Old Age Day by Day August 17, 2012

My husband and I bought a sofa yesterday.  It will not be delivered for a month, but we decided it was worth the wait.  After being lured by leather, and I myself fell in love with a butter yellow leather sofa, I started thinking about the dogs' claws, and scratchy jewelry and spills.  But the yellow was so cheerful.  Instead, we ended up with a fabric just like the sofa we have, but a different structure and the color is orangy red.  It looked like it would go really well with what we have, and was comfy, but it does have some loose pillows which our male dog likes to kick to the floor.  I'm not sure we bought a sofa for ourselves or for the dogs.  It was definitely a compromise.  Now, I'm excited to see, when we get the sofa, if it really cheers up the dark living room, and fits with other stuff.  Who can really tell ahead of time?  Not me.

I think we also bought a sofa, because neither one of us has a huge tolerance for this kind of shopping.  And we had decided we could not buy something so big over the internet.  We are geezers, we needed to SEE the thing in person.  We once bought six black chairs that way, and it was fine, they're sturdy and look good.  But then, from the same online store, we bought a dining room rug, and it was supposed to be red, looked red in the pictures, but is actually a dull coral.  I like it fine, but my husband hates it.  Yes, we could have taken it back, but oh, so much trouble.  We've probably bought several dozen pieces of furniture like that, but most had no color that had to be accurate.  The rug should have been.  So we're skeptical buyers at this point, and color was a big factor for us.  Do you know how many beige, pearl and brown sofas there are?  Too dark or too light?  Do you know how many prints?  Hardly any.  Prints cost triple what a solid does, and then you have to order on trust, because they have to make it.  This is a conspiracy to have all living rooms bland.  I'm not sure why, except when we ruin them, and you do, it's much quicker, and then you have to buy a new sofa, and therefore keep them in business.  I have countered that by having pieces reupolstered, including a sofa, chaise, and two chairs.  But usually, that is costlier than a new piece. 

The antique thing is supremely tricky.  And my husband is not so fond of those rigid, unforgiving styles.  So, anyway, the dogs are going to have a new sofa, and I'm thinking about a butter yellow - tablecloth?