Big Comfy Couch

Wow, long time since I've posted! Things have been much, much, MUCH too busy for me lately. But I can't complain (except I sometimes do). One of the many things that has happened lately is that we got new furniture. I'm a purist when it comes to decorating, meaning, I don't do it. And my husband's motto is, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Which isn't really true in our household, because even if it IS broke, we still don't fix it.

We had our old sectional for about 8 years. I bought it off Craig's List for $75 and reupholstered it twice. So we definitely had gotten our use out of it. But the fabric I had used last time was kind of dark, and I was never happy with the result. So, I posted it on Craig's List--it was still in pretty good condition, and I felt it deserved a few more years of use before going to a landfill. I posted a number of photos, including this one, featuring Cabana on the ottoman. There were no stains and no holes on the couch, but even with a thorough vacuuming, I wanted to make sure people knew they were getting a couch that had dog hairs embedded in it. And wouldn't you know, the people that bought the couch from us had a yellow Lab of their own. They said that when they saw Cabana in the photo, they knew that couch was meant for them. Do I know how to market a used couch or what?

If you've bought new furniture recently, you know it doesn't happen overnight. You can't just go pick it out and have it delivered the next day. It takes WEEKS--for us, it was about 4 weeks. I didn't want to wait until the last minute to sell our old furniture because what if no one bought it? I figured I could ask for a price, then reduce it, or offer it for free, if there were no takers. Luckily, I didn't have to resort to that, but we did have to live for a few weeks in between couches. As a temporary measure, we dragged our love seat in from the living room, and Cabana made do on the spot where her ottoman used to live.

Finally, the big day arrived, and our immense new couch was delivered (it didn't look quite so large in the furniture showroom!). As usual, Cabana was allowed to use the ottoman. After all, we bought the whole thing with her in mind, knowing we needed a couch that not only fit the room, matched our current decor, was comfortable and durable, but most importantly, blended with her fur.

After having the new couch for a few days, I marveled inside, thinking about what a well-behaved, keenly intuitive dog we had. Cabana knew her spot was the ottoman and that was that. So I was quite surprised to come home one day and find this cozy little scene.

Cabana was curled up on the couch, not on the designated ottoman! I laughed, figuring she was a pretty smart dog in any case. She knows a comfy spot when she sees it.

I didn't have the heart to make her move. Now, we just put a blanket in that spot, so it belongs exclusively to her. If only I could find time to potato out on the couch with her, that would be nice. See, there I go with that complaining....