I fell hard almost exactly a year ago. I clicked on an email link, pictures came up, and it was love at first sight. A month later, I met my love in person, and it was obvious that we were a perfect fit. Our family and this house, I mean. And as soon as we signed the papers and formalized our relationship, I started planning for our future. One of the first things I did was pick out a couch for the family room.
Over the last six months, you've seen lots of pictures of the house: bookshelves and plate walls and slipcovered living room sofas and bedrooms of all kinds, but no new family room couch. That's because the couch I picked out, a lovely custom sectional from Room and Board, costs what feels to me like an obscene amount of money. And while we've spent money here and there on the other rooms, they've been bargain finds-- picked up from Craigslist and Overstock and IKEA, five or fifty or a hundred dollars at a time (not that the bargain finds don't add up, because let me assure you that they do). The only thing we've spent a lot of money at once on was our mattress, and even that cost only 1/4 of what the couch will set us back.
So anyway, we've deferred, saying that when we got our tax return, that would be couch money. The taxes are filed, the money should be forthcoming, and after waiting and talking ad nauseum about the darn couch, I'm not sure I can bring myself to order it. Twice in the last week, Maren has taken a pen to our current, much-worn and much-disparaged couch set, the couch set that screams out to be in a basement, or at least screamed out, until it was covered in fuschia marker and black pen and I blew out my child's eardrums with my yelling.
Because if I can't even protect my crappy couches, now not even fit for our playroom, then how the heck am I going to keep what has become my platonic ideal of a perfect couch pristine and perfect amidst the chaos of my life? If I scream bloody murder at my three-year-old when she scribbles on my crappy couches then what am I going to do when she does it to the new one? Maybe I like the couch better in the catalog than in my family room.
8 comments:
Did you mention whether the new couch is leather? I'm a big fan of leather with kids.
I'm actually going through a similar dilemma. Part of it is thinking what we could do with the money. If I were more Ghandi-like, I'd donate it to a worthy cause and live with my crappy, hand-me-down, made it through training couches. But living in a real house kinda calls for real furniture.
I would say, if you do love it, purchase it and enjoy it, come what may. And, you can always employ my fancy math. If you think about how great it will be, you can say Yes! I would gladly pay $10 a day for the next year (+?) for such a beautiful couch!
--Lupita
"The only thing we've spent a lot of money at once"
...what i immediately thought you were going to say was "the babysitter".
whatever you decide, i think you'll be happy. cause you're just that way. ♥
Blue-- every penny we've spent on the babysitter has been well worth it. She's a bargain, especially compared to a couch.
Lupita-- If the new couch was leather, I think I'd be less nervous. It is (at least in my mind, since it does not exist in reality yet) olive green microvelvet. Which should hide things like fuschia marker and black ballpoint better than our current tan corduroy ensemble, but it won't be indestructible either. That said, our leather ottoman has a huge tear in it. So even leather has its downside.
I'd wait, at least until your little ones get past the color on furniture decor style that most toddler/preschoolers are so fond of. We have a camel colored leather chair that is incredibly comfortable and nice looking, or at least it was until it met its match: a 10 cent pen. The frustration that I felt from that has kept me far away from purchasing anything that would set me back more than a couple of hundred dollars. Besides, your house looks great, it doesn't have to be perfect from the get go.
I think you're right. Wait until Maren is out of the coloring couches phase and then splurge.
But I am a big believer in nice couches. I've been bullying my little sister about getting one.
I would wait too. We have the "same" couches in our family room too, and while I shudder every time I see new stain, I can't imagine putting something I love in there!
this is why Ihave charcoal boucle fabric on my new couches! :>
That siad my cream microfiber in office has survived thus unscathed- - it is a terrible pull- the allure of the beauty and sad facts of home decor reality!
Slipcovers???
Post a Comment