Friday, January 9, 2009

Are you sitting comfortably?

The birth of my child has me especially distressed about the state of my home. I've been working really hard the last week to clean up after myself and keep things tidy for my little dude. But more than that, I've been focused on the kind of home I want to have, and how to get it the way that I want it. (Nothing like having 8 million people in your home visiting your new baby to remind you to be embarrassed about the state of your house) If you looked in my house right now, you would assume you were at the pad of some twenty something single dudes. Seriously. Not a piece of art on the walls, not a picture hanging in sight. A futon is the only seating available in the great room, and our dining room currently has a card table in it that belongs to my in-laws. There isn't a coffee table, end table, shelf - not a thing at all in sight.

Now, part of this is due in part to my extremely large German Shepherd's particularly painful destructive puppy phase. He ate our $2400 sectional, and also gnawed off the legs of our kitchen table and the corresponding chairs. But still - there was nothing else for him to destroy - Husband and I never purchased other furniture. We never hung artwork on the walls, or picked out ends tables and other items one might fill their home with. Why? Honestly, I had absolutely NO CLUE what I wanted. Or, at least, I wasn't sure enough of what I wanted to make a commitment to purchasing anything (outside of that damn couch... /sigh).

So, what was the point of this post anyway? Well, after years of looking at pictures and magazines for inspiration, or some sort of idea what I want MY home to look like, the last several months have actually yielded an image in my brain of what I desire.

More than anything, I want my home to be a comfortable place for my family. I don't want couches that have covers on them. I don't want to freak out if someone doesn't use a coaster. I want a space that is functional and serves the needs of me, my husband and our children. With that in mind, I've finally been able to start picking pieces that I would like to purchase to begin furnishing and decorating mi casa. The only challenge now? Getting husband on board! Oh - and of course getting the moolah to purchase the stuff. Thankfully, I've been able to find a lot of what suits my taste at Wal-mart, Ikea and other discount stores.

Anyway, this was a rather long post to let you all know that my blogging will now be expanded to include the decorating/furnishing of my home, and of course linking and posting pictures of all the lovelies I have my eyeballs on.

First things first: New Seating!

Husband and I are set on leather. Yeah, Yeah, Yeah - we've got cats and dogs, and they will probably scratch our furniture. However - I'm so flippin tired of couches that require HOURS of vacuuming. Leather is the only way to go for us. I ADORE this particular set:



They are simple (I really like more rustic furniture - nothing too elaborate for me, thanks), they are leather, and most importantly, they are affordable. Who knew that Wal-Mart would carry something like this. And at $750.00 for the whole set, it is within our budget for new couches! Husband is still not sold (he is really not into buying furniture from Wal-Mart) but has agreed to keep an open mind, so we are going to go check them out as soon as possible. And as easy as that, living room furniture that my family can beat up for the next decade without me agonizing over every scratch and scuff.

I also really like this dining set from Target - small enough to fit our little dining room, yet plenty big for our needs:



I like this rug from Ikea (it is called the Hellum - in Dark Red)



Ok - and that is enough for now. The bare bones of my new plan. Try to envision it all together, lol. And with that, it is time to go pump and get ready for bed!

4 comments:

  1. I love the sofa set, we too decided that leather or rather faux leather was the way to go for us. We chose a dark brown leather look couch that was on sale this summer at Ikea for $300 and it is much more comfortable than our old fabric sofa we had and much easier to clean. We have hard wood through out and so, need to pull out our giant reddish rug from Ikea as well, I think we have a similar vision, but sadly, you have a budget at the moment. All I would like to be able to do at the moment is repaint. Have fun, I'll be checking in.

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  2. I love your dining table option. Our movers did everything they could to ruin our antique dining table and so it wobbles now. They're estimating around $1000 to fix the table... So we've seriously considered replacing it with a set like this that's got tall legs.

    And we have leather couches. Yes, the cats have scratched it with their back claws and both girls have written on it with ink pen, but they are comfortable. One thing to keep in mind: the leather is colder in the winter so keep a blanket on there to cozy up in.

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  3. Brooke -

    Husband and I have no budget, either. We are going to start the Dave Ramsey debt snowball and I'm trying to save up for the couches (even though I have the cash to buy them, an emergency fund is a better investment :o)

    Vicki -

    Glad I'm not the only one willing to buy leather with animals in the home. I figure that people would rather sit on scratched couches then couches covered in hair :) I can't believe the movers screwed up your table!!

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  4. I also think leather is the way to go since you have a tiny human now- Dave and I almost bought a new sectional when we moved with our stimulus check, and I'm really glad we didn't because I can foresee a lot of messes with juice and crackers, etc. Leather is great because you can just wipe it up and not have to worry about special upholstery cleaning.

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