A thoughtful gift can become complicated once someone transforms it into something uniquely theirs.

In this one, the dilemma begins when another relative decides the finished piece belongs in her home instead.

Weeks of careful work and hundreds of dollars suddenly collide with an unexpected family request.

See whether this restored heirloom is changing hands again.

AITA if I refuse to return a piece of furniture a family member gave me?

I received a piece of old furniture from a great aunt. It’s a dark oak armoire.

She said it belonged to her brother, she didn’t need it, etc.

She did more than her due diligence when it came to the fate of the armoire.

I asked if she minded if I painted it (I know, controversial to paint antique furniture) so that it matched my living room.

She said do whatever I wanted.

So after she received her aunt’s blessing, she really put some elbow grease into making it look nice.

So, I sanded. I replaced the hardware. I painted it. I even painted little flowers and butterflies all over it.

I put close to two hundred dollars of work into it.

I showed her the final product, and she said it was super cute, she loved it, etc.

But that’s where the positivity ended.

Then, a few days later, she called me and said “younger cousin absolutely loves it, can we give it to her and I’ll get you a gift card to buy a new one?”

I said no. I put weeks of work in. I put money into it.

Suddenly her aunt begins turning against her.

She says I’m being selfish, since it was technically an heirloom.

But she gave me permission to do all of the work to it.

I did offer to consider painting a piece of furniture for cousin, but she wants THIS armoire.

It’s causing tension in the family now.

AITA?

Who knew an armoire could cause such a headache?

Redditors chime in with their two cents.

It’s almost hard to believe just how unreasonable her family is being.

This became way more than just a piece of furniture.

If they want the armoire that badly, they’ll have to make her a better offer for it.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a woman who is annoyed that her brother is making their mom’s international trip all about how broke he is.

This family gets two thumbs down from this commenter.

Her great aunt gave away the armoire, approved every alteration, and praised the finished result.

Only after the younger cousin admired it did the family begin treating a completed gift like a temporary loan.

They could have accepted OP’s generous painting offer instead of demanding the exact piece she created.