Just a 46-year-old mom of 2 in Northern California. My kids are Monkey Monkey(MM) and Drama Llama (DL). I am married to Monkey Hubby (MH). I suppose this was a $600 room makeover, when all was said and done:
BEFORE
AFTER
I think, for the first time as a homeowner, that I have no furniture or decor on my wish list. How awesome is that!
Old couch was actually a nice piece we bought new when first married. Probably the most expensive furniture we ever bought. BUT, I think I just compromised too much on the color - never really liked it. Has particularly annoyed me the last several years.
I suppose you can throw that in as one more reason to not just fully furnish a home (new) the second you get married or move into your own place. We've had a much more slow and steady approach, mostly making do with what we have, hand-me-downs, etc. Living with empty rooms each time we bought more space, and slowly filling them in. That kind of thing.
The new sectional actually takes up less space (with that right angle) but feels about twice as big. LOVE it! Is just perfect as our kids are only growing bigger. We were getting crowded on the old sectional.
& for the first time, dh and I actually readily agreed on things. We probably haven't done much furniture shopping over the years. Mostly just picking up nice pieces when we happen upon them at deep discount. Kind of like LM's bed that we just bought. When we bought BM's bed (MANY years ago) we found some nice furniture for our house, too.
Oh - and one reason we went with the old couch was we lived in a condo and never thought we would own much more space. So the sofa sleeper was really important to us at the time. We've since grown tired of it - moving into a larger home and all. We have never used it. IT wasn't very comfortable, and guests tend to just sleep elsewhere now that we have so much furniture and room.
--------------------------------------------------
I read rather recently some article (can't find it), that the happiness from material things wears off VERY quickly. Maybe a few months. These things are always cited as an excuse to spend a ton of money on vacation or something. Anyway, I always feel odd when it comes to those studies. I can relate to the idea that something bought on a whim probably won't make one happy for very long. BUT, the way we shop, thinking carefully about every purchase, biding our time, and saving up for years... We tend to enjoy our purchases for years or decades. There isn't that steep decline or quick boredom.
I think this is true more than ever in recent years. Where maybe we have had a little money to buy some nice things, but we had to be pretty careful in narrowing down that which was most important. In earlier years we couldn't afford squat. At other times we had more income and didn't appreciate so much what we had. Living on one decent income has forced us into that sweet spot, I guess. I think this is compounded with an attitude that "Home is our Haven" and with dh unemployed and without extra money to splurge on other activities, we are both HOME such much more than ever before. Life through college and pre-kids was so go go go with so much work. Slowing down, gives us more time to enjoy our things.
I saw this blog post today and could totally relate:
When Things are More than Things
"As someone who eschews �things,� I often find myself in a bit of an uncomfortable place on this blog. So much of it is about the things of our house."
"I want to be a minimalist. I want fewer things so I have more time and energy to create and just be. Things consume a lot of time and energy."
"I know true minimalists would say that things actually do matter, a lot. Minimalism isn�t so much about having few things (although it is about having few things) as it is about having the right few things. The things you need."
Anyway, I could very much identify with all of these statements. Why is it that as we de-clutter and simplify that my things seem to mean more than ever?? Maybe I am not alone in my feelings. I think it is just as simple as that I am enjoying my things more and longer. Which doesn't necessarily mean that I care more about "things"?
June 4th, 2012 at 12:36 am 1338770192
June 4th, 2012 at 03:15 am 1338779725
I feel very much the same about "things" we buy. I can spend weeks/months looking for just the right item. Then when we buy it I'm happy for way longer than a few months. Our bedroom set is a good example - I looked at a thousand sets, but kept coming back to this one. Today, three years later, I was making the bed and still admiring how great it looks.
June 4th, 2012 at 03:21 am 1338780115
June 4th, 2012 at 03:33 am 1338780824
@LF - It surprisingly is not very large. It looks much bigger than it is - very popular model these days - I am sure you would see it everywhere.
June 4th, 2012 at 04:36 am 1338784592
June 4th, 2012 at 02:30 pm 1338820215
June 10th, 2012 at 06:16 pm 1339352184