We lived for one year (almost exactly – we moved in the weekend of our anniversary) in Will’s parents’ basement after we got married. It was an AWFUL time to buy a home (2006-07), and I am forever thankful to them for allowing us to do that. While we were there, we purchased living room furniture. It was in a nice, neutral color and was microfiber (fancy!). We figured it would work fine in whatever home we’d eventually buy.
in the basement – I think this was taken as we were moving out. (with a cameo from Hank!)
Well in 2007, the kind of home you could buy for what we could afford was tiiiiny. I’ve mentioned it before, but our home is under 1,000 square feet. And the couch and loveseat have always been too big, no matter what configuration they’re in.
we tried this way…
…and this way
…and this way (don’t have a better pic of this way that I can put my hands on at the moment – this was after we had already bought the new chair [hence the mess], which you can see shoved up in the corner in front of the door)
ignore the mess. This is just to show how crowded things were. (and we had already taken out the rug)
We kept them because they were still in decent shape, even though they just felt like they were overwhelming the room. And the microfiber – ugh. Even though I finally found a way to clean it semi-ok (spray on alcohol, wipe with a clean sponge, then brush the fibers back up), it’s not great for kids and pets because you can’t just wash it. Plus, it’s like a magnet for pet hair (especially Lucy’s). So I was kind of glad when the couch, which is Will’s prime sitting spot (I usually go for the loveseat) started to show a lot of wear. It was time. NEW COUCH.
loveseat
sad couch
I had specific wants: 3 cushions instead of 2 (which causes a sag in the middle), no pillow tops on arms, no “oversized” feel, and no microfiber. That eliminates a LOT. Originally, I was looking at stuff from IKEA because of its washability. So when I had a week off in between jobs, Will and I took a day and went to all of the furniture places nearby. We started at IKEA and kind of ruled out all of the fabric couches (the ones he thought were comfy I didn’t like, and the ones I liked he didn’t think were comfy). But we did like 2 leather couches. We also went to Regency, Room Store, and Value City. After a ton of back and forth on whether or not we wanted a leather couch, we ended up deciding on a black and white tweed sofa from Regency and a black leather recliner (for Will) from Room Store (who is going out of business, so we got a pretty good deal!). The recliner isn’t tooooo “old man,” I don’t think. And the combo? I LOVE IT. (Only problem? Apparently the cats find tweed to be a suitable scratching location. And they generally don’t scratch anywhere other than the scratching posts, so this is SUPER frustrating and we need to stay on top of it. Can’t win. Taking suggestions…right now we are usually keeping a blanket draped over the arm, which is super classy looking.)
OMG FLOOR SPACE!!!!!!11!!!1!
so much less cramped!
I’m thrilled. We’re still waiting on a rug, since the old one didn’t match any more. I am OBSESSED with this rug. I actually saw it years ago on two blogs I follow (MODG and Young House Love), and only fairly recently realized it was the same rug on both blogs. So I think now I’m going to get this one, but since we just bought the new furniture I am going to hold off a bit.
We’re also trying really hard to pay off debt, so a rug can wait! It’s been SO hard to find a similar one. They’re either prohibitively expensive or dhurrie/flateweave for that style, and we want a regular, tufted style. (See more that I’ve pinned.) I am also on the hunt for a new end table – possibly a thrifted one I can fix up (our current ones were a set that belonged to my grandparents, so I love them and will store them – but they’re too big for our house), and a small table or something for right beside the front door that we can put a lamp on and maybe store some of A’s toys in. I’d also like to eventually get new lamps (seems frivolous because our current lamps are totally fine, but they’re a bit boring so I’d like something more fun). Oh, and we also still love our brown wall, even with the grey tones going on in there. We love that damn wall!
So, here’s the to do:
- find (and DIY fix up) a new end table with storage for beside couch
- find (and DIY) a taller table of some sort with storage for beside front door
- find one large new lamp for end table and one smaller one for other table
- rug
- recover storage ottoman (that we use to store Ainsley’s toys) to match new color scheme
- re-run ethernet and phone lines so they aren’t in dumb places (the phone is now behind the recliner – not so convenient)
- change out some photos on the frame wall behind couch
- get new throws for couch (must be super long to accommodate tall husband)
- hem drapes?
- fix cat scratcher post (in progress!)
- maybe hand some plants on the wall (I have hooks that I bought ages ago)
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