New Furnishings, No Budget

With the house done and the boxes unpacked, we realize some of the furniture we have isn't working for us. And with the cost of doing the house and since we're trying to put the pennies away for a renovation, neither of us were keen to spend a lot of money on new furniture.

In the front room, it became apparent that the set-up wasn't working.  The chaise longue faced the wrong way.  The piano's position didn't help with the flow of the room, and the sofa was just a bit too long and didn't quite fit with the house.

We sold the chaise longue.

And then the couch.

And then had nothing.

Which the girls kind of loved.

With the money we made by selling the furniture, we were able to get a very nice second-hand leather Chesterfield sofa, chair and foot stool (including delivery).  Niall has been looking at Chesterfield sofas for years.  We hired some guys to move the furniture for us.

I paid the movers an extra 10 pounds to move the piano out of the living room.  (It had to go on its side and I could not do it myself.  Nor could I convince Niall to move it with me!)  In place of the piano, we added two chairs we had waiting upstairs.  They're both really comfortable.  And the extra seats are just what the room needed!

The piano is now in the kitchen, across from the dining table.  I was worried about having it so close to the wall we share with our neighbors (in the living room), so hopefully the move makes it quieter for them.  With the piano in the kitchen, I play it more.  We FINALLY (after two years and three moves) got it tuned.  We were short on space, so the toy chest doubles as the piano bench.

Sold the piano bench.

Niall wanted a different chair for his desk.  I took one left behind by the previous owners in the loft and sanded and recovered it.

Our kitchen table wasn't working for us.  It was too small.  And having an antique table isn't the greatest with two little kids.  So we're selling it.

And we bought a second hand table that matches our chairs and fits in the space (and our needs) a little better.

Plus we recovered the chairs in laminated fabric and my mom sewed us a cushion for the long bench.

Use it up, wear it out, make it do or sell it and use the money to buy something that works.