Paul + Jenn

So. There we were. Armed with all the knowledge an interior decorating mom can give but still feeling so overwhelmed.

And then came Mike.

Mike's your typical good ol' boy. They're not hard to find around here. Apparently, even north Georgia is the Deep South. And I'm ok with that.

Anyhow, Mike, the nice guy, let us roam around the mom and pop furniture store, only popping in to check on us every so often. Here's what we knew about couch types (from my mom):

1) We wanted eight-way hand-tied.

2) We would take a drop-in boxspring.

3) We did not want a no-sag.

Guess what?! Turns out Paul had a lot to say about which couch we chose. And the one he found most comfortable was....

A no-sag (number 3)!!! Which, of course, Mike was totally on board with. Telling us how amazing the brand was...and acting as though the hand-tied had never existed.

And I so needed a break. So we headed to the nearest oasis. Upon arriving at the Chick-Fil-A, I called my mother and I broke it down for her.

She agreed that buying a no-sag at the budget we had from the manufacturer we had in mind was not a bad idea.

You catch that? She said we could wisely buy the no-sag.

So back we went. To Mike. To the mom and pop shop. To the no-sag. And I spent the better part of 30 minutes finding the perfect neutral gray swatch not made of polyester or microfiber or corduroy or leather to cover our couch with. It's ok, though, because Mike explained that I could pick coordinating pillows in a more vibrant fabric. Thanks, Mike. I really hadn't thought about that part of home decor. You know, with a decorator mom...and my homemade headboard...and our self-reupholstered couch...and all.

And I found one. ONE. So, we ordered or couch and skipped happily on our way.

That was Saturday.

On Monday, I received a call. From Mike.

He said the swatch of fabric I had selected was discontinued. So glad he had the most recent 10-pound book of fabrics for us to painstakingly peel through. But. BUT! We were in luck! Mike had picked out several swatches that he thought were close to my choice.

Oh good. I had spent 30 minutes looking through E.V.E.R.Y swatch to find ONE that worked for me...but three others magically appeared. Mike's got the magic touch, you know.

I know you're shocked...but none of them worked out.

So, we cut our losses and took the refund. We're going to sit on it for a while until something better made and more gray comes along. Sad day...but also, bigger savings account. Which, of course, I'm addicted to.

So, in time for Paul's surprise party, I added a pillow and did some redesign:

BEFORE

AFTER

[Sorry. This is the best I can find. You can see that two of the pillows are in the yellow color now. And I'll just tell you that there are four instead of three now.]

Since I already owed the fabric and the euro pillow form, it was a free couch makeover! Pretty thrifty for the interim of having the perfect couch...