Friday, June 4, 2010

And the re-decorating begins!

We have found and purchased a new sofa!! I am so happy and excited, but I think our daughter is even more thrilled! Every day (only since Tuesday!) since the people who purchased our previous couch and loveseat picked them up, Kirsten has been begging Ryan and I to buy a new one! "Please buy me a new couch, Daddy, I wanna lay down." It doesn't matter that she has a fun little kid's couch, she wanted a real couch and did not hesitate to tell us in a very small and sad voice. The kind of voice that makes you feel like the Wicked Witch of the West and she's Dorothy begging for her little dog. Last night we were finally able to go buy a new couch! Kirsten gaily bounded from couch to couch, leaping upon each one and crying happily, "Is this our new couch?" until Ryan and I had made our choice. The choice-making, however, took longer than it should have since I was frantically chasing our child through the store trying to keep her from jumping on every display piece of furniture they had. I also gave my husband the look that says, "Not on your life" when he asked, boyish grin plastered on his face, if we could get the glass and wooden coffee table with the foosball game encased inside. "Classy and entertaining!" was his reasoning. We left with a couch, a small desk and some tiki torches for the back patio--NO COFFEE/FOOSBALL TABLE. :) Oh, and a large box of Fudge Rounds. :) We trotted out of there a very happy family until it was time to load everything into the borrowed truck...the desk would not fit into the bed of the truck along with the sofa. So...with rainclouds looming ominously overhead and the wind picking up, my dear husband and the gentlemen who helped us with our purchases frantically attempted to dissassemble the desk just enough to fit it into the backseat. After approximately 30 minutes (what felt like an HOUR with a toddler already strapped into her carseat and hungry, to boot!) of "arguing" with the desk, they got it into the backseat with Kirsten! Hooray!! Just as we pulled out of the parking lot, it began to rain. Not pouring, but just a steady drizzle. Thank goodness the sofa was in its plastic packaging and the uncovered desk was safely in the truck! Unloading the items was a LOT less eventful than loading them had been. Thank You, Jesus! :)

Kirsten woke up this morning very excited about our couch and ran right downstairs to jump onto it! She was so thrilled that it was in the living room! She had fallen asleep on the drive home. Here she is on the couch...can you tell she loves it?


Snow White loves it, too. She slept there all night. :)

I ordered some upholstery foam to make the hope chest into a bench. It will be ready for my hubby to pick up on Monday! YAY! :) I also did lots of sewing and crafting yesterday...more on that later. ;)

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Out with the old....where is the new???

PRAISE THE LORD, we finally sold our couch and loveseat!! I had begun to wonder if we would ever find someone who wanted them after a few weeks of posting on Craigslist every five days or so when I got an email from a woman yesterday who was interested! I gave her a call and we talked back and forth all day before they came to pick up the items last night. They even paid asking price! Thank you, Jesus!! :) We planned to go right out and pick up a new couch last night until we realized something...something very importante. PayPal doesn't deposit the transferred money into your bank account for three to four days. Crapola. Aaaaannnd.....since we are not made of money (not to mention that I already paid every bill but rent for this month) we will have to spend three to four days sitting on the floor. Okay, well...not totally on the floor. We do have some folding outdoor chairs that we take to the drive in theatre, as well as a comfy chair in the living room that my husband and I fight over...we'll be fighting over who gets to sit in that baby a lot more over the next few days! teehee As for now, I am ordering some foam to pad my grandmother's hope chest and make it into a bench. This is a piece that is so precious to me...it was her 16th birthday present from her parents and she passed it down to my mother, who passed it down to me. Over the years, the veneer finish was damaged pretty badly and I wanted to preserve the piece. SO, a couple of years ago, I refinished it in a country white. It looked like a new piece! Of course, I was nervous to see what my grandmother would think since it has belonged to her, but she loved it! I think what she loves most is that I have such a love for this piece. Now, I am going to put three inches of foam atop the lid and create a removable cover out of some GORGEOUS black and white fabric. Of course, I need to give the chest a fresh coat of paint and put some laquer on it...I never laquered it, so it gets dirty really quickly and doesn't clean well (flat paint for that shabby chic look). That is this weekend's project! I can't wait until the next time my grandmother comes to Kentucky so I can show her how I am preserving this beautiful piece of our family history. I also can't wait to give it to my daughter and see what she does with it. Will it stay the same as I have it now, or will she be full of decorating ideas for it, as well? Only time shall tell!