I have blogged several times about my living room library. I've mentioned my sofa. I loved it, but five cats, four kids and a decade had taken their toll on the poor thing. It was severely cat scratched, stained, worn and faded. I dreamed of getting a new couch, but had pretty much decided it would wait until some/all of the cats had died. I couldn't stand the thought of getting something nice and having them scratch it up again.
Then one day, while at DI for some little thing, Beorn called my attention to a cart as it was being rolled out of the back room. On it were two amazing Victorian styled chairs, in a color that was meant for my living room. I immediately followed behind, wanting to get a look at them... and KNOWING that I couldn't get them. There was NO way they'd be priced at anything I could possibly justify. The workers put them on the floor and I flipped over the tag. $25. I couldn't believe it. I checked the other chair. $25. Technically, I did need a new chair (my rocker had died again after being repaired more than once, so we were just using the ottoman in that corner), so I called Beorn over. We talked and contemplated. Should we buy them, or not? Buy them and then sell them at a profit? Keep one and sell the other? I didn't dare move for fear someone else would snag them. Finally we said we just had to get them and we'd figure it out at home. I even mentioned in passing I could give up the sofa for them, but I was concerned about the reduced seating that would give us in the living room. I figured we'd get them home, take some pictures and just flip them at a profit. One of the store managers saw them on the cart headed to check out and looked at the price. She was NOT happy they were going for so little. Even at DI prices they should have been closer to $100 each. We could definitely make some money on them. We got them home and discussed their future. Finally, it was decided we should keep them, as the chances of us ever being able to find (or afford) furniture that nice was pretty slim. So, the chairs made themselves at home in the only place they could fit... the sofa's spot.
The sofa was moved over by the piano while I contemplated. I was surprised how much came up for me, emotionally, just moving the sofa and putting another piece of furniture in its place. Finally I decided I had to rehome the sofa. I listed it for free on a facebook yard sale group. They lady who finally came to get it hugged me at the door and thanked me profusely. I told her some of it's history and she was even more excited. She had no plan to fix it up. She loved furniture with history. It was going into the sitting area of her bedroom. She asked me to message her with all the stories about the sofa so she could have them. She came back later with her husband and a big, nice truck and took my baby away. At least that was what it suddenly felt like. I had to push back tears, anxiety and regret.
It's amazing how attached you can get to a piece of furniture. I know it was more about all the blessings and experiences it represented and I console myself with the fact that I still have those.
So, here is the before:
And the after:
They fit the room very well and opened up the space (they take up less total length than the sofa did, even with the table in between them).
My biggest fear with having these chairs now (instead of later) is what the cats could do to them. I invested in some cat-scratch deterrent spray and use it consistently (we're on bottle #3). I also took some of the extra fabric from the sofa and made a scratching area to attach to the wall by the bookcase. It's the fabric they like, the height they liked and I spray it with catnip. So far they scratch it and NOT the chairs. But I really am paranoid they might start...
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