Auto Man

I often advise clients who are anxious to renovate a new house to relax and settle in for a few months, because once you determine how you live in a space, it's much easier to mold it into exactly what you want. The same can be said for buying new furniture.  Spending a few thousand dollars on sofas, chairs and end tables is a far cry from the expense of renovating a house, but it's money nonetheless and the process of finding comfortable, interesting pieces that fit your style and home shouldn't be taken lightly.  Allow me to insert our family room into this story.  At the end of a long day Joe and I like to kick our heels up, stretch out and watch the tube.  Recently Joe discovered one of his favorite car shows from the BBC on Apple TV, where ten years of episodes await us.  While I've grown fond of the show too, half way through one episode I begin to loathe our uncomfortable furniture.  When I mentioned buying a sectional sofa for our viewing pleasure, Joe thought I should be sent away to design boot camp for a refresher course.  He is under the impression that all sectionals come with built in cup holders, puffy arms, fake leather and overweight, beer-drinking, gas passing men.  Because it might take me a while longer to convince him to fall in love with the "L" shaped sofa, I'll have to settle for the pieces we have.  To make things a little more comfortable I went shopping for ottomans but was shocked by how expensive this little accessory can be (the one I fell in love with knocked me over with the price...$1,200)!  Then I got to thinking, the cheap little Ikea coffee table we have in our family room is the perfect size, so why not turn that into an ottoman fit for two picky men??  On the heels of my fabric trip to Manhattan last week where I picked up a few great steals, I popped over to our local arts and crafts store where I picked up some foam, came home, loaded my staple gun and got to work!  Now tonight as my man watches his favorite auto show, I'll kick my feet up on our new ottoman!