We have been wanting a new couch for awhile now (and a new refrigerator...but that will have to be for another day!). After debating about whether or not we wanted a rocker for the nursery, we played with the idea of buying a couch instead. While a rocker would be nice, we figured we would use the couch a lot more for many more years and that it would be a comfortable place to spend our time in those early and tiring days of parenting.
We casually spent some time looking and ended up finding one that we loved within our price range. Now if you remember, it wasn't that long ago that we switched our living and dining rooms. Last fall/winter we moved the living room upstairs so that we could enjoy our fireplace while we watched TV. We weren't pregnant yet and I wanted to spend every moment I could in front of the fireplace so it was a good move at the time. I liked that Brent could be sitting on the couch while I was in the kitchen and we were still close enough to have a conversation.
But after I got pregnant, and I wasn't cooking or entertaining that much, we stopped using our dining room table. So now our downstairs area became unused. Once Spring came along and I no longer needed fireplace ambiance in my daily life, we considered moving the rooms back again. Though the setup was nice, the upstairs living space didn't have as much floor room. I thought that it might be easier to be back down in the carpeted room where we would have the space to lay the baby down and set up baby things. Plus we would have the room again to get a sectional as we had been wanting.
So on one glorious weekend afternoon we found the couch of our dreams (and we even got it on sale!). We love our TV time and so we wanted something nice and deep to fully lay down on. We wanted space for cuddling but also space to ourselves. I wanted something light but not white that was a bit more modern but still with tufts.
I cannot even begin to tell you how many times we have turned to each other while laying on the couch and said how much we love it! We started sleeping on it the last month of pregnancy and it is such a gift to my uncomfortable body! There are some nights that I don't even wake up at all (not even to go to the bathroom!). Sleeping through the night at 38 weeks seems unheard of (I do have some bad nights as well so don't be too jealous!). It has been the greatest gift to this pregnant woman! Most definitely well worth the investment.
So now we are back downstairs and spending a ton of time here. We still eat most of our meals on the couch these days as I can't endure a chair very long. While it is not a habit I want to keep forever, there is this beautiful freedom of ending our days here together. We like our down time and being pregnant has give us an even greater excuse to lounge around on these hot summer days.
Now when we first switched our living room and dining room, I purged some of our furniture. So when we went to change it back I had to mix things up a bit. We used two wooden shelves to flank our TV and our dining room buffet to go under the TV. Previously one of the wooden shelves was in our guest bedroom, now nursery, so it worked out that we were able to move it down to the living room.
The shelves give the long wall a more built in look that I really like (and have always dreamed of installing one day). And the shelves serve as storage plus styling space. Since we only had one of these shelves in this room before, I had lots of room to spread out all our books amongst two shelves.
I also added in a little basket of baby things to have handy while we are sitting down here.
The styling is very similar to what it was before just things moved around a bit. I really do love these shelves and the variation of color and decor. Furniture is a tricky investment at times so I tend to play things safe and lean towards gallery walls instead. We had found these shelves at a World Market that was moving and were able to grab them at a really great price.
We would also like to get a new coffee table eventually - something less bulky and more modern to go with the couch. But that will have to wait for when we replenish the money we spent on the couch and baby stuff. This free side of the road coffee table I picked up has given us many good years. It will have to stick around for just a little longer.
I also have been wanting to repaint this wall that goes up the stairs. It was blue before and I liked it for a long time. But it made the room feel darker than I wanted and so it finally got a fresh coat of white paint after we purchased the couch.
I went with a simple neutral feeling gallery wall to break up some of the color on the shelves.
While I dream of sectionals and coffee tables, Brent has been wanting to set up our TV and audio equipment wirelessly for years. So when we started moving things around again, this gave him the chance. Without going into all the technical details (because I wouldn't even begin to know where to start!) he put in a very small infrared remote control repeater that we can point all of our remotes at (above the TV) that then communicates with the electronics tucked away in a cabinet.
He cut a hole in the wall and installed a cabinet to hold all the TV and audio equipment. We had an extra cabinet door from when I opened up a few shelves in our kitchen that he used for the door (such a resourceful guy!).
As I shared with changing up our master bedroom, it is okay to change things up in your home for a season. Sometimes I think people think I'm crazy for how often I move stuff around. But even if it's for six months to a year, being willing to try something new to better serve how your home functions can prove to be well worth it. Sure it challenges our marriage at times and it takes extra effort to create such drastic changes. But we have learned that we don't have to just settle with how things are. We can make a home that we love, it just sometimes takes a little trial and error to really figure it out.
Couch: Cepella Right Seated Sectional from Scandinavian Designs
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