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Original poster

Is it compulsory to have teak furniture once you retire?

42 replies

drloves8 · 11/04/2010 11:39

I know its an odd thing to post about , but i have noticed that everyone i know that is of retirement age (60 ish) owns teak furniture.
I recently had a inner giggle at the PIL`s , who announced with great vigour that they were replacing the furniture and redecorating , a bit more modern !.
They had teak side tables(nest) coffee table, dining table, wall unit thats about 6 feet across, hi fi unit and display cabenets.
DH and I were invited to view the "new furniture".
WOW ! they had replaced the stuff with near identical items. ..... but also added a teak lamp table and magazine rack! .
the room looks no different, bless them.
might treat them to some new lace doileys .

OP posts:
saslou · 11/04/2010 13:16

lol at lace doileys. Yes it is compulsory, along with purchase of beige clothing with elasticated waists and plates on the wall!

Original poster
drloves8 · 11/04/2010 13:21

beige clothing ....check
elasticated waists...check
plates on walls ....check.
any thing else ? ....comfy shoes? wooden revolving holder for remotes (also in teak)?

OP posts:
saslou · 11/04/2010 13:27

ds believes that all old people have china cats!

Bucharest · 11/04/2010 13:28

No, not at all, not unless you're about to be murdered in Midsomer.

All the retired people I know have trendy white kitchens, and my Mum has just redone her living room in black, white and raspberry and her bedroom in blue and grey.

SalAShus · 11/04/2010 13:35

From my DPs' home:

patterned carpets (plain ones would show the stains too much and of course stripped floors are much too hard)
lots of reproduction furniture (wood veneer anyone!)
beige kitchen tiles with pepper pots and cooking pots
coloured bathroom suites from the 80s
a collection of china birds
hostess trolley

And the most heinous crime:
When they moved into their house they took out the lovely Edwardian stained glass around the front door and replaced it with swirly "modern" patterned glass.

moondog · 11/04/2010 14:08

Don't these folks just love PVC windowd too?
Low maintenance y'see/

violethill · 11/04/2010 14:12

Carriage clock on the mantelpiece (retirement gift)

Over a flame effect gas fire of course. Real fires are far too messy.

Original poster
drloves8 · 11/04/2010 14:52

pvc windows ....check
carriage clock..... check.
flame effect gas fire ....check

OP posts:
NoahAndTheWhale · 11/04/2010 14:55

My mum and dad have been retired for about 9 months and don't have any teak furniture (or at least didn't when I last saw them. Am going to see them tomorrow so will check .)

They do have some china cats but they have been around for a while.

The hostess trolley has also been around a while.

Granny23 · 11/04/2010 15:11

Well we are all pine here - is that OK? Our cottage is nearly 130yo and when we stripped all the internal doors and fire surround, they looked like pine (although ex joiner DH says they are deal) so followed on the theme. Pine bath panels, towel rack, coffee table, TV stand, built in cupboards all hand craft by DH. Floor too old and knocked about to strip but plain mottled carpets. White painted wood in bedroom and kitchen. We do have a real fire, we burn wood. Do not think of ourselves as keeping up with fashion, rather returning 'modernised' cottage back to original.

jurisfictionoperative · 11/04/2010 16:23

Don't forget the overweight smelly terrier cross, with the skin condition and the gammy eyes!

moondog · 11/04/2010 16:25

And tendenct to over enthuse about novelt supermarket items.
'Ooh, your dad loves those new crispbreads/meatballs/cereal bars'/

jurisfictionoperative · 11/04/2010 16:27

Ooh ooh, and beige shorts over the suntanned legs with various veins, panama hat and those strappy surfer type walking sandals with beige socks!

ginghamgiraffe · 14/04/2010 15:04

Subscription to the Radio times?

Pikelit · 14/04/2010 15:09

Sake! As I sit here (aged 56) surrounded by not a single doily, piece of teak furniture, panama hat, smelly terrier or man in a cacking cardigan despite him now qualifying for a bus pass, I have to wonder (again!) quite which elderly generation some of you are referring to!

In the words of Messrs Rotten & Vicious "I am an ANARCHIST" - not someone's fucking granny!

BouncingTurtle · 14/04/2010 15:16

Pikelit - 56 is not old, you are a mere whippersnapper

Extra strong mints, I think old people live on these, my nanny (God rest her soul) never used to be without them, in fact Christmas and birthdays I used to buy her a big pack of them, and mink, 15 denier tights. She didn't want anything else! Occasionally she did have York fruits to be different.

I do still miss her She died nearly 13 years ago.

Swanky · 14/04/2010 15:19

no no no my mum's in her 60s and has a serene home where everything is cream. I'd rather live there than here tbh

Adair · 14/04/2010 15:24

moondog, I do that!

My mil paints everything white (for the dogs - easier to clean/repaint apparently) - she is so effortlessly shabby chic.

Bellabellabella · 14/04/2010 15:58

You lot will be 60 one day, God or whoever willing!
I am not retired, I have some teak furniture, I like it, I like the colour and the style. I am obviously ahead of my time - one day you will all be wishing you had bought teak before it reached it's peak.(smile)

singsinthebath · 14/04/2010 16:02

High backed chairs - so comfortable for napping in. Preferably with little covers over the back so that the napping heads don't build up stains over the months.

Silver plated candelabra with display candles that are never lit (at least 15 years old)

My mother asked me once when I was going to put a nice carpet on my lovely stripped floorboards.

jurisfictionoperative · 14/04/2010 16:05

Ooh ooh ooh, I've got one.... Popsocks! And those little shoe sock things made of tights stuff, that you can put under sandals!
And in the case of my mother in law, lots of those little round sandpaper things from betterware, which you use to sand the stray hairs from your face, or get rid of your moustache! :-D

jurisfictionoperative · 14/04/2010 16:07

Ooh ooh ooh, I've got one.... Popsocks! And those little shoe sock things made of tights stuff, that you can put under sandals!
And in the case of my mother in law, lots of those little round sandpaper things from betterware, which you use to sand the stray hairs from your face, or get rid of your moustache! :-D

Vulgar · 15/04/2010 13:01

Drinks decanters. Pointless objects in my eyes. My mum and dad inherited my grandparents one. i think they call it a fancy name like . .tantalus ????

Drinks never last long enough to be decanted in our house and decanters are also a bastard to clean out (remembers cleaning my nan's decanters when a child)

tethersend · 15/04/2010 13:09

You'll all see.

Teak furniture will be the Next Big Thing, and you'll be sorry.

CuppaTeaJanice · 15/04/2010 13:17

The bed is always a divan - storage underneath and nice and high so easy to get out of. Bedding is pale with subtle flowers, and I think once you hit 60 it's considered essential to have a valance sheet.

The teak table is always covered in a heatproof cover under the tablecloth.

And older people's saucepans are never dishwasher proof. They're always made from that matt aluminium stuff that leaches poison when you cook stuff in it. My parents often argue about their saucepans.