Of course not.

I wouldn't have had a clue who she was if it weren't for the fact that I catch dh watching whatever channel she's on some Saturdays. After about 3 shows I picked up on the standard ... "I'll knock down this wall, add hardwood floors, and open shelves in the kitchen." Add a generous dose of goofy between her and her dh. Yawn.

Um, no. I had three kids who did that for me and actually broke a sofa. I'll stick with my nice new pristine one now that they are grown!

I'm off to go gently caress my leather chesterfield now.

******

That you paid for yourself. Big difference!

This is ridiculous.

Maybe I'm just being ridiculous, but this feels somehow disrespectful. Yeah, a sofa is just a THING - but I think most of us were taught to be good stewards of our things. To take proper care of them.

Maybe this is really no different than dragging a chain along a new wood beam to give it a desired aged look. But the sofa stomping still bothers me on a level that I can't quite put my finger on.

I liked to jump on my bed too...when I was 5!

We looked at leather sofa in a store where the manager told us they walked on the new sofas before they opened to give the seats a softer, sat-in feel.

Yep, it seems somewhat disrespectful to me too :( We have loads of antique and vintage items in our home, including a couple of very old sofas. One has its original arts & crafts style embroidery probably and probably dates from the 1920s, the other its original 1890s art nouveau patterned velvet.

It's remarkable that they have survived so many years and the art nouveau one in particular is showing significant signs of age that my DH says adds to its history and charm. They are both good, honest pieces though, not artificially aged. Had someone chosen to stomp all over them when they were new I doubt they'd be around now to tell the tale.

Rant over. Materialistic? Moi? Never ;) Just rather sentimental and romantic when it comes to my stuff, lol!

Distressing the leather with her bare feet?? I will definitely not be purchasing any of her furniture *gag*

"the wear and tear that happens over the years". Yes, that would be an honest way to have that distressed look. What she's doing......not so much.

My 35 daughter was visiting us tonight. She went up to the bonus room to do a work out. What I didn't realize, until I caught her, was that she was working out on my 20 year old corduroy club chairs. Using the chairs to do leg crunches! When I stopped her, she said that nothing could hurt those ugly chairs. "You need to replace them...they are ugly. "

She is right about them being dated, but they are/were in great shape. If I ever recover them, I may have to replace the springs, now. Errrrrr

That room, the furniture, the paint, and the rug are about the ugliest combination I have ever seen.

Let's hope she doesn't have a foot fungus! Of course, it could possibly eat into the leather and break it down that much more quickly.

I could almost live with the leather if it were any other color on Earth.

I walked on a sofa once, when I was about 5. After a green willow switch was enthusiastically applied to the backs of my legs, I never had that urge again. Her mom needs to give her the same lesson.

I love brownge leather so much. Really wish it had been in when I was buying furniture for my house.

Ah, youth. You've got to earn your patina, my dear ;-)

DH and I are anxiously awaiting delivery of our custom leather sofa and I can't imagine, in my wildest dreams, walking all over it to prematurely age it.

That, I hope, will happen over years of enjoyment.

No one is demonizing her, for Pete's sake. She is a professional and is propagating the notion that one can do the breaking in by walking all over their brand new sofa.

I don't know this designer. Perhaps she's the "do as I say, not as I do" type.

Here's an idea. Why doesn't she compare and contrast an old sofa's patina, with a new sofa's appearance?

She's the one in control of her social media. This was dumb.

Moreover, people can be really, really dumb and when they see and "expert" doing this, they say to themselves, "hey, why don't I walk all over my furniture to make it look chic like her's?"

(Once again, why can't people just do a little venting here without judgement?)

Even if the pic is for 'show'--and this technique is a "thing"; wouldn't MOST people remove the cushions, distress the leather on the floor, save the couch springs? AND so now that the seats are UNNATURALLY distressed they don't match the back or arms of the sofa!! We have a leather couch. I discovered too late my miniature dachshund, sleeping next to me as I watch TV distressed the HECK out of that one side of the couch. :(

I really don't understand the hype behind this woman's design, while the results are usually pretty or nice, I don't find it to be unique or something others couldn't accomplish as well. In fact, I truly believe that if many in this forum had the same access to "stuff" as she does, they'd do equally as well or even better.

arcy_gw - That's what I was thinking, but some cushions to not come off.

Publicity? It's stupid. And per the comments on Instagram, many do indeed think this is a super clever idea. Because, you know, Joanna is so smart and creative. Try to imagine Bunny Williams stomping on upholstered pieces and you can't, because she and her ilk exude something more akin to class and not flash in the pan.

I really used to enjoy what Joanna came up with, but am starting to view her product as more in the HGTV dumbing down trend.

She's not "propagating the notion that one can do the breaking in by walking all over their brand new sofa." That's why the word distressing was in quotes. You don't think it is safe to assume the tweet----dumb as it is---is simply to portray the furniture as family friendly?

