Bargain Booty.

Hello Everyone. Hope you are all enjoying this beautiful sunny Thursday. It is Thursday isn’t it? Totally confused over what day it is this week!!! It doesn’t take much 😉

Slow progress sewing and hooking here so I thought I would show you some recent additions to our house which will one day be crafted upon.

Now you all know that we have only been living here just over a year and we are wrestling with our furniture from our previous home and trying to make it fit in our new  home. We have a not a lot to spend on decor and furnishings due to the exterior of the house needing re-pointing (and the fact that it is a listed building so it needs to be done within regulations and that makes it more expensive). I don’t mind that there is not much to spend, it adds to the challenge and I like the whole re-use, recycle thing. I’m not a “posh” girl and with two small boys I have to accept the fact that there is going to be a significant amