Actually, Steve wasn't around for the actual removal of the couch, I did that with a couple I had never met before. We had decided to give the old couch, which was still in decent condition, to a missionary family that our church supports, and since they are still on the mission field, some friends of theirs moved the couch for them. It was nice to know that the couch was being put to good use.
Anyway, Steve had just gotten his year-end bonus and we decided to use some of it to replace our furniture. The old couch had served us well and we really did like it a lot, but it limited the arrangement of our living room making it so that no matter how we arranged it, it blocked our windows. We were actually having problems with it blocking the baseboard heat and, in a way, pushing the heat out the many windows.
We didn't want to spend a fortune, so we went with Ikea's Ektorp couches in Svanby gray. We bought both the regular couch and the sofa bed. We are SO happy with them. Of course, we had to train the dogs not to jump on the couches anymore, but so far that has gone smoothly. The best part is, if we run into any accidents, the covers are removable, dryclean-able, and replaceable (for like $50!).
We also bought new throw pillows. The yellow ones I bought on Etsy, but the other two sets are actually from Target's outdoor and patio department. So is the striped "pouf"; we decided we needed an ottoman because we no longer had the recliners built into the old couch.
We also decided to build an entertainment center. We bought two Ikea Billy bookcases and one Besta shelf. I put them together. I seem to be the furniture assembler in this house, most of the time. As much as people say Ikea furniture can be junk, the quality of these was a thousand times better than any I've bought at Walmart or Target. Together, the shelves fit perfectly in the space between the wood stove and the wall. I mean perfectly, maybe less than a quarter of an inch to spare. It looks so much neater than it did before.
Except those chords. Anyone have an inexpensive solution for hiding those messy chords?
We're also looking for some new artwork for this room. Something to hang on the wall to the left of the entertainment center. If you look at the link to the old couch, you can also see the canvases I covered in scrap paper and hung on that wall. I don't like the look as much now, and since we took them down because we weren't sure which wall we'd put the entertainment, I decided I would keep them down until we found something better. I can't find anything I like that is in our price range. Grr.
Anyway, we're happy with the homey look of the new furniture...
...and apparently Finn likes it too.
How 'bout you? Any ideas for living room art or hiding chords?
We also decided to build an entertainment center. We bought two Ikea Billy bookcases and one Besta shelf. I put them together. I seem to be the furniture assembler in this house, most of the time. As much as people say Ikea furniture can be junk, the quality of these was a thousand times better than any I've bought at Walmart or Target. Together, the shelves fit perfectly in the space between the wood stove and the wall. I mean perfectly, maybe less than a quarter of an inch to spare. It looks so much neater than it did before.
We're also looking for some new artwork for this room. Something to hang on the wall to the left of the entertainment center. If you look at the link to the old couch, you can also see the canvases I covered in scrap paper and hung on that wall. I don't like the look as much now, and since we took them down because we weren't sure which wall we'd put the entertainment, I decided I would keep them down until we found something better. I can't find anything I like that is in our price range. Grr.
Anyway, we're happy with the homey look of the new furniture...
How 'bout you? Any ideas for living room art or hiding chords?
Looks great!!! I love Ikea furniture! If we had known about Ikea before we got married I can guarantee our house would be decked out in it :) About the cords... can you bundle them together and stick them behind the bookshelf on the left? Is there enough slack for that? If so, you'd only see a couple inches of them on the left of the tv leading to the shelf...
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