Sofa Musings

I've been wanting a new sofa for the family room for awhile. Here's a reminder of what we've got now...



We've had these two brown, leather monsters since 2005. They were six years old already when we bought them, so you could say they've had their day in the sun. I am so over them. Leather was a good choice at the time - it's durable and that's important when you've got kids. Which is probably why you'll think I'm crazy when I tell you that I'm head over heels for the idea of a white, slipcovered sofa. I love how bright and clean they look. But is it even possible to keep them clean? Don't worry, I asked myself that question and I did my homework. The answer is yes! There are tons of online reviews and blog posts about how much people *with kids* love their white, slipcovered couches. I mean, yes they're going to get dirty but you can wash them!! Here are a few of my white sofa inspiration photos....











Right now our budget is pretty tight, so we're looking at three different options - all of which are from Ikea. Here they are in no particular order:

Karlstad


I love the look of the Karlstad sofa, but the legs are a little cheesy looking so I'd definately want to change them. That's not such a big deal. The only thing I'm unsure of is if this boxier shape will work with our style? I did the matchy matchy thing for way too long, so I'm not trying to make everything "go". That's where a lot of rooms go wrong. But I do want it to make sense with our other pieces. If I had to give my design style a name, I guess I'd call it modern farmhouse. Not sure if the Karlstad is toooooooo modern?

Hovas


The Hovas sofa has a nice, classic shape and looks really comfortable too. I love the tailored skirt and the big back pillows. I'm not sure about the way the arm rests are set back further than the edge of the seat cushions though. You couldn't really lay back on them at all. On the other hand, it would make the sofa less intrusive which is what we're having issues with now. Hmmm.

Ektorp


I think everyone knows someone who has one of these sofas. The Ektorp is pretty popular. I love it's rounded rounded shape and like the Hovas, it has the tailored skirt. I feel like it would compliment the furniture pieces we already have. But is it too safe? I want something different than what I'd normally choose. Ektorp is pretty much the same shape as our leather monsters except it's not brown. Sigh.

See how hard this is? I've never been great at making decisions, but picking out a sofa is really hard. It's right up there with buying a car and getting married. Okay, maybe not as big of a deal as getting married but pretty close. You have your sofa for a quite awhile so you want to get the right one. I do know that right now I just want one sofa for the long wall. I can't decide if I'm going to get a big chair for in front of the window, two smaller non matching chairs or if I want to get a non matching loveseat. We'll worry about that after I figure the sofa thing out. At this point it might be never!

What do you think? Help a girl out! Which sofa gets your vote and why?

Work It Out

I'm in a huge rut. A work out rut. This happens to me every year around February/March and it sucks. It's cold (although not as cold as it could be), I'm tired, and I care way more about my next meal than I do working out. I have no idea why I have so much trouble staying motivated. I know how much better I look and feel when I exercise on a regular basis, but it's so easy to talk myself out of it. I mean, let's be honest. I just want to be able to bake and eat whatever I want, and look super hot and feel awesome without having to do any sort of moving around. Anyone else feel the same? I can't be the only one.



Last night out of sheer desperation, I sat down to rework my work out. I started thinking of some things that I love, other than food. And then it hit me. I need a playlist! Music can be a great motivator, so I started working on a pretty epic work out playlist. There are tons of great sites online with suggestions for songs to ramp up your exercise routine, so be sure to check those out. But I have to be honest and tell you some of the suggestions are lame. Come on, there are way better songs than "Let's Get Physical." I was able to come up with about sixty songs for my playlist! I pretty much covered it all - eighties hair bands, old school rap, new stuff, dance stuff.... you name it and it's on there. Hopefully this will keep me from getting bored anytime soon. Take a listen! If you like what you hear, head on over to itunes and download your faves. Be advised: some of these tracks aren't kid friendly, so put those ear buds in when you crank it up!! And if you beat me to it and already have a soundtrack for your sweat sessions, I'd love to hear what's on it!!!

Holy Crap, it's February?!

So I guess I took a little break from the world of blogging. Seriously, one minute it was Halloween and I turned around and it's almost Valentine's Day (check out my awesome playlist). How does that happen? We've been super busy around here with school, homework, jobs, dance, etc. And you know there's always a project (okay, three or four) going on. Here's what we've been up to around here:

Master Closet Reno - mostly done
Kid's Bathroom Reno - in progress
Stairway - DONE
Girl's Room - in progress
Guest Room/Second Family Room - in progress

We have crossed a lot of other things off the list!! Here are a few picture updates of what's mostly finished...

Master Closet Before:


Master Closet After:

We will have to find some more wall hooks, a mirror and some baskets or bins to hide some other stuff.... but it's so nice to have a place for everything! It is so much easier to keep organized. It's been several weeks and it's still not messy!!!

Half Bath "during"


Half Bath After:

It's super hard to get photos of this room since it's so small. But you get the idea!


Sink and mirror.... contemplating a little shelf for below the mirror.

Fireplace:

Still need to get trim on the columns. I am thinking about changing the mirror out for a bigger one? Not sure yet!

TV Shelf DONE:

We finally have a shelf in this little spot next to the tv! We still need to come up with a solution for the cords and I need to get a basket or something to put movies in.

Stairs Waaaaaaay Before:

I can hardly remember when this used to be a half wall!!

Stairs After:

Black and white finally done right!!!

We've accomplished a lot over the past few months! We're still working on the kid's/guest bathroom upstairs. I will definately be posting about that whole process and probably about the closet reno too!! So stay tuned... I promise I'll be back soon!!