If you give a couch a pillow....

Have you ever read the adorable book by Laura Joffe Numeroff and Felicia Bond called "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie"? Such a cute book about what happens if you give a mouse a cookie, he'll want some milk, then a napkin, then to look in the mirror to make sure he got all the crumbs, etc. Well, in our house it would be called "If You Give a Couch a Pillow" or something like that. Last October we decided we had had enough of this horrible looking house. It was falling apart around us and it was embarrassing to have anyone over. Mom said we could use her furniture she had in her basement. The furniture is beautiful and has been in the family since I was little. We couldn't bring such nice furniture into our ratty looking house. I asked RL if we could paint the living room first. Sure, he was game. However, the carpet looked crappy. He asked if I wanted to rip it up. Sure, I was game. Plywood floors underneath, but at least we didn't worry about spilling while we were painting. The money ran out after the painting, so we have lived with yucky plywood floors - but fresh paint! The furniture looked so nice and was nicer than anything we had had in a long time. Then we managed to get some money together for some flooring. It was so exciting to finally be picking out the type of flooring we really wanted.

a close up of the larch

The flooring being useful until it can be put down

We found some Larch and decided that was the flooring for us. (It's a light pine.) Before we put it down, though, we realized we had a leak around the front door and some water damage had occurred in the subflooring. Well, that definitely has to be replaced before wooden floors are put down. But where did the leak come from? The front door is old and the wood has split. When it rains, it comes in the split areas. So, we needed a new front door. RL and R went to the same salvage place we got the flooring from and found a beautiful front door. They called and asked how I felt about them getting it and I was all for it. When they got home with it, we were standing around the truck looking at it and I thought something was odd about it. Instead of the door knob being on the left side, it's on the right side. No, it cannot be returned. The salvage place has signs everywhere stating NO returns. Well, this is just an obstacle. We will make this work. So, now before the floors can go down, the subflooring needs to be replaced. Before the subflooring can be replaced, the front door needs to be replaced. Before the front door can be replaced, the door knob problem needs to be rectified. Whew! Are you still with me? While all this is going on, RL suggested that we look at some new furniture. What????? Did he mention new furniture? I didn't even have to ask if that's what he said - I was so on it! I found some half price and ordered it on line. It took three weeks to get here and the whole time I was fretting over whether it would be the right color - whether it would be comfortable - whether everybody else would like it as much as I did - whether the cat would live if she scratched it. It finally came. We were so excited! R and L were ripping into it just like I was and I was ripping into it just like it was Christmas. So exciting! Could that excitement last? Oh no....why should it? Why should something turn out like it's supposed to? The couch I wasn't sure about is beautiful. It is comfortable. It fits three people at the same time and is brand new. You know the new car smell? We have the new furniture smell and I don't know the last time I've smelled that in my house!

The new couch and an unwilling model at the other end. That's why you only see this end!

Next came the love seat. I knew I would love the love seat. It was the material I would have picked if I had had a million fabrics to chose from. This was it for me! We took off the plastic, the flannel like covering, the card board - only to find a 7" slit in the back.

I was devastated! But at the same time I thought, "Why not?" With the way our luck had been lately - why not indeed. RL called right away and they promised a brand new one would be shipped as soon as possible and the old one taken away. So, the love seat is covered to keep it clean and I am mad because it turned out the way it did.

Covered love seat waiting to get carted away. Actually, it's covered much better than this, but I just took a picture of the slit in the back, remember?

I have no complaints whatsoever about the dining room set. It's beautiful and big! The only complaint is that the new front door is right behind it and we can't use all sides of the table, but it's beautiful and I love it. So, in short, the next time somebody says, "You want some furniture?" I am going to say NO!