So this is (almost) 60, with good bones and after several reinventions

October 2, 2026 — 11:30am

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Some time in the late 1970s, a Moran modular sofa was unboxed at our house in Tasmania.

It was avocado velvet, the height of glamour and a big deal. The pieces were cubes that pulled apart and could be reconfigured into a bed for overnight guests. Dad and I sat on it every week to watch Dallas. Sometimes I sat on the floor while he brushed my hair and we laughed about Lucy Ewing, who he really took against.

In the 1990s, Mum and Dad had it reupholstered in a sort of chintz. When they finally bought a new couch, the Moran went to my brother’s kids’ playroom, where it was hammered. Play-Doh was smushed into it. Slime was made on it. Children used it as a jungle gym.

Every time I visited, I coveted that modular. Eventually, I told my brother, who swapped it no questions asked for a Freedom sofa bed. The Moran was packed off to a Mornington upholsterer called Gerry. He rang in awe: “This is a........

© Brisbane Times