Sectional Sofa Storytime

All kinds of fun stuff has been happening here on the homefront in the past month or so. Going through the camera roll on my phone has helped me realized that I captured much of it, but haven't shared. Today, let me share the saga of the new couch!

When Pat and I moved into our first place, we had almost no furniture. For several weeks, we actually sat on lawn furniture before finally buying a cheap, unfinished wood futon to serve as our couch. We used the futon for a few years before we inherited a real couch.

My uncle had the couch for quite a few years before we got it. So, by the time we moved into the new house last year it was well-worn. The cushions were sagging, the frame had collapsed (and was held up by 2x4s), the fabric was ripping, and there were stains all over it. We knew it was past time for a new couch. In fact, we went shopping many, many times to look and see if anyone had something like what we wanted.

After the old house finally sold, getting a new couch was at the top of our list. In all of our previous shopping trips, we had only found one couch that met our wants and needs: large sectional (so Pat and I could both stretch out), not leather, dark gray, attached back cushions, etc. Direct Furniture in Foley was our destination. The couch we wanted wasn't displayed anymore, but it was easy enough to order. J Henry Furniture makes the sofa and is based in Mississippi. Unfortunately, because the couches are made to order, it would be 6-8 weeks before our new couch was delivered. We waited on pins and needles, counting down the weeks.

When it was ready, the delivery guys hauled out our well-loved couch before bringing in the three-part sectional sofa. Because our house is laid out oddly, we anticipated some issues but figured it wouldn't be too big a deal. We were mistaken.

The first two sections went in with just a few small issues that re-positioning handled. The final section though. . .

Yup, it landed in the kitchen. Pat and the delivery guys tried everything they could to get it through the kitchen door. But, it just wouldn't go.

Fortunately, there's another entrance to the living room through a storage area. After Pat moved a ton of stuff to get the couch into that area, they realized that the couch was still to large to make it through the doorway.

Off came the door and the door frame. Sigh. However, it worked. The last section was wedged through into the living room after only two hours. The delivery guys received a very generous tip!

For days afterwards the door looked like this.

Pat needed some supplies from the hardware store before he could replace the door and frame completely.

It wasn't pretty, but totally worth it in the end to finally have this beauty of a beast.

Oh, and in addition to picking out the color of the sectional, we were able to select the fabric (from an array of choices) for the six pillows that came with it. I really liked all the colors in this paisley print that we ended up choosing.

It took a few hours for the cats to get used to the couch, but Asia has yet to find a spot on it that she doesn't like.

So that's the tale of the couch that almost wasn't. We've had it over a month now and are still absolutely in love with it. I guess that's a good thing because it looks like it's stuck in here for a while. Have you ever had issues with getting large furniture moved? I'd love to know your stories.

The Past Month in Pictures

Things with the house are not falling together as quickly as I'd hoped. Unpacking seems to be taking AGES to do, but I'm soldiering on. I thought I'd share a picture-heavy timeline of what I've been up to over the past month. Most of these come from my CraftyHope Instagram feed so you may be familiar with them if you already follow me there (which you totally should!)

So, we bought an older house on five acres with a pool (you can see some of the house tour in my last post)

On our first day out at the pool, this little guy was flitting around. I adore his colors - the denim blue and teal are dreamy.

We started the renovations with some ceiling scraping. This guest bathroom was easy-peasy. I cannot say that for the other rooms we attempted. We ended up with texture in the bedroom and gave up on the sunroom (for now).

While exploring the property and structures on it, Pat found this gem. It's an antique exposure meter for photography. As soon as Pat picked it up he handed it to me, knowing that I would treasure and use it (eventually).

The property has a lot of overgrowth on it. In particular, it's full of air potato vines; an invasive plant to say the least. We've been working on getting rid of it, but it will be a long, long process. I was especially taken with this natural arch it formed as it grew up a small tree and grabbed onto the fence from there.

After the ceiling-scraping fiasco, we finally started getting some paint on the walls. Here's the first few strokes in the craft room. The color isn't very true in this photo, but anything was better than the peach!

We scheduled the movers a week after we were in the new house to make sure we had some time for the scraping and painting. I was excited to finally get some furniture in and make it feel more like home.

These built-in shelves int he kitchen were covered with stained rose wallpaper. I freshened them up with some shelf paper. Much better!

During he first two weeks, we spent a portion of nearly every day in the pool. Pat was off work, and it was the perfect way to cool off from the renovations. Our pool is on the chilly side with all the shady trees around it. We don't mind as it offers lots if privacy and seclusion.

The pile of boxes has been daunting. The majority of the ones in this photo are just for the craft room (go figure!). And, yes. . .there are a lot of liquor boxes, but they were FREE and with two mortgages, we like free.

One of the main challenges we've had to deal with here are the 14 feral cats that the previous owner left on the property. While we are very much cat-lovers, the poor things are sick and flea-ridden. A local organization is helping us relocate them and get them the care they need.

