New sofa and chair
Our lovely new sofa and chair got delivered from Old Boot on Monday. We'd been looking round for a sofa with very straight sides. Our living room is pretty small, and the current fashion is for sofas to have curved arms, but they take up too much room. When we saw this design, we knew it was exactly what we wanted.
The sofa is a hand-finished deep red, and the chair vintage tan. Why different colours? Well, the chair doesn't come in red, and anyhow we didn't want too much in the room all looking the same. (I know, me taking the non-matchy option. Who'd have expected that?)
It took about six weeks for the sofa and chair to be made. They came with a bottle of leather cleaner and a tub of leather moisturiser. Old Boot will repair any damage for free, but we're expecting both items of furniture to be very durable. One of the great things about leather is that it ages well. The man who delivered the chair said if it gets a scratch or scuff, warming it up with a hairdryer and buffing it should restore the finish. That trick won't work with the sofa. Needless to say, we're keeping an eye on the cats around the furniture. They haven't shown any interest in scratching it so far; they have a scratching post in the living room and that's all they really need.
Mr Robot and I have taken the week off work. The chap who fitted our bathroom was supposed to be tiling our kitchen floor, but there was no sign of him today. Grr. He does a very good job, but he has a rather bohemian approach to time/date keeping. Anyway, in preparation for having the floor done, on Monday we scrubbed down the whole kitchen with sugar soap, and on Tuesday we painted it. It was pale blue, and it's now a slightly darker blue, but most importantly of all it now looks clean and unfaded. It really had got in an embarrassing state - when you cook as much as we do, things do get grubby, no matter how often you clean. It's a pleasure to be in there now.
I guess tomorrow we'll have to do some more gardening - I did a bit over the weekend - but for now I'm going to carry on watching Life On Mars. I was given the DVDs for Christmas, and love a bit of Gene Hunt. I hope your week is going as well!
I've been enjoying your Instagram posts on your diy endeavours. The sofa and chair look smashing, and that's a lovely shade of blue in your kitchen. We cook a lot too so no doubt our kitchen could do with a good scrub. On the list for Spring!
ReplyDeleteThe kitchen had got to the point of being embarrassing. I'm not so ashamed to let people in there now!
Delete(We shall say nothing of Mr Robot managing to scrub the paint off the enamel coffee tin in a fit of enthusiastic cleaning. Grrrr.... )
Lovely sofa and chair and comfortable, too! I love the blue of your kitchen walls what a cheerful colour it is.
ReplyDeleteHope the rest of your week is going well.
It has been ace! It's nice to have time to do nothing.
DeleteYour new sofa and chair our brilliant. We have the same problem with our small "salon", finding a sofa with straight sides, and which had the right measurements wasn't easy. I would like our next one to be leather too, but I'm not sure Phoebe will agree. Love the blue kitchen walls. Hopefully the Bohemian chap will turn up soon ... xxx
ReplyDeleteHe hasn't shown up yet! We sort of expected it, and he's trustworthy so we can just leave him with our keys and he can come in when we're not there.
DeleteHow gorgeous your new sofa & chair are! They look absolutely perfect in that room too. Leather wears beautifully, I had a leather sectional sofa set for 20 yrs in California. My animals didn't bother it at all either! (Except for my mom's poocdle who tried to dig a hole in it)
ReplyDeleteThat's the problem with cheap synthetic stuff; as soon as it starts to age it looks terrible. I'm sure it winds up costing more in the long run because it needs replacing more often. A nice bit of wood or leather will evolve without looking dreadful. And, dagnabbit, we work hard and deserve nice things!
DeleteLoving your new sofa and chair, they're very Gentleman's club! Keep a close eye on those cats though as I have a constant reminder of mine thanks to the side of my leather sofa. He figured out that he could reach up and pierce the leather with his claws, allowing him to have a really good stretch. The only problem was when he tried to remove him claw again he didn't retract it so there's lots of little pull marks all over one side. Little git! xx
ReplyDeleteYes, we've been keeping a close eye on the urchins. They have a scratching post in the living room and that's usually the first thing they head for; they're good kitties mostly.
DeleteYou're right, they are lovely! I particularly like that you haven't got for a matching set, far more Victorian country house! I do wish you hadn't included the link to the website, there's some gorgeous stuff on there.
ReplyDeleteKitch walls look great, too.
Oh, Life on Mars. They filmed the autopsy scenes in Victoria Baths in Manchester. My arse has been in the same spot as Gene Hunt's! xxx
Nice arse! ;-)
DeleteWe're now on the lookout for a dining room cabinet, which is harder work - visited some chazza furniture shops yesterday but they didn't have what we were looking for, so I guess the next stop is an auction. Might go to one today if the Mr gets out of bed...
The sofa and chair are beautiful. I adore the blue walls in your kitchen. Someday, I want tiled walls that can be easily washed for a kitchen.
ReplyDeleteTiles would be fab. Pete Put the line around the worktops up by himself; I think a single row is about our limit - they'd wonk all over the place if we tried to go up any further.
DeleteThe sofa is such a gorgeous colour. We had a nightmare finding one with no arms (don't ask!)
ReplyDeleteYou can't beat a bit of Gene Hunt. x x
Mim,
ReplyDeleteThe fact that you are giving us an almost LIVE update on your renovation is so great. To see how your home changes is ALMOST like we're right there (but, if I was really there, rest assured, I'd be giving you two a hand).
Both sofa and the chair look magnificent. They are capital pieces of furniture, and will last you long, I'm sure.
(we'll speak about tiles when you post about them) :)
Huge hug!
Marija
Fingers crossed the kits leave well enough alone. Belle has just decided, after two years, to start attacking our armchair. It's ancient, but that isn't the point, the little wench.
ReplyDelete