Out with the old . . . .

My MWHITW and I had been talking for some time about replacing our living room furniture when we move. We even had an idea of what we were looking for. We had decided, though, that it would probably make more sense to wait until we move to buy the furniture. That way we could start fresh and save ourselves from having to move at least that one room full of furniture. Logical? I thought so. Then MWHITW started watching the decorating shows with me a little more often (I'm an HGTV, Discovery Home, Style channel, etc. junkie). He started noticing that when the experts were staging a home to sell, they try to make it as cohesive as possible. They layout is important. The syle of furniture is important. The fact that things actually match is important (since when I don't know). The logical lightbulb went of in hubby's head and HE decided that we should buy the new furtniture BEFORE we move so that the house would show better. OK. We'll LOOK. Sunday after church, we were trying to decide where to go for lunch when MWHITW said "let's go to Mimi's for lunch!" Mimi's? Well, SURE! Mimi's is like my favorite place in the whole wide world to eat! How thoughtful of him to think of it and what a nice surpise! Do you feel an ulterior motive coming on? If so, you have good intuition. Mimi's JUST HAPPENS to be located in the same parking lot area as . . . . . a big, new Ashley Furniture store. Hmmmmm. Have I been set up? No. We're just going to LOOK. After a wonderful lunch, he suggested that we take a stroll through Ashley furniture "just to see what they have". OK. I'm game. We're just going to LOOK. We strolled, we looked, we sit tested , but nothing caught our eye. UNTIL we rounded the corner and there in the middle of the showroom floor was the living room of MWHITW's dreams. Worn saddle looking, brown leather, built in recliners in the love seat AND couch . . . . .as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words . . . .

He also fell in love with the end tables and coffee table they had displayed with the couch and love seat. They are actually quite beautiful. Slate tops . . . . .OK. So we are now the proud owners of new living room furniture! Gone are the mismatched tables, the mismatched chairs and sofa and most of the knick knacks and country clutter . . . .the only thing that remains from our old LR (for the time being) is my beloved antique trunk/coffee table. The coffee table they delivered to us was damaged so we have to wait a little longer. The entertainment center, which houses the surround sound, TIVO . . . . is still here, but it will soon have a coat of black paint to make it a little more neutral and invinting to prospective buyers.

OK. So the living room looked so good I decided to go ahead and declutter the dining area as well by emptying and moving the china hutch out of the room. We have a very small dining area and the hutch made it look even smaller. It really did open up the space and gives us much more room to walk around the table.

I printed and framed some photos that MWHITW and I had taken when we were in Kentucky (one in the spring and on in the fall) and hung them in place of one of my antique samplers. It's a little more "generic" but still a part of us.

All in all, I feel as though we have accomplished something. The "great room" and entry way are ready and "staged". It looks great, it's comfy and cozy and everyone that has seen it so far has givin it two thumbs up. I still have the feeling that I'm walking into the wrong house. Of course little Ms. Brigitte has found a way to rememdy that by finding a new welcome spot which enables her to greet people from a new vantage point when they come through the door. Like I said . . . a picture is worth a thousand words . . .

Have a wonderful, blessed weekend!