Ode to the Ugly Flower Couch

It was love at first sight.

Or close enough, at least. After perusing a few thrift stores in Ann Arbor soon after we moved here, we both really liked this couch. It was in pretty good condition, and it was really comfortable. And, despite its title of "the Ugly Flower Couch," it wasn't the worst flower couch out there.

We soon discovered its many positive attributes. It wasn't tilted at all, which meant that we felt okay setting baby Joseph as pictured above, at least until he started moving more. It was long enough for both Kevin and me to nap on, and the cushions were pretty comfortable.

The company was not quite as comfortable.

Despite having our nicer couch that we brought with us, we found ourselves drawn to this couch because it was just a little bit shorter and thus a little bit more accessible.

So much good parenting right here.

That first winter, we primarily took the cushions off when we needed to look for something we had lost, such as cell phones, but I also occasionally used them to make forts or obstacle courses for Joseph.

Over the spring and summer, the couch stayed in pretty good condition. As fall approached and it became cold outside, we started to use the cushions more to provide indoor fun.

He is totally having fun here. I promise.

And of course, even when the cushions weren't used for playing, the couch was still a natural place for Joseph to play.

And then the coldest winter since before sliced bread began with fervor, and we found more and more uses for the ugly flower couch.

This is still probably my favorite video ever.

so much good parenting here, too

When the snow finally melted, the couch was a little bit more worn out, . Although the couch was used more for conversations like the one below and less for forts, we had entered the path of no return. The couch was now a fun couch, and the cushions were no longer safe.

a yucky cake

By the end of the summer, the ribbing on the cushions was starting to become detached. I stitched and stitched until I finally realized it wasn't worth it anymore. It had turned into a junky couch.

Which made for great fun of course. Kids of all ages jumped on it. When it got its first big hole, I gasped . . . and then shrugged. We got through an even colder winter than the coldest winter before sliced bread, and the couch endured even more abuse as a car track, fort, and trampoline.

This was when Kevin was in Montreal.

He had the facts of life figured out at two and a half. Amazing.

This stayed up for way longer than it should have.

Noah

Another spring,

I like the streamer Joseph put up.

another summer,

Paging Star Command

and then there was Matthew!

He made the ugly flower couch look good.

Another fall, another winter, and the couch got tear after tear after tear. Joseph and his friends liked to hang their toys in the holes in the couch, and I just shook my head and laughed.

even in pictures not about the couch, the cushions were in use.

This is pretty typical

Matthew's got the beat

it is a great couch for napping.

Ready for the concert

Yesterday, I took my final picture of the ugly flower couch.

if you think the middle cushion looks bad, you should see the other side.

It was time for us to give it away. After so much time invested in stitching it and patching it, it was still as junky as ever, and we had no real reason to take it with us. So we loaded the ugly flower couch onto an ugly truck bed for a new family to take (and probably put a couch cover on).

It's been one of the best inanimate parts of living in Ann Arbor, and we're grateful for all the pictures and awesome videos that have come out of it. It's hard to see it go.

But I have a feeling it won't be too hard to find a junky flower couch anywhere we live.