Living Room Updates

What do normal people with a toddler and dog do when it comes to furniture buying?  Oh, they don't buy new furniture?  Weird.  But what if they fall in love with beautiful blue velvet couches and their husband answers "Whatever, sure" when they ask if getting new furniture is in the budget. With that kind of answer, you totally buy all of the couches before said husband realizes what he's done.

Okay, we actually had a pretty lengthy discussion on whether or not buying new furniture with a toddler was a dumb decision and if it aligned with our current goal of paying off our mortgage in the next few years. I pulled up these lovely Sven sofas from Article and Nate was surprisingly totally on board.  I figured blue velvet and on-line ordering would rule him out. But he also liked the style, price point and the fact that we didn't have to step foot in a furniture store.  We're firm believers in creating a happy, stylish home that isn't dictated by a tiny person.  We decided to go for it.

I'll do a full review of ordering through Article next week. I mean, who buys a couch without sitting on it? The same crazy people buying new furniture with a toddler, I guess.  Spoiler: We're super happy with our purchase! (Let me know if you have specific questions you'd like answered in my next post!)

The couches are extremely comfortable and the upholstery is stunning. 

They spot clean easily (looking at you toddler snot) and the totally random bonus is that the Roomba can clean underneath them. Winning.

The couches have added just the right amount of quirk to our living room. (We've since added two Article chairs that I'll post about soon too. I started this post back in like March. #truestory)

It's crazy to look back at our past living room decor.  It's fun to see how our space has evolved.  

I wonder how blue sofas are going to fair 10 years from now? Only time will tell but for now we love them! If nothing else, I'll think back fondly to the memories of our toddler wiping his nose on them while giggling and then kissing the dog.

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Sources:

• Couches: Sven Cascadia Blue Sofa via Article
• Striped rug: IKEA Stockholm
• Layered rug: Safavieh Monaco
• Coffee table: We built it! Plans here.
• Built-ins: We built them.  Read about them here.
• Barn beam mantel:  Read about our DIY mantel here.
• Molding wall:  Learn how we installed two stories of molding here.
• Wall color: Sherwin Williams Mindful Grey

Remember Me?

Hi. Remember me? It's been a long time!  

I dusted off my laptop. Literally. I then proceeded to drop it on the floor.  It now makes this nasty crunching sound when I try to open it. It's possibly a sign I shouldn't start blogging again but I've never been good about paying attention to those sorts of things. I had to reset my blog password and remember how to use my blog platform.  It took me like a month to write this post. But dude, I'm back. I think.

Decor and the Dog is probably going to look a little different.  It will probably be a little more lifestyle (Ugg. I know, right?) and probably only once a week.  Consider yourself warned.  I do, however, have 2 years worth of house updates to catch you up on. (Okay, really one year because we literally did nothing the first year of Clark's life.) I can, in no way, keep up with the big guys that do it for a living. (Honestly, I don't want to. I'm exhausted thinking about it. The staging. The money.)  Just know there will be less. If this isn't your thing, I TOTALLY GET IT! Keep pretending that I don't exist! Cool? Cool!

You're probably wondering what we've been up to? (The 3 of you still reading this! Hey, Mom!) 

I'm still working as a pharmacist but I've gone down to three days per week. This gives me a wonderful work/mom life balance. I work for a great company that has been very supportive of this decision. I honestly haven't been doing a whole of crafting/diy-ing in the past 2 years. My focus has been on raising our kid. Turns out babies are needy. Who knew? As Clark is becoming more independent, I've been slowly tackling a few projects. Bringing back the blog is one of those projects. I need a place to dump the words.

Nate took a new job over a year ago. Can we get a high-five for no more crazy tax season hours?!?  He's been so happy with the change. He's been busy with some building projects and keeping the rest of us out of trouble.

Clark is now 2. *insert cheesy crap about kids growing up too quickly/time flying/yadda yadda*.  The kid has a giant personality. He's a chatterbox that's in love with his dog, cleaning, and bossing us around.

We can't forget the most important, Ike. Ike is still living the life. He's spoiled rotten. He's refusing to believe that he's 10.5 years old and he's as spunky as ever!  He's currently stuck in a cone of shame after a mass removal (Benign! THANK GOODNESS!). He's enjoying having a tiny human to feed him things he shouldn't be eating and to throw his ball 1000 times a day.

I look forward to sharing more ahead! If you have questions, post topics, etc. Send them my way!  Who's still reading this? Tell me more about you!