White Thrift Store Sofa

Since I have nothing to say about gardening these days I thought I'd show you a picture of my new thrift store sofa.

$250 from Brown Elephant thrift store in Andersonville. I am so in love with it that it's actually embarrassing. It's old and white and long, 96 inches. 96! It was built in the 30's by a Chicago Furniture maker called Homer Brothers which was started in 1912 by 5 Russian immigrant brothers and closed sometime in the 90's. One day I'll tell you the story about how this sofa entered my life but today I am just thankful to have it. But I'm also kind of terrified of it.

I've never bought used furniture. And my God, the things that can happen on a sofa! Food and pets and body fluids and according to most people on the internets...BEDBUGS!  My husband sat on it for about an hour last night while reading then sent me the following email this morning...

"I think that couch has bugs, or I'm allergic to it. I'm itching all over!"

Thankfully I found a great upholstery cleaner that was able to squeeze us in tomorrow morning so this baby will be getting a nice, hot bath.


Over the last couple of years I've become keenly aware of how much junk I've accumulated and how the furnishings in my house affect me on a day to day basis. It's not good. And just like I did with gardening when I first started, I'm consumed with it, reading everything I can get my hands on, shopping, losing sleep.

Decorating, well, designing just about anything, terrifies me. It is easy for me to look at pictures of completed rooms (or blogs or gardens) and decide if I like them or not but to deconstruct the process of putting it all together in a way that best utilizes available space, that looks pretty or cool or whatever, seems like a magic trick or one of those innate talents you're just born with. I have no idea if this is accurate or not. If you have any thoughts about this, please leave them in the comments below. I am curious to know how everyone out there feels about their interior surroundings, decorating and whether or not you think you're any good at it and if that even matters. How would you describe your style? Where do you buy your stuff? Is it typically new or used or hand-me-downs? Are you happy with it all or do you wish it looked different?