This is the newest furnished {far from finished} corner of our house.
Actually, it might be the only somewhat furnished corner in the Underdog. ‘Taking our time’ is our motto. We’re living it to the fullest!
I bought our couch {Is it okay if I go with ‘couch’ for this post? I’m not feeling much like a ‘sofa’ person today.} online without seeing it in person beforehand. Some might call that risky but I did a lot of virtual window shopping {I like to refer to it as research} before ordering this one. We are so happy with it! It’s almost like my favorite saddle leather belt reincarnated as a couch. It’s the soho leather sofa from Elements Fine Home Furnishings if you want to google for the best price.
We chose to buy a high quality, long-lasting leather couch knowing that it would most likely outlive three cotton couches in its lifetime. {A white slipcovered couch was my second choice.} It’s constructed of top grain leather which is a step up from the bonded sectional we had in our previous house. If you didn’t know it already, there are different grades of leather…bonded/bi-cast, genuine, top grain and full grain. Top grain is more durable than bonded, bi-cast and genuine but not as strong as full grain leather. Also, top grain won’t age naturally like full grain leather will but it will patina with ‘scars.’ If you can afford full grain, it’s the way to go. We couldn’t afford a couch made of full grain leather. We bought the best our money could buy.
The top grain is much more supple and way less vinyl-ish than than our old sectional. I keep telling HH it’s smooth like butter. I wasn’t expecting such a big difference. I think so many items nowadays are made from split and polyurethaned leathers that I’ve become accustomed to thinking that leather is supposed to resemble vinyl. It’s not! I read somewhere recently that bi-cast is to natural leather what particle board is to hardwood.
And I’m sorry if you are anti-leather. I fully understand your position and opinion. You are entitled to them as I am to mine. We can agree to disagree. You are free to leave informative, non-hateful comments below. Now, moving on.
The matching bolster pillows came with the couch. I love the look of them. My boys pretend they are bazookas or pugil sticks. They are rarely ever on the couch and that drives me insane. But they look just as good as the day we received them and are holding up well to the kid version of American Gladiators.
The couch itself is super comfy. With deep seats, it’s prime real estate for watching a movie, reading or napping…not that those things are happening all that often here. It’s definitely a curl-up-on couch.
I finally put together the tripod lamp I bought from Target. Basically, it consisted of screwing the three legs together {each leg is made up of three sections} then plopping the shade on top. It was so easy a four-year-old could do it. Literally. Everett helped me screw the legs in.
I’m really surprised by the quality for the $50 I spent on it. It’s not crooked and the shade is a generous size. The electric cord is snaked through one leg so that it comes out near the floor instead of a black tampon-esque string hanging from the lamp. {Did I just say that?! Yes. Yes, I did. Forgive me. It was the best description I could come up with.} I kept the box in case it ended up being too flimsy for our rowdy house but, so far, I don’t see any reason to return it. Most of the other tripod floor lamps I had been eyeing were at least $200, so I’m glad to have found a less expensive option. If I want to dress it up, I can always cover the shade with another fabric or switch it out all together.
It’s really nice having a single reading light to turn on in the evenings. Before this floor lamp came to live with us, I was turning on the track lighting that runs along the ridge beam in the vaulted great room just to look at a magazine or read a book. The floor lamp also has a 3-way dimmer switch so I can adjust the intensity of the light.
Another new item is the alpaca throw. Love everything about this petite blanket. The heather gray/ivory color scheme is right up my alley and the half geometric/half adorable duck print is lovely. I use it on the couch to break up all the leather.
I found this woven basket at Target a few months ago on sale. I’m thinking it was around $20?? For now, I’ve placed it beside the couch a la end table style. I tossed all the Wii paraphernalia in it. Video games have never looked so posh at our house.
The family room seating area floats within the great room {we’ve got the whole room within a room thing going on} and is grounded by a durable sisal rug. It’s light in color and heavy on texture. I absolutely love it. The backside is latex so there’s no need for a pad underneath. While we have no problem walking around barefoot on it, it’s definitely not suitable for dad vs. son wrestling matches. HH and the boys take their wrestling matches to the boys’ room where there’s a softer rug to play on. I’d say its feel is similar to that of a seagrass rug. I want to channel my inner Lauren Liess and layer a softer, smaller rug on top of the sisal in front of the couch. It would give Mabrey somewhere soft to roll and crawl around plus I’ve always liked the look of layered rugs.
So that’s a peek at a corner of my home. It’s by no means done and it probably won’t stay like this forever but it’s cozy and functional. It’s a start in the more masculine direction I’ve been wanting to take. You may have noticed the white cabinet behind the floor lamp. It’s actually a shoe organizer for when we are able to use our front door on a regular basis. We still have some door jamb issues to address there. And the speaker on the wall? Well, that’s a topic for an entirely different post.
Is there a corner of your home that makes you smile? Even if the rest of the house is a disaster.
images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking
budget decor, interior design, organization