Out With the Old

Pin It Now! Recently, after almost 15 years of marriage, my hubby and I were able to purchase our first "big" couch. It's been a long time coming for sure.

We "borrowed" couches when we first got married and lived in a tiny apartment. After that we were able to purchase a love seat and chair/ottoman combo from Pier One. So we still didn't have a "big" couch - the kind that can comfortably seat more than 2 people. :)  But we survived.

We, my hubby especially, were determined not to start off our marriage in consumer debt.  That means not buying anything unless we could pay for it in cash. Very commendable, very responsible, and the best thing to do in my opinion, but not always the easiest. At least not easy for a new, type A highly motivated wife who wanted to decorate her new home with things. New things.  I wanted a "perfect" Pottery Barn catalog kind of home on a Dollar Store budget.

Anyway, God has done a lot of work on me over the years, and I have learned a little to be very grateful for what we have, to work with what we have, and to not focus on what we don't have. Bitterness and discontent aren't pretty at all.

It's icing on the cake now to get something new. :)

When my hubby and I moved to AZ over five years ago, we didn't bring any couches. Our Pier One love seat was completely ruined by an episode of volcanic blueberry vomit. Plus, I don't think there was room in the U-haul we rented anyway. We had to leave behind quite a few things.

My mom and her husband gave us their old couch set after we were able to move in to our new AZ home. I really was grateful (sitting on tile would have been pretty painful for this bony tush) but a bit disappointed we couldn't buy our own. It wasn't long before vomit struck again, but I didn't think anything of it since we now had removable covers on the cushions. Um, the zipper broke when I tried to remove and wash it.

Just my luck. 

So, we've spent the last few years daily straightening our couch cushion to hide the massive tearing.

At day's end, here is what it would look like - all rumply.

This is the damage we were hiding. The tear just kept getting bigger and bigger over time. We tried to use safety pins for a while, but then even those wouldn't hold everything together anymore. :(

Yuck, and I had and still have zero cushion covering skills. Not that I could have afforded fabric to do that anyway.

Making the best of what we had - couldn't really tell there was anything wrong with the cushion . . . until you sat on it for a while. :)

About a month ago, we were able to finally purchase a NEW couch and loveseat for our living room ~ yea!  We kept my mom's love seat and moved it into the "computer room."

Now, it's actually more like a cozy den. We moved the picture, little table, and lantern from the living room, too. Funny how much the kids love having the couch in there. They are always finding reasons to go and sit on it. My daughter can comfortably watch her movies now! (We have a small TV in there that only plays DVDs)

Before, the room only had the computer, desk, TV bureau, bookshelves, and Mark's guitar. He's glad to be able to sit comfortably and practice music for church!

So nice to have a "complete" den, now. :)

New couch, loveseat, and "sitting area" reveal coming soon . . .