Living Room Update

Just dropping in real quick before I share another small project I completed. I recently updated the living room. Yay! You can see previous posts here and here, where I mention the new canvas art I scored and the TV dresser I refinished.

I know I've mentioned before that I needed a new couch. The old sectional was yet another causality of my dog Franklin. Between his drool spots, hair, tears from his claws and mud that he managed to track in and deposit all over the couch, it was definitely time for a new one. The old sectional was tan micofiber as you can see below:

My old nasty couch which I somehow sold for $250 on Craigslist!

I came across this pin on Pinterest that I followed the steps for to try and remove some of the stains, but I think my couch was too far of a goner at that point. But I think for some minor stains, it might just work, so in case you want to try yourself, here's the link from 551 East.

We knew we wanted something that wouldn't show dog hair, couldn't be punctured by his nails and wouldn't show stains. Though we promised each other we would not let the dog on the new couch, you just never know what he does when we're at work. We couldn't afford leather, which through research I did, proves to be the best choice for people with dogs. What we ended up with instead was a high quality bonded leather. It looks just like leather and feels just like it, too. I'll have to let you know how it holds up over the years, but so far, so good. We got it at our local Value City Furniture, which is where I got a lot of the furniture in my house, like the old couch and ottoman, the dining room set and my master bedroom, because they have great financing plans. It's called the Silverton sectional.

Here's the new setup:

I was afraid the dark brown leather couch would make the room too dark, but I actually think it brightens the space since the old couch was so dingy looking. We also opted for the horseshoe layout, which I love. It too opens the space up, I think.
The color of the couch is really pretty. I know it looks almost black, but its actually more a saddle brown with subtle variations in the colors throughout the leather and then has a tan colored seam throughout. 

The couch is seriously huge! We had to relocate the 50 gallon fish tank I had set up to the right of the old couch. That's now in the dining room. We were left with about a foot of space on the right side behind the chaise. I threw together my own DIY console table, which I will blog about soon.

Since the couch was so big, the old 5 x 7 foot rug was not going to cut it. Darn! I really liked that one, too. Oh well. Since we'd already spent so much on the couch, a real expensive rug was not in the budget. I was trying to stay under $200. Franklin has a history of ruining the rugs in this room in various ways - peeing, eating, staining, etc. So yeah, given that this new rug is actually rug #5 in 3.5 years in here, cheap was the way to go.

After searching online at then at Target, Pier 1, TJMaxx, Marshalls and Walmart in person, I finally landed on a perfect solution at Garden Ridge. The beauty in the picture was only $59.99! I know, crazy good deal that made it worth it dig through huge, heavy stacks of rugs they pile up in their gigantic warehouse like stores. It's not the plushest rug in the world, but it doesn't look cheap either. It's a 7 x 10 foot rug in a real pretty shade of turquoisey-blue, so it totally fits in with all of the other blues in the space.

I rearranged some other accessories and am reusing the old ottoman that matched the old couch, for now at least. I've been hunting on Craigslist and in thrift stores for a cheap alternative to refinish of course.

I love coming home now to this new set up. The couch is super comfortable and I actually like hanging out in the living room, where before it just always felt dirty and nasty.