Monday, January 02, 2012

New Year New Furniture

I feel like I accomplished very little over the holidays except nursing headaches and drowning my sorrows in chocolate squares and cranberry cake. I switched medications and have been suffering terrible insomnia as the previous medication was very sedating and I'd taken it 10 years!! I worked down my dosage to zero, and have been paying for it these past two weeks. So the holidays feel like they were about sleep deprivation and exhaustion more than anything else.
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But yesterday, I did finally settle on fabrics for our new chair and sofa! We are hoping to replace our sofa and chair within the next 6 months. I want to do neutral solids on each as I am not pattern-adept and want to keep our small space clean and simple. I plan to do some beautiful pillows to add back colour to the room.
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The sofa fabric is the rougher linen in the background. It's a linen-cotton blend with some nice slubbing for texture:

The sofa we're planning is from Hickory Chair and looks like this:
I love the clean lines and the tight back, and also the higher back and arm for long periods of sitting and reading. I originally wanted a bench seat, but don't want to pay the customization charges and actually like this look. If I reupholster it in the future, I can always do a bench seat then.
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The sofa is 81" long, which fits our small living room perfectly (our current sofa is 84"). The frame is kiln-dried hardwood and the springs are hand-tied and all those other good things which will make this a very good sofa for a long time.
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The chair fabric is in the foreground. It is very soft and is also a linen-cotton blend:

The chair is this one, from Lee. which you've seen a few times! It is perfect - a wonderful reading chair that is more modern than I wanted, but has grown on me due to its immense comfort, tall back, great reading arms and wide curl-up seat:

I want the swivel version, so unfortunately I have to do a skirt. I'm hoping for a skirt that looks like this, if Lee will customize it for me (still waiting on this info!). Otherwise I may have to break the bank and have it slipcovered after it arrives:

That's all for now. Biscuit will miss the big arms on our current sofa, as they are his frequent perch!
The old furniture will go to the TV room, where it is sorely needed!

Hope your work week is great!

15 comments:

  1. I LOVE your new sofa! It's going to be gorgeous, as is the chair. And Biscuit is just so darn cute ... what a sweetheart!

    Happy new year and happy decorating!

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  2. Congratulations - how exciting! They are beautiful!
    xoTrina

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  3. Terri,
    I LOVE all your fabric choices and so sorry to hear about the headaches...ugh!
    Best wishes for a wonderful start to the new year!!!
    xo,
    ~R

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  4. I love the light tan look. I like the clean lines and how many possibilities you will have with pillows and throws during the different seasons. Wonderful.
    peace Lisa

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  5. Oh your cat looks lika asibling to our Bosse here at home :) But I think our Bosse have more a fluffy fur:)

    Happy New year Terri!

    Love
    Katarina

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  6. I don't know how I missed this post all day. Something is wrong with my reader or I'm just getting stupid.

    I really like the sofa and I just adore the chair. Love the idea of a full-length skirt.

    Poor Biscuit. My cats love to sit on the arms of the sofa too.

    I thought chocolate was off limits.

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  7. The new furniture looks fantastic.

    You say you didn't accomplish much, but it sounds like getting off the sedating med was a rather BIG accomplishment! I'm so sorry it meant extra pain over the holidays.

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  8. It must feel great to have those decisions made. I like both the sofa and the chair and I would love the slipcover, too, if it comes to that.

    Biscuit may start spending a lot of time in the tv room. It could be a win-win, if he sheds at all.

    Hope that your new medication does a better job for you and that you can kick the insomnia. Do you take Vitamin D in the winter? How about melatonin when you're struggling with not being able to sleep? It usually works beautifully for me.

    Thank you for saying that you liked my new dishes. I'm sure that you were really saying, "There goes poor Vee right around the bend." =D

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  9. It will look wonderful - looking forward to the photos :) Sorry about the headaches - I get bad ones during the chinooks. I have read that a very strict gluten free diet sometimes helps chronic headaches - it would mean giving up certain kinds of cookies :)

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  10. Gorgeous choices. I am a big fan of neutral upholstery because I am a little fickle and can't get things reupholstered every 6 months. :)

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  11. Dear Terri

    Thought I'd share something called "body scanning" for your chronic headaches. It's a method our yoga teacher uses to release pain. You'll need to sit quietly for a few minutes, breathing gently to relax and then turn your concentration to the area of pain and 'breathe' into the pain until you feel a release. I do it regularly to release my aches, usually with good success and hope it works for you. Best wishes Pam

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  12. Good looking choices, and Biscuit will still have the old arms in the tv room.

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  13. I've always thought there was something special about that Lee chair; great choice! And the new sofa will be beautiful. Exciting! I'm jealous!

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  14. It sounds exciting with new plans and new furnitures. The chair looks fabulous.
    I wish you a happy 2012 and that you will feel better with the new medicine.
    xo Poppins

    PS Yes, the photo of Lady Street is taken by me. I would love to share my experiences from England with you. It would also be fun to guide you around in Copenhagen or in the south of Sweden one day.

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  15. Beautiful choice for the sofa. Classic, which I love. Just came across your site and glad to find another Calgary design blogger!

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