We've reinstated margarita Fridays but with a twist: we're making the meals and drinks at home. We had friends over for tacos on the kickoff night. 

However, that's not to say that we've completely nixed eating out completely. A friend of ours opened The Bone and Barrel in downtown Fairhope, and it is GOOD! I mean, my burger was even licking my fries! 

I lucked up and won this Vintaj BIGKick prize package on the Vintaj Facebook Page. I recorded a video of my unboxing the BIGKick, but haven't really had any time to play with it yet. Just wait, that's coming for sure!

Our oldest niece is in her high school's band. Their football team played against our local one so we both attended our first football game in over 20 years. 

I FINALLY started unpacking the craft room. I'm finding myself struggling with a little less space and where to put everything. It keeps stalling me out and thus taking much longer than it should.

For Labor Day, we went against the grain and didn't grill out as planned. Instead, friends made some homemade ramen. It was our first 'real' ramen experience, and we loved it!

I delayed unpacking the beads as long as I could but finally delved into transferring the two huge tubs of them into the bead cabinet. It took all day as I sorted out what I knew I'm not interested in using anymore.

Another trip to The Bone and Barrel was in order. This time we tried the highly recommended Fried Ribs and were not disappointed. My Tuna Sandwich wasn't too shabby either!

At long last. . .Yesterday I FINALLY started pulling out beads and components for some jewelry-making. 

There's been plenty more activity that didn't wind up in pictures - like the start of college football season! Once again, here's hoping that things will get to some semblance of 'normal' soon and I'll have something else to share with you later. Thanks so much for all your support and for hanging in there as I deal with this transition in my life.

Our New Home | the beginning

The time has come! We're almost settled in our new home. Before I share some of the changes we've made to it and its current state, I thought I should give y'all a peek at what our house looked like the day we got the keys. I made a little video tour (if you can handle my walking and talking while video taping), but also have some pictures below to share of our new oasis.

This is the sunroom and the main entrance we use into the house from the back door.

From there, you can walk straight back into the master bedroom. It's HUGE!

The previous owner had the room decorated in a Tuscan-theme, Check out the wine bottle applique that was on the wall! Those two rooms are the master bath (left) and closet (right).

The applique came off easily, but the little shelf was made of plaster and raised off the wall. (not as easy to remove)

Here's the master bath. It needs some serious updating, but we can live with it for now.

Oh, both the sunroom and the master bedroom are additions to the house, so they both have brick walls along one side. Interesting, right?

From the bedroom, you can walk right into the craft room.

There's even a cute little half bath in the craft room (the main reason I chose that room.)

Across the hall from the craft room is Pat's office. It's got better light (with two windows) but no bathroom.

Here's the guest bathroom. It's tiny and that wall technique HAS TO GO, but it's workable!

The guest room is pretty small too. The duck border is awful. But, it's a project for another time.

There's a large front room, what I'm guessing is supposed to be a formal living room. However, we're going to turn it into a dining room eventually.

This is my kitchen as you walk in from either the hallway or the sunroom. 

And, here it is from the living room. (Double ovens!!)

We've got a large living room with split brick floors.

The huge, custom-built cabinet was in there too. EEK!

So, that's a bit of a tour of the inside for you. However, if you want to see a bit more, check out my video tour.

I still plan on doing a video and picture tour of the pool area and some of the property soon, especially now that the grass has been cut. We've already made so many changes in the two weeks we've been here that I'm glad I took these before pictures to remember where we started.

I hope you enjoyed this little peek and hope you hang onto your hats as I begin this new adventure. You are coming along for the ride aren't you?

Altered Playing Cards for Motivational Deck Swap

In all the chaos that's been my life for the past few months, I've really missed y'all. It's time for a little update and eye candy. So. . .Sometime tomorrow we should be getting the keys to our new house! For now, I need to finish packing, picking out paint colors, and freaking out. I am really hoping to share the whole process with you, but the piles-of-boxes phase that we are in now is really not that interesting, so I'll spare you those details.

In the meantime, let me go ahead and show off something I have created. I mentioned a few months ago that I'm participating in a motivational deck swap. We're swapping six altered playing cards at a time to build up a whole deck. I thought I'd show you some of the ones I've created as I'm kinda proud of them and they are a ton of fun to create.

One set of the cards I sent to my partner.

Here's a closer look at these cards. Clicking on them should make them bigger.

And here's another set that I sent out.

And again, a better look at the cards.

I have another couple sets that I've mailed out, but one of them I forgot to take pictures. The other one, I recorded the process so I'm hoping to have a video for you soon.

Right now, I'm just delaying the packing up the rest of the little bits and pieces around the house. I guess it's time to focus and get down to business. I can't wait to share this with y'all!! Stay tuned for all the excitement! Remember to follow me as CraftyHope on Instagram and Twitter for little peeks and quick updates at what's going on.