs among friends and family? Maybe. Internet want ads? Ugh.

Of course, my solution was go to a local furniture store in Blacksburg or Christiansburg that can solve all your needs. Wonder if my buddy Marc Schewel has a store there? Or the nice folks at Grand Home or Virginia Furniture or maybe Ashley among so many choices.

Then we went on to discuss her residential plans after school. Does anyone listen to this generation? She doubts it.

By the way, growing up she went to lots of High Point Markets. It was our fun family thing to do on Sundays, and she loved it. Her brother liked it so much he attended HPU.