Years ago Samsonite luggage had commercials of actual gorillas or chimpanzees throwing their suitcases around to demonstrate how sturdy they were. I am pretty sure they didn't mean for their customers to give new luggage to beasts in the wild. Bounty used to show glassware balanced on wet paper towels in their commercials, something I wouldn't have tried at home, I really don't see what is different about this. You vent away.......L'll vent away :-)

Kswl, I invite you to read the comments from her Instagram (not Twitter) followers before determining what she's propagating.

I doubt people want beat up suitcases or have a pressing need to balance glassware on paper towels, but distressed leather furniture IS a thing that people often pay good money for, and many are going to undoubtedly think this is how to achieve it.

Because she is someone with a new furniture line she should have had the furniture made with the distressed look in the first place if she wants it to look distressed. Silly picture but I understand marketing. (She can not control how people respond to such a post.)

I know I may be in the minority, but I have the same reaction to buying jeans with rips and holes in them. They come off looking silly and contrived to me.

I agree with mimipadv in the sense that patina is earned.

The pic doesn't elicit strong feelings in me, it just seems a bit goofy.

Ok, I went to her Instagram feed and read about 10 pages of comments. Most people like the furniture, the picture and Joanna Gaines, not necessarily in that order. It seems a fair number of women admit they are obsessed with her. One response offered a rowdy five year old for distressing services :-) Not once did I see a "gee, I didn't know that's how you're supposed to break in leather cushions, thanks for the tip" or anything like. Maybe I have misplaced faith in the American public?

The only question I would ask about her leather is whether it is top grain, full grain or bonded, but I do like the sofa. And I have three dogs who are professional distressers if anyone wants to hire them, it's about time they started pulling their weight around here!

I don't see the point of overreacting to a picture like this.
(Insert puzzled emoticon here)

Who's overreacting?

I have the same reaction to buying jeans with rips and holes in them. They come off looking silly and contrived to me.

Agree. I remember putting creative "patches" on my well worn jeans (bell bottoms) in the early 70s. Now that would look just as silly as the store bought jeans with holes.

I'll send her my 2 cats to help with the "distressing".

This will likely earn me a comment about being overly sensitive but I don't care. I think when people are discussing something to which they have a negative response it's perfectly within reason to disagree, but there's something about being told you are "overreacting" that I find dismissive and rude. Reminds me of some brusque man tell an expressive woman to "calm down." Have an opinion, but for heaven's sake why the need to insinuate belittlement towards the opinion of another?

Edit: As sometimes these things tend to happen, I am now recalling a time when I said the exact words "Calm down!" to a poster who was very enthusiastic in her defense of Chip and Joanna Gaines, and I now understand how hurtful those words must have been to her. Obviously none of us are immune to making dismissive statements toward each other, but speaking for myself it's something I'm going to endeavor to be more mindful of.

I have leather dining chairs around my kitchen table ( Sedon chair ) and one day saw my cleaning lady standing on one of them to dust the top of the drapes. She was quickly asked not to do that ... we have a step stool in the pantry and lightweight step ladder in the garage. I'd like my patina to happen over many years!

My kids were taught from a young age that furniture wasn't for walking or jumping on, and you don't sit on the arms or backs of sofas.

Hate the color of the sofa, but I agree that if you want a distressed look, you can use lambskin, which is easily distressed and can be bought that way. Joanie Mitchell bought upholstered furniture from us in a similar color of our lambskin, and after a few years, her dogs had distressed it so much that she had to bring it back to us to be reupholstered. My boss was her interior design back in the late 1970s. I do not care for the look myself on furniture, but I do like it for jackets, although it is never cold enough here to wear a leather jacket. If you have dogs (and I do NOT), you do not need to distress the furniture yourself.

In the 1970s I would buy blue jeans at thrift stores so that they would already be broke in because I really do not like jeans and wore them so seldom that I never got them broken in myself. Lady Wranglers size 7/8 fit me like a glove back then, but Levis were more in style (and less comfortable) in San Francisco, where I lived at the time.

I've never had the urge to walk on a sofa or even a bed.

Well then let's agree that speculating about a foot fungus that "could possibly eat into the leather" and suggesting Gaines needs to be switched by her mother like a five year old is a joke that misfired, maybe like Gaines' joke about distressing the leather. I don't particularly like the Gaineses but this just seems petty. IMO. Carry on.

I will agree with you on that kswl! The ad is a bit silly, but so were the comments you mentioned.

Lighten up, ladies. The whole thing is silly. Did anyone actually take it seriously?

If you are going to stand on furniture, at least do it the way Fred and Ginger do.

Suero wins the internet. That clip is nothing short of perfection, but then again Fred and Ginger really could do no wrong.