New Furniture and Old Cats
The old living room furniture. It looks so nice here, but now it’s on it’s way out.
I’m not a person who seeks to change my environment very often. A friend of ours came to visit a few months ago and said stepping into my house was like stepping back in time. We all laughed, but he’s right. I just don’t think about stuff like my furniture or my curtains very often. I’m more inclined to think about whether the technology is up-to-date rather than whether the sofa is showing its age. Since my husband doesn’t care about that stuff either, things stay the same.
That said, we bought new furniture this week. We used to have this cat, a very old cat, that we had for eighteen years. He liked to sharpen his claws on the furniture. I liked to complain about him and call him a bastard. This went on for many years. He was a jerk, but he was our jerk. I used to say that when the cat died, I was going to replace the furniture. Well, the cat died three years ago, so it was time. I knew it was time when my husband said the sofa cushions needed replacing because they weren’t supportive enough for his pre-bedtime nap. Unsupportive cushions cannot be tolerated.
Spurred into action, I went looking for furniture, but there were problems with that. I hate buying stuff like furniture. There are too many choices and all I know is that I never want to buy it again, so it needs to be high quality, which means it’s going to cost money that I’m not going to want to spend. It’s a process, and not a fun one.
I approached buying furniture like buying a car. I decided in general what I wanted and then went to places that had it. I researched leather. I researched fabric. I researched manufacturers. I talked to sales people. I didn’t buy anything. I talked to more sales people and still didn’t buy anything. I talked to my sister. I talked to my cousin. I talked to my cousin’s boyfriend. I talked to my best friend. I told my husband what it would cost. I still didn’t buy anything.
Finally, last week, with Kristin in tow for moral support and her superior eye, I went into Hamilton Leather and Sofa Gallery and purchased two chairs and a sofa. I think I made good choices, all American made, and all respected makers. Kristin was there to decide colors and patterns. I only know what I like and what I don’t. I don’t know what goes well together or how to decide among hundreds of quality choices which I should choose. Kristin is good with those kinds of questions and she knows me well enough not to overwhelm me with options. I’m certain I couldn’t have done it without her. Kerry Nobles, my sales person, made it all as simple and easy as possible. For those of you feeling nostalgic for the good old days at my house, you might want to stop by in the next week, because the new chairs come in the first week of February.