bittersweet

I have a love/hate relationship with our sofa.  I absolutely love our sofa in that the style is perfect.  I LOVE this style sofa and I really do love the color.  However, I was not really thinking when we bought it that we would one day have children.  Don't ask me why, because I have always wanted kids.  I also knew when we got married that I wouldn't want to wait more than a couple years before getting pregnant.  However, when I saw this sofa, it was like all other rational thinking went out the window.  I fell in love with it immediately.  It was the first piece of large furniture that we had bought, and it seemed like it was something that would last a lifetime.  I am still convinced it can and will-but some days, I get so annoyed with it.  The one thing that I really honestly do hate about it is the buttons.  I wish I never got a sofa with tufted cushions.  The stitching on occasion has started to come out near the buttons and I have spent lots of time figuring out how to repair this and re-stitch them.  It is successful, however, very time-consuming and somewhat frustrating.  We get our sofa professionally cleaned about every 16-18 mos., which has helped keep it looking bright.  But some days I am honestly ready to just throw it out the window.  Okay, maybe not actually throw it out the window.  But, I think to myself, maybe I could sell it on Craigslist and we could buy a new sofa that is the same style but more practical-  like this one from Room and Board.   Other days I think, maybe I could completely get rid of the tufted cushions by reupholstering the whole thing and making slip covers for the cushions.  When I mentioned this to Rob he says "oh, you could do that- you sew, I'm sure that you could do that- it would be like making one big pillowcase for the cushions".   hmmm-  while I love his encouragement and enthusiasm in my sewing endeavors, I am pretty sure that I could not do that.  Don't worry, I probably will not make any rash decisions about our sofa at any point in the near future or maybe never- but some days I think about it and look at sofas online that I wish I had bought instead.  

We did recently purchase a chair and ottoman on Craigslist a couple weeks ago for $20.  The thought was that I could try my very first reupholstering project.  It is a great chair, with simple lines - and it is sturdy. I think it will make a great first attempt.  

Our original thought was that we could make room for it in our living room for additional seating, but after trying to move around some furniture- there is no way that it can fit and not seem as open enough as I would like.  It is currently sitting in our basement and our thoughts were that we will put it in our guest room to replace the IKEA Poang chair which is just not a great chair for that space. 

 

I think the new chair will be prefect for that corner and comfortable for overnight guests, or us, to sit and read in.  I also have plans for this room some day (not too soon hopefully!) when we have a second child and I think this chair will fit well into those plans.  Now I just need to find some fabric.  

On a completely non-furntiture-related note, Rob and I just traced out where the wallpaper will go on the wall in the dining room.  I am hoping that maybe my mom can come over in the next week or so to hang the wallpaper and then we will just need to get the frame up.  I am really excited about getting the wallpaper up because I think it will really pull the whole space, including the living room, together.