Since I was a Little Girl...
I used to rearrange my room very often (my parents may argue too often mostly because of the obscene amount of holes in the wall from rearranging of the artwork). With time, I seem to have upgraded to rearranging my house instead (the bigger the playground, the better!). And recently, I had another one of those moments with my living room. I had been struggling with not feeling cozy at home since my last rearrangement exercise. Here is a shot of the before:
Even though it seemed like a great arrangement for photographs, it proved not practical because:
- The couch was under the stairs: good idea at first and not so good of an idea as time went by. It was a good idea from a floor plan and space perspective because the couch is the bulkiest piece of furniture in a living room and fitting it under an otherwise unusable space is practical and makes the room feel bigger. It was not a good idea because being under the stairs, you are under undeniable foot traffic and therefore constant source of dust.
- The couch was perpendicular to the TV: even though I am not a TV person, I stream a lot of content via my Smart TV and having to keep your head turned to watch or having to lie down to be comfortable was simply too limiting. And it excluded the option of having anyone else sit and watch with you.
The solution? Move the couch away from under the stairs and turn it to face the TV! The only implication to doing so was that due to the layout of my living room, you ended up walking in and facing the back of a couch. And as much as I love my couch and it's pretty lines, it just didn't feel welcoming.
Console table comes to the rescue!
I knew I wanted to put something behind the sofa and I started researching online. There are a few online stores I frequent, such as West Elm, CB2, Crate and Barrel, etc. but they all tend to be rather pricey (and I tend to be rather cheap). They are great for inspiration, just not for execution. So, I directed my attention to a great value site that I hadn't visited in a while: Cost Plus World Market. There, I came across their Lawrence console table which also happened to be on sale from $379.99 to $179.99 - score!
When the table arrived, I have to admit, I was surprised by how big it was (who knew 30" was that tall?). But I am always up for a challenge and saw the opportunity instantly - console table or work desk? I had been wanting a place where I can sit and work while watching TV, and now I got it (albeit accidentally)! By recycling my chair from the upstairs office and adding two stunning (-ly affordable at $24.99 each) lamps from Target (you can find them here), my unexpected furniture challenge became an awesome functional solution.
Cheers to reinventing a living room on a budget!
A few months back, a co-worker of mine convinced me to join my company's Spartan Race team. He didn't talk it up much: he mentioned it's a long-ish run with a few fun obstacles. You know, no big deal. Something someone who runs as much as me should complete more than easily (read, you don't really need to train for it). Ha ha ha.