The {White} Sofa

*disclaimer*
Lately I feel like all I talk about on here is possessions, but with a 2 year old and a full time job its not like I am going to lavish parties or vacations and in light of trying to keep things not to personal around here all I am left with is fun stuff so that is that :)

Sunday I did the all dreaded couch washing! I was only dreading it because I had heard that once the covers were washed and dried they were really hard to get back on Oh and the fact that we wouldn't have a couch to sit on for a whole day, O the horror!!
But Sunday Brent had to work so I thought what the heck Luke and I can watch movies in bed all day, once I realized that I was ready to get going with it and so I did. 3 loads of of slipcovers, a whole morning and huge mess later I had a clean and great smelling couch again. nice.



I will tell you what I did in case you have a sofa like mine or are planning on getting one, Oh who are we kidding so I can remember how I did so I will know next year when I do this ;)
I can only get 3 of the slips in my washer at once so it took me 3 loads I did not wash the bottom corner cushion because it never gets sat on and most of the time has blankets piled there. I washed them on cold and delicate with regular laundry soap and a scoop of OxiClean. I also dried them on low for about 40 minutes and took them out while they were still damp so I could get them back on the cushions easier. They came out great! And the best part they are clean I cannot tell you how happy that makes me feel, a clean smelling grimmy free couch is priceless to me, I am in love again!

Here she is all dressed up for Christmas!



The red pillows are 2 Christmas napkins hot glued together and I stuffed one of my "everyday" pillows inside, I didn't want to have Christmas pillows to store but I wanted the look so there ya go I made both of them for $4! The red throw is Lucas' he got at his baby shower, one of my mom's friends made it for him it stays in his room during the year but is the perfect color for Christmas time!

Then there is my wal-mart poinsettias, this is my first year to have real poinsettias at Christmas. I had always thought that they were so poisonous to cats and dogs (like if my dog stiffed them they would kill over) but come to find out an animal would have to eat a ton of the leaves and neither my cat or dog are interested in eating flowers so I can have poinsettias that makes me happy too!

All this decorating is not in vain I am having my very own "Favorite Things" party this Friday! I am very excited and cannot wait to see how it goes!

That is it for now,

talk here soon!

My New BFF!

And nope she's no Dyson, she's a Bissell Pet Hair Eraser! I researched many of the reviews on the Dyson and on a lot of other top names in vacuums and Dyson didn't get any better reviews than this guy did and was a fraction of the price so I thought why not!!

It came yesterday and Brent put it together and I used it right away! I couldn't believe all the hair it picked up being I had just vacuumed on Sunday! Wow and with the new addition coming in February I thought a pet vacuum was the way to go!

I already love that it's bag less! And hand hose seems longer than my last one so that will be nice! The hand tools are hot pink so that is fun too! So far I really like it, didn't even put it away last night because I knew I would be wanting to use it again today! ha!



And these two are the reason I needed a vacuum for hair ;)


Also I have had a few questions on if I still like my couch and if it's held up and all that. And I can proudly say she has held up fine! I still love it so much! It provides the extra seats we need when people are over but it's not a huge sectional that gets in the way at all! I still love playing with different ways to arrange it, I love having the ottoman and a coffee table to play with! This picture was taken this morning and I have the ottoman butted up against one end to turn it into a chase on one side I am loving this, it's the first time I've done it, so SO great for t.v. watching and snuggling ;)



This weekend she is getting her first time in the washer! Can you believe it I've had a WHITE sofa for over 6 months with a two year old, dog, cat, and a husband and this is the first time I'm putting it in the washer?! And I'm only doing that because I'm hosting for bingo club next week and well ya know.
I am still very happy with my purchase it's still "firm" which I really like but Brent wishes it was softer but it will get that way I'm sure over the next year. I am most proud because I haven't been the nervous wreck I thought I would be with a white couch, I told myself not to be before we bought it but things are different when things get home. I have made no "special" rules for the couch Lucas still eats his snacks on it and jumps and flops around like a crazy person the cat and dog get on it when they want and all is well, imagine that ;)

I just love "home" stuff I feel like I play house everyday! Soon I'll take pictures of my fall decor!

First Trip to IKEA!

This weekend we headed to Dallas, Tx! We had been in the market for a new couch for months and just couldn't find what we wanted anywhere around that was in our price range, after much research we decided to take a trip to the nearest IKEA store! We Brent was pretty skeptical on the quality and comfort of an IKEA couch but thought we'd give it a shot!

We had my mom come down and keep Lucas for the day and we headed out at about 6 am! It was a 4 and a half hour drive to the store but it really wasn't bad it was nice to get to talk and hang out, just me and Brent.



We got there at about 10:45, I was SO excited! I'm pretty sure Brent wanted to bonk me over the head, I was so ready to see what this place was about!

We walked in and went up to the escalator and there it was! The couch! We both plopped down and looked at each other I was smiling from ear to ear! I loved it, Brent did too! I couldn't believe it! It was firm but not to firm, it wasn't small and chincy like I had feared and the fabric felt wonderful!! We sat down a few more times for good measure and then went to find a sales person so we could get the "paper work" done. But we had forgot one thing.... what color should we get! I was really set on a "light" color the white or beige, Brent was really against a "light" color, whooops! So after some contemplating and bargaining we decided on the beige. Yay!!

After we got what we came for we went and looked around this massive store! It was so neat! Defiantly worth going to see weather you need anything or not! I can't wait to go back, maybe next year!? Ha!

Everything was so easy! When I thought of a self serve store I was picturing a mess! But no they have everything worked out to a T! It was a total experience and so fun! And putting the couch together was super easy!



Next we went on into Dallas to eat at Spaghetti Warehouse, it was really really good! Old fashion Italian food, can't get better than that!






We walked around a bit then headed back to load up the couch and head home.


And here she is!!




(the blue table will be painted white, just trying out colors :))

(edited to add this picture 3/18)

I am so loving this thing! I have already fallen asleep on it countless times and I absolutely love the way it looks!
We bought a ottoman too at the store but I love my coffee table now, so I will just switch those out every now and then. Amazing what a new couch can do for a living room!

Linking to the Nester for National Take a Risk Day!