Friday, May 25, 2012

Living Room Chair Update

After buying our new couch back in January and then selling our old sofa and loveseat, our living room was looking a little bit sparse.  And although our new couch offered plenty of room for our own family to cozy up on and the kids thoroughly enjoyed all the open space to run and play, we were quite limited on extra seating for any guests. So I knew I wanted to add in a few comfy chairs to complete the room. 

I have learned my lesson in the past from trying to replace something too quickly and then ending up with something that’s not really what I want because I was too impatient.  So this time, I set my mind not to settle and to wait patiently until the right chairs came along.  For a while, I dreamed of white tufted chairs, but once common sense kicked in, I knew that white chairs would not mix well with kids.  I didn’t want to be fanatically yelling at them all day not to touch the chairs. So, eventually, I let that dream die and although I didn’t know exactly what I wanted instead, I felt like I would know when I saw them.  The problem was that I really had no time to shop for chairs.  And I know this might sound weird a little bit, but I had felt the Lord leading me to trust Him more in providing us with the things we need and even want for our home (rather than stressing and exhausting myself trying to make things happen).  So in an effort to follow His leading, I told Him that I would trust him to provide the right chairs for us in His timing.  This is kind of new to me (to trust God with decorating my home), but He’s God and He knows what I like, what we need, He’s intimately involved in the details of my life, and He loves to bless us as His children.  I also figured He would be an excellent decorator and I was excited to see how and what He would provide for us.

So after a few months of patiently waiting (and maybe sometimes reminding God that I was patiently waiting), one day I was perusing through my daily email from Joss and Main and I saw some chairs that I thought were cute and might possibly work in our living room.  If you’re not familiar with Joss and Main, it is “a premier members-only site that offers private, limited-time sale events on the world's best brands for your home and life. Each day, members receive an email invitation to exclusive sale events on the best merchandise at prices up to 70% off retail.” (from J&M website) The only hiccup was that these chairs were non-returnable.  And since there was no way for me to check them out in real life, sit in them, or make sure the color and pattern would work in my living room, it would require a pretty big leap of faith on my part to order them. I mean, it’s not like we have money to burn around here.  And I definitely didn’t want to be stuck with something I hated.

So I went on about my day chasing kids, cleaning up messes, and squelching squabbles and I kind of forgot about the chairs.  Then that evening, as I was cleaning up dinner, those chairs very clearly and randomly popped back up in my mind.  I showed them to Tim.  He liked them and he especially liked the price, but he was leaving the final decision up to me.  (Cause he’s super smart like that.) And so I stared at the empty chairless spots in our living room and then I stared at the photo online.  Back and forth I stared.  I tried to mentally imagine the chairs in the room.  I walked around the room.  I sat and stared some more.  I totally stressed myself out over the decision.  I asked Tim about a million times if we should go for it.  And I prayed.  And in the end, (with a little encouragement from Tim) and on a little hunch that these were the chairs God was dropping into my lap, I decided to leap.  And then I held my breath for several weeks while I waited for them to be delivered.

And once they arrived, I ended up loving them even more than I originally thought that I would.  (Cause God’s pretty awesome like that.)

Wanna see them?

I hope so, because I’m about to bombard you with pictures of my living room. (These are all iphone pics, so the quality is not amazing, but it gets the job done.)

Here are my new Shadow Tufted Swoop Arm Chairs.

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I may have had to let go of the dream of all white chairs, but the tufts were a must have for me.  I love tufted furniture right now.  And I love that the chairs go with the couch, but aren’t super matchy.  The pattern is light and fun and playful (without being over the top) and that adds some interest and personality to the room.  I don’t like super serious furniture (hence the spool being used as a side table between them) and I actually think these chairs probably fit better with our style than all white chairs would have anyway.  And clearly, the gray pattern will hide things a lot better than the white would have.

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And in case you are wondering what my children do while I stage the house and take pictures, these last two pictures are for you.  Where’s Hudson?!!

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Happy Memorial Day weekend!  Have fun.  Be safe.

1 comment:

  1. Love your blog! U and your family r adorable! The living room looks great! The chairs r beautiful! God is good isn't He? keep trusting Him. He will never fail you! I kinda started blogging but I have that initial apprehension about it that keeps me from moving forward. Who knows! I suppose I need to take it to God in prayer and trust Him to do with it what He wills! blessings to you!

    Heather

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