Curtain Up. . . . . . . I have it covered!

Was it worth it?

The packing, shipping, wondering, waiting, hoping. . . . . 

. . . . . and the quite large expenditure!

I have the slip covers back from their journey to the West coast dyer!

Can't show you quite yet as we are away for the weekend. 

I did take them out of the box before leaving - they are grey now, dark

 charcoal grey - somewhat darker than I was expecting, but hoping they will look

 good once on the furniture with my antique linen pillows and some new colorful

 pillows.

 I'm shopping today. . . . . . . . .at Charlotte's IKEA, we don't have one yet in our city.

I'm also going to look for a rug there, and of course will check out other Spring items

 for the house and garden.

I'll be back with more news once home again. Right now all we're wishing for

is very little snow and ice so we can drive home safely to Raleigh tomorrow.

 Come on, it's almost Spring. . . . . .what is happening with North Carolina

 weather all of a sudden!

Shades of blue and a sofa story. . . . . . . .

blue day in February. . . . . some thoughts.

Productive January and February days are often thwarted by weather
 conditions which are not the most hospitable for doing outside chores.
Yesterday morning I did push myself to get out and fertilize the Spring flowering
 bulbs - their bright green tips are pushing up through the ground and leaf
cover. The day was lovely, mild and sunny, afternoon temperature reaching 68F.

 As I get older I find days at home in winter are often best spent indoors, but
 having time on my hands I admit to becoming somewhat lethargic. 

Looking around the cottage I find myself craving changes, some too huge to
 even give serious consideration to, so I store them in the ever burgeoning
 to do/wish list file folders. Others are more manageable and this past week I started
 to make a little headway.

I love these not too difficult to remove and then pull back on slip covers on

 the bedroom loveseat. I had them custom made some years

 back to disguise the no longer exciting striped upholstery, and I will probably

 keep them forever. The big cover and seat cushion I can

 wash and dry in my machines, no need for a laundromat visit.

Whereas, remember this post I wrote almost two years ago - gosh how time flies - 

about the exhausting Slip Cover Battles and thoughts on buying a new 

upholstered sofa.

But no, I've not replaced the sofa - this pic was taken several years ago - but I did

 replace the carpet with 'farmhouse' hard flooring, below, which I love so much.

 I continue look at sofas but just have a hard time buying a replacement for this one

 which is still good, comfortable (it's actually a Serta Hide-a-Bed), and the right size

 for the somewhat small room.

Personally I will only consider one made here in North Carolina, (once, and
 hopefully again some day, the biggest furniture manufacturing state in the USA),
 as it would be well built, beautiful, and not fall apart in a few years as some
 imports apparently do. However, it could cost as much as lovely cruise for two
 to some wonderful place on the planet!

I've been dreaming in indigo blue lately so have collected photos of beautiful

 blue sofas, usually in velvet, a fabric which seems to allow deep saturation of that

 gorgeous color. I've spent far too many hours online looking at sofas, e-mailing

 companies for advice, and finally choosing one whom I'd want to build my sofa

 here in North Carolina . . . . . . . actually just a couple of hours west on the highway.

But then I get cold feet! Indigo could never not be lovely, and it would work well in

the cottage, but it does seem to be the latest trendy color in decor. 

So perhaps I'd be happier with a beautiful neutral, a non trendy classic, which for me

 would be grey of course!

It would be a medium dark warmish grey, not too blue, not leaning toward beige,

 but similar to the velvet sofa in the center of the collage above . . . . . . 

. . . . . . or this tufted beauty above, I so love this style.

I could add touches of indigo blue, or most any other color, with pillows, throws etc.,

perhaps even an indigo accent chair.

Another option?

Details coming later when I tell you about the leap of faith I've taken this week. 

Stay tuned for more sofa stories.

Meanwhile, today I'm hanging out my Valentine flag, planning to get in the kitchen

 to bake a favorite prune, apple and brandy cake, doing some 'housecleaning' on the 

MacBook, and perhaps washing some dining room china. 

Sounds good to me.

Do you have special wintertime projects on your list?

Are you gradually checking them off?

Slip Cover battles!

Slip Covers. Love 'em or leave 'em?

Not sure if this post is informational or useless, but it stemmed from those 

too many days last week stuck in the cottage under two inches of solid ice!

 I do know that I'm rethinking slip covers for the future.

The sudden need to do something constructive on Thursday caught me unaware.

Before you could say 'TIDE with bleach alternative', I found myself stripping slip 
covers off the chairs, throwing them into the washing machine, and then, a little later, 
thinking about going Spring furniture shopping once the roads were thawed out and 
travel was safe again.

Why new furniture?
Because I now realize slip-covered furniture can turn the living room into a
 war zone once you reach a certain age.

I didn't even get around to the sofa cover, the main part has to go out to 

the laundromat - much too big for my washing machine - although I can do the 

the seat cushions here at home.

If you have slip covers you must live with someone else. Even a big dog or a 

feisty cat doesn't help in this situation.  

Preferably a strong-armed, patient person is required - and that's not me - who 

can push, shove, pull and squeeze those fat cushions back into those suddenly 

brilliantly clean, but oh so tight, covers. One can just about remove them for 

laundering, but trying to get the danged things back on again alone is impossible.

Bob is my patient person - without him I would be nothing!

I would never get the covers on, and even with him helping I was caught between 

throwing them at him, or suffocating him under them, when my patience gave out!  

We moved from the living room to the bedroom where we thought putting them on 

the bed would be easier. . . . .fighting those blasted seat cushions all the way.

A sweet little Italian lady custom-made my slip covers and did an amazing job.

They cost me a small fortune.

They're somewhat of a pain in the you-know-what. I love them and hate them.

 I would perhaps enjoy a new sofa that doesn't require a slip cover, but it's 

hard to find the right size for the room - most are gigantic and overwhelm the 

small space.  

Do you have slip covers? 

Does anyone make small sofas anymore?  Not love seats which are really too small.

Bob sustained no serious injuries on the battlefield!!!