Back Around the House II: The redecoration bug

0

Late January and February are a dangerous times for women who spend a lot of time at home.

Once the Christmas decorations are put away and there isn’t a whole lot of sunshine coming in windows, we realize something has to be done to the house.

For quite a while we can get by with a few new pillows or a lamp shade, but then there comes a catalyst for change. Last year it was my husband who instigated the redecoration bug.

He saw a new computer desk he liked a lot better than the old microwave cart he had been using since we first got a computer. We measured the available space and found the new desk just wouldn’t fit.

Then he mentioned that his end of the long sofa was getting uncomfortable and we should get a shorter one. Uh-huh, I added two and two and got five. I figured he just wanted more room so he could justify the new desk.

Later that night after I was finished working at the computer, I sat down on his side of the sofa. He was right. My side was still fine, and the middle where we kept a week’s worth of newspapers and magazines was like new, but his side wasn’t very comfortable any more. Funny how one side wears out faster than the rest.

The next day we went shopping for a loveseat, and checked the family to see who could use a sofa that was two-thirds good.

We found a nice loveseat, but I didn’t like the fabric, so Kevin ordered it in the fabric of our choice.

Well, maybe not “our” choice. Bill wanted a leather job that cost a whole lot more than I was willing to pay, and it would never match the rest of our furniture.

He gave up on the leather so we bought the new computer desk. Seemed like a good compromise to both of us.

Time passed. Finally Kevin called to ask when we wanted the loveseat delivered. We called our old sofa’s new home, and we all agreed that early the next day would be fine.

We cleaned the old sofa, found $2.73 in change and some jelly beans, moved it out to the middle of the room, and cleaned and vacuumed the carpet under it. I noticed how new the carpet under the furniture looked.

Next day it was out with the old and in with the new.

The new owners of our old sofa were happy. They put a folded quilt on Bill’s side of it and relaxed in comfort.

Bill was happy as he surveyed his new computer desk, and I was ecstatic as I sat on my end of the new recliner loveseat. The fabric was perfect with the other furniture and drapes. Everything downstairs was totally coordinated, and it had only taken about 15 years to achieve.

Yep, it was 15 years ago that we bought the living room suite, then the dining room furniture.

Shortly after that we recarpeted, and then we papered and painted the kitchen. We had repainted the rest of the downstairs just before we retired.

I went to sleep that night with a smile on my face, at peace with my world.

The next morning after breakfast I surveyed the same scene from the same seat and thought, “This furniture has to go. I’ve been looking at it for over 15 years, and I’m tired of it.”

Thoughts became words as Bill looked at me in disbelief, “I thought you liked it.”

“I thought I did too, but I’ve changed my mind.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: This column was first published in the Greenville Advocate on March 3, 2000.

https://www.dailyadvocate.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/web1_KathleenFloydCMYK.jpg

By Kathleen Floyd

Back Around the House II

Kathleen Floyd is a volunteer citizen columnist, who serves Daily Advocate readers weekly with her column Back Around the House II. She can be reached at [email protected]. Viewpoints expressed in the article are the work of the author. The Daily Advocate does not endorse these viewpoints or the independent activities of the author.

No posts to display