New Room for the New Year

As the fall moved into the winter season with us still in Wisconsin, both Rick and I began to notice that the living room furniture was starting to be uncomfortable.  Certainly, his back and sciatic problems did not help the situation, but neither of us could comfortably sit for an entire evening of reading or of watching TV.  We were astounded to learn that our couch and love seat were 17 years old, and the recliner and platform rocker were not that much newer.  We had reached the point of getting something both newer and more comfortable.

Our first thought was to purchase a power sofa and love seat to replace those two pieces.  Stephanie had just purchased new for her living room, and we liked that idea that we could micro-adjust the back and the leg lift to fit us comfortably.  The one thing that we did not like about her set is that when we were just sitting rather than reclining, we both were too short for our feet to touch the floor!

Our search for furniture sent us to stores in Green Bay and finally to Appleton.  We found a set that we almost purchased, but in the end both the price (which was astronomical) and the structure left us both less-than-eager to make that final step.

On the way out of one of the Appleton stores, however, I saw a display of Stressless furniture.  I had heard good things about the brand, so I went home and did a little research.  On a later trip back from visiting my mother, we actually stopped in Appleton and sat in a few of the chairs. We had a saleswoman set up an order for us, but we still did not feel comfortable with that commitment.

We knew when we started to look that we needed to consider the colors in our area rug which we did not want to replace.

The rug gave us lots of options in various shades of
brown, ivory, tan, green, and rust.

Once in Green Bay again, we discovered a store right here in town that specialized in Stressless and Scandinavian furniture.  Long story short, we ended up buying two chairs with ottomans, a new couch, a love seat, and a new entertainment center.

The before and after pictures show the transformation of the room.  The first pieces to arrive were the two chairs with footstools.  The old recliner joined its twin at Lindsay's house, and the old platform rocker may end up at Habitat for Humanity.

I have always hated the overstuffed recliner as it was bigger than I am,
and my beloved platform rocker also was sagging and showing its age.

The new reclinable chairs are identical except that Rick's chair
(on the right toward the corner) has a higher base to better fit his size
since he is about 6 inches taller than I am.

Next came the couch and the love seat.  Once again, the old set found a new home in Lindsay's living room where she and Chris re-stuffed the cushions to make them more comfortable.

The old couch and love seat served us well for almost two decades.

The new leather love seat fits well in the same area even though
it is slightly longer.

The new couch also is a little longer.  We chose bright pillows
from Pier 1 Imports to coordinate with the henna-colored chairs.

Finally, today, the new entertainment center arrived.  The old table is in our basement reading room for right now.

Our old Ethan Allen sofa table served as a TV stand, and
while it fit well, we did not like the look of all the cables and
wires hanging down.

The new entertainment stand solves all of the problems
with cables and wires.

We still have to find some new art for some of the walls, and I would like to add some branches to the big orange pot.  The details are yet to come, but we are very happy with our new, comfortable furniture.

We went from this...

...to this.

The Power of Boredom

As the cold and snow settles in, we have found ourselves spending more time indoors, and that does not bode well with my restless husband.  We try to get out each morning to walk with all of the other "old people" in the mall just to get in some exercise, but other than a bit of shopping, our outdoor energy expenditure is limited.

Of course, spending too much time indoors is not good either.  I tend to have more hobbies than Rick, as I can keep busy with sewing, cross-stitching, weaving, and reading.  Right now, I have warps on both the big loom and the inkle loom, so Rick is shut out from both of those pastimes right now, too.

I also tend to take more indoor responsibility with cleaning and laundry.  Rick does his share of cooking, but cooking for two does not take up much time either.  

So what does that leave him?  Time for researching things on the computer, time for a bit of reading, and time for watching politics on TV (which just tends to raise his blood pressure and his ire at the politicians and their shenanigans).  That leaves him extra time to just sit around, be bored,  and to dream up ways to improve this house.

Yesterday he was looking at our old table which currently holds our TV until our new furniture and entertainment cabinet arrive.  Neither of us like the way that the cables and cords of the current system are splayed across the walls in opposite directions just to reach electrical outlets.  

"You know, Sher, I could put an electrical plug right in the middle of the wall.  It would be high enough on the wall to be hidden behind the new cabinet, and we could put in a double box so we could have one side for electrical and one side for the TV cables to come through.  What do you think?" 

What did I think?  I have been married to this man for 43 years, and I know that look in his eye.  His brain was already drawing up plans,  plotting schematics on how it would all go together, and envisioning the end result. At that point, what I thought really did not matter. He had already decided that he would put in that new outlet.  I was just glad, this time, that I actually agreed with him. 

The mass of electrical cords and TV cables made a mess
of the wall behind the table that holds the TV.  We needed an outlet
in the middle of the wall to take care of the clutter.

He started yesterday shopping for supplies, drilling holes, cutting drywall, fishing wires through the wall, and installing the box.  We re-routed the TV cables into the box, and he set it up for the electrical connection today.

With the drywall cut, Rick pulls the electrical cable
through the wall so he can feed it through the box into
a new outlet.  The other cables control the TV.

This afternoon, he used ALL of the 50 feet of wire that he purchased yesterday to connect the outlet to the electrical box in our basement.  We now have a working outlet with TV cables that will be hidden from view once our new entertainment cabinet arrives.  

The new outlet has room to plug in the equipment and
an opening through which the TV cables come from the basement.

Our new couch and love seat will be delivered on Friday, but the cabinet, unfortunately, will not arrive until after Christmas.  At least when it arrives, we will be ready to supply it with hidden power.  Then our living room will be complete in time for the new year.