About Furniture

The first sofa we ever purchased was from D.I. and cost us $25. It was dark brown, sturdy, and hard; it screamed, "I've spent the last twenty years in an old church foyer. " I never quite loved it, but I did really like it, mostly because it represented our ability to actually buy things as a couple.

Our next sofa purchase was a sofa/love seat from Oak Plus. We waited many weeks for it to arrive because it had to be made in California first. (Don't let that fool you into thinking it was really great or anything; that's just how Oak Plus did things. Notice I said "did." They went out of business a few years ago. I don't think quality was ever really in their vocabulary...but I guess you get what you pay for, right?) We were particularly anxious to get our new furniture because we had disposed of "Ol' Brown" (it's kind of a long story), so I had to spend weeks breastfeeding our five-month-old Vanessa while sitting on the floor. One of my not-so-proud moments of my adult life involved a heated telephone discussion concerning the weeks-long delay of our sofa with the salesman at Oak Plus in which I actually said (in response to his "Ma'am, I have no idea when your furniture will arrive..."), "Well, YOU try breastfeeding your baby while sitting on the floor!" Yes, I did say salesMAN. Sometimes I really embarrass myself.

Anyway, the sofa and love seat finally came and we loved them: the perfect shade of dark green and small enough to fit my short legs. It was soon apparent, however, that this furniture would not last long. The fabric began wearing away at an alarming rate and soon there wasn't any spring or give left. Sitting on them had sorta become a joke; you had to just clunk down into them and hope that you didn't hit a metal bar in the process. I guess it didn't help that our children spent many, many hours using them as their jungle gyms/playhouses/boats/forts/American Gladiator obstacle courses. And, it didn't help that we kept them probably four years too long.

So, with the upcoming arrival of child number four, the prospect of breastfeeding while sitting on those things became too much to bear. (Wow, I never realized that nourishing my babies has had such a profound effect on our home decor!) After thinking and waiting and looking, we finally did it. We got a great deal and are really happy. Never before has our house smelled this leathery. What do you think?

By the way, the jury is still out on whether or not they clash with our beloved "Mochachino" paint color. Do you think they do? You can tell us the truth, really.