Only in Peterborough: The New Place

While the porch is my favourite spot, I'm fairly certain the living room is Tim's. Mostly because of his couch, which he loves with a fervour that I'm slightly jealous of. Should one be jealous of an inanimate object? Oh well, either way it's a really nice couch. Extremely large, as well. Tim and I had looked at it in the store a number of times before finally just saying that we'd get it. Tim wanted to take it in the cargo truck we had rented, but I was not at all sure we'd be able to get it in the house. We agreed to get it delivered because then if it didn't fit, they would just take it right back. The Brick delivery guys were MIRACLE workers, though (as promised) - it took some delicate manoeuvring to get it through the entryway. Once the couch was in, Tim almost had a bird.

We ordered the chaise on the left side of the couch because Tim wanted it that way (and as he was paying, he got the final say). I had suggested the right side. When we got it into place, Tim started second guessing himself - he thought the back of the couch should be under the picture he got me for my birthday. It was driving him crazy, so I suggested we shift the couch and just see what it looked like with the back to that western wall. Incredibly, it wouldn't even fit between the fireplace mantle and the front wall. So Tim was redeemed - if we had order the right hand chaise, we would have had to have been climbing over the couch to get into our living room.

Here you can see into the main body of the living room. There isn't a ton of clearance between the TV stand and the couch/coffee table, but there's enough that it works. The TV stand was actually another interesting development. Originally we had purchased a $99 TV stand at the Brick. We just wanted something to get us by, since we had already spent so much money. But Tim spent a morning trying to put it together and to say it didn't go well is putting it mildly. When he went to set the top on, the bottom fell apart and stripped all the screws. Once he had verified that it was a manufacturing defect in the table and not his fault, I gather there was some swearing and some throwing things around the room. He walked out the door, got in the Element, drove straight to Knock on Wood, and bought the TV stand we currently have. Five times as expensive, but also five times as nice. It's made of solid birch and is a really gorgeous piece of furniture. It works perfectly with the furniture we have and the TV, and it's going to be a piece of furniture we own the rest of our lives. Plus it was already assembled.

The coffee table has an interesting story to it as well - this piece of furniture actually used to be Tim's grandparents' dining room table. He shortened the legs and refinished it into the massive and absolutely beautiful coffee table it is now. It's a little big for the space, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. I believe the marble-based lamps are also family heirlooms of Tim's, but I'm not as sure of the story behind those. We only have one of them, the other is still at Tim's parents' house.

Tim's second favourite part of the living room is his record player, which is currently living in the fireplace. Here he's showing it off to Matt. This is only a temporary home for the record player, though, as I have other plans for inside of the mantle.

We have a couple of items on the wishlist for this room as well. We'd like an area rug to go under the couch and coffee table. In the winter I'm guessing the pine floors (which are lovely) might be a bit chilly. I'm also looking for cushions for the couch. Tim's only decree was that none of the couch cushions by turquoise. These are all options: