Why I Can’t Let Go of My Ugly Green Couch (and What That Has to Do With Circularity)
Last week, I was talking with a friend about furniture. She mentioned they’d just upgraded their couch and a few other pieces, finally replacing a collection of hand-me-downs from her childhood.
As someone who is still using my childhood living room set—the green leather couch and matching tables—I felt that in my bones.
The thing is, I love that couch. I’ve always loved it.
Sure, it’s low and awkward for anyone over the age of 40 to sit on. But after a long bike ride home from the gym, there is no better spot to flop than that green leather cradle of comfort.
It’s a genuine Italian leather couch from M. Jacobs, and I remember the day it came into my life.
I must have been in middle school, furniture shopping with my mom.
I used to love furniture stores—so many opportunities to imagine a life of luxury, one plush armchair or polished side table at a time.
And there it was.
My green couch.
I spotted it from across the showroom like a heat-seeking missile. It was fancy, it didn’t belong in our modest house, and I wanted it.
Somehow, my mom let me talk her into it.
That couch became the backdrop of my teenage life—homework, DuckTales, naps, heartbreaks. Two decades later, it’s still with me.
A little smellier.
A lot more cracked.
And fully integrated into the chaos of dogs, kids, and spilled coffee. It’s no longer a design statement. It’s a family relic.
So when my friend told me about letting go of her old couch, I was intrigued.
She tried donating it—Goodwill, Habitat, nobody would take it. In the end, rather than dump it at the landfill, she and her husband dismantled it. They took the frame apart for scrap wood. The fabric and stuffing went to her classroom for art projects and DIY pillows.
It was the most hands-on example of going the extra mile in the spirit of circularity I’ve heard about in a while. Shout out to Gretchen & Chad! Labor-intensive, sure—but their care and creativity kept it out of the waste stream.
It got me thinking: what’s the future of my beloved, battered green couch?
I’m not ready to let it go. I just want someone to reupholster it in the same soft green leather and give it a new lease on life. But where do you even go for that?
Do I truck it down to Seattle and wait a month?
Is there someone local?
Honestly, I have no idea. And that’s part of the problem.
Meet: The Furniture Repair Bank
I recently met Xenia, a powerhouse woman who helped start this nonprofit in Seattle as part of Zero Waste Washington. While she can’t help me fix my couch (yet), she can help a whole lot of people—and she might be able to help you.
Here’s how the Furniture Repair Bank works:
They rescue furniture directly from the landfill. Their truck waits at the dump, scanning for tables, chairs, desks, and couches that still have good “bones.”
They teach people how to fix it. Volunteers—often tradespeople, artists, or restoration pros—lead hands-on workshops where anyone can learn to sand, sew, re-stain, or reupholster furniture into something beautiful.
They give finished furniture to people who need it. Many individuals transitioning out of homelessness or recovering from addiction finally get access to housing—but have no furniture. The Repair Bank helps furnish those homes with dignity and function.
It’s the kind of triple-win model I love to highlight here at Circular Unicorn: waste diversion, skill-building, and community impact all in one.
Even though I’m not in Seattle, I find myself wondering: could something like this take root in my community?
Could I refurbish our scratched-up tables at one of their workshops?
Could that give me the confidence to finally reupholster the couch?
Or pass it on, with care, when the time comes?
Until then, our hodgepodge living room will stay as-is: dog-scented, kid-weathered, and full of stories.
But I hold out hope. Maybe one day, my kids will crash on the green couch their kids think is weird and once was ugly, but now is fabulous, and tell them how it used to be mine. And how we didn’t throw it out just because it was old.
See you at Furniture Repair Bank!
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