Building the culture with furniture.

We survived this year's 100-year storm! It was fine. We're praying for those in New Jersey and New York! 

We didn't lose power.

The sandbox before the storm (construction by friendly visitors):

And after; I hope you are impressed with the durability of their work:

I'm excited. 

I got my sofas reupholstered.

It's a long story. I did like the old ones, but they were past cleaning and getting sad. They were fine for the early 00s but now I know that neutral is better (not like I had a choice, which is part of the longness of the story -- the badness of furniture companies!), and also even fewer loose cushions than previously thought (in the 90s I was all about deploring those sofas with "throw pillow" "backs" -- remember those terrible things? -- but even classic squared cushions get a workout in a big family).

For more befores, go to my post about what a family room should look like.

I tried to go leather, but the cost for real quality was not happening. 

And I am not paying even a little bit for bad furniture that won't last.

When I realized that you can change big things when you get something reupholstered -- like a tight back instead of three loose cushions however square and tailored, and one long cushion with buttons instead of three (although I do see the virtue of two cushions now -- you can rotate them in ways that you can't with one) -- I was on a mission.

The only thing left to solve was the color/fabric issue. Since the upholsterer I found keeps costs low by offering remaindered fabric, there was little to no choice (or what I liked wasn't in a quantity for two sofas). To say that their fabric stock was... floral... and geometrical... and limited... is to understate things.

I will spare you how many times I went to look in their impossibly jam-packed "showroom" (God forbid there should ever be a need to move quickly in that place) or called them with my crackpot ideas. 

In the end, the owner found me something she was afraid to even suggest as "it." 

But it was "it." 

And in record time, after that long gestational period, they were done.

Cell phone picture of cute-feet-but-too-high syndrome.

{There was a little glitch when my enthusiasm for redesigning furniture led to doing away with the skirts and old little feet. I was sure that some pretty, graceful feet (found on sale at Lowe's and finished by the furniture guy) would be better, but they made the whole thing too high! You felt perched! Your feet failed to reach the floor! In the end, the Chief cut them down, and all was well, if not quite so graceful.}

So this is my thing, and why I am showing this all off to you, even though I know I am not a decorator. 

I do think that spiritual things are affected by the material things that might or might not be taken care of. 

Phil and I have a term for sermons that are exclusively spiritual in a vague way. We call them "Turn To God With All Your Heart" sermons, mainly because we had a priest way back when whose each and every sermon included that phrase -- and not much else.

It's just not that helpful.

So it's all very well to say to people, "You should gather with your family and have comfortable happy family time." 

But a lot of people just don't know how to buy and arrange actual furniture to make this happen! And yes, we need furniture! Even native peoples dwelling in tents have fur-covered places to sit! 

And when you have only a few children, the usual default sofa/loveseat/coffee table works, I guess, although a little boring. But when the numbers get higher, you need other strategies. You need furniture, and you need lamps. 

If you have more than three people in your home, you need places for them to sit and be comfortable! 

A "little" extra seating :)

That seems so unexceptionable when stated that way, but I have seen so much inadequate lighting, rooms with only one sofa, and no way to talk to anyone not on the sofa with you, that I feel the need to say something about it.

Because, this is not being worldly!

This is building the culture -- the culture of your family, yes, and of your hospitality, and by extension, the culture... of the culture.

To be practical:

The furniture needs to be close together. You can't have three people sitting in a line on a sofa, attempting to hold a conversation with someone on a chair across the room.








You need lots of lighting, but not one glaring fixture up above. Overhead lights are fine (not that we have many here in this old house). Lamps are a necessity. You need one for every area where someone will sit and read, or knit and chat companionably. Every corner.

Don't complain that your children don't read if you don't have lamps in your family room! Not only does it provide light -- a lamp provides that pool of cozy warmth that you have to have for the desire to sit and read in the evening.

{And please, I'm begging you, consider it money well spent to have incandescent lights in your family-area lamps. Those compact fluorescents are never going to give you the ambiance you are looking for. People will always feel cold, and slightly alienated. It's just not worth the "savings" to use them.}

The furniture needs to be sturdy and welcoming. Children will gravitate to their rooms (and thus not be "gathered" with you of a cozy evening) if the only place for them to relax is their bed.





It helps to have a few little items like stools and floor cushions for extra people, or a soft carpet for those who don't mind sitting on the floor for a little while when it's crowded.

And yes, we enjoy watching games and movies together in comfort, not craned over a computer or squinting at a little set. I hacked the TV credenza a while ago!

We don't go out for movies. This is our entertainment! So we go for it.

Throw pillows are important, as are quilts and afghans. Which is why it's so necessary for the furniture to be neutral, so that the other textiles can express your design style. But the upholstery can't be too light, obviously, or it will show the dirt, and it can't be too dark, or every dog hair and bit of lint will show up.

I know that some say that white slipcovers are great, because you can wash and even bleach them. I've just never gotten up to slipcovers (which can be pricier than the upholstery!). There was some dark chocolate velvet that I loved, and seriously considered, but realized that it was just too dangerously dark.

The texture of this fabric is ideal -- it's linen-like, but actually made of cotton and poly, so very durable and not saggy. And the color -- it's just what I wanted!

I am so grateful that I have the furniture I like and want, at last. The things here weren't expensive at all, although the sofas are an investment for sure. The main thing is that this room serves our family's needs and fulfills my idea of beauty. 

I know some of you are interested in my lamps: There are three, and they are similar but slightly different. I got them at Marshall's a few years ago (again, they were not expensive -- about $35 each). (We also have two wall sconces, so we can adjust the lighting in here very well.)

The big ugly rocking chair is from a friend's garage. The throw pillows I will tell you about another time -- I made the covers -- all but the red embroidered one, which is from T. J. Maxx and well worth what I spent on it, because it's beautiful and handmade.

The Bolga market basket is from a little farm stand, Kimball's, on the Massachusetts/New Hampshire border on Route 122. My husband bought it for me on a whim (my whim :). You can buy them on Amazon (but not be able to choose the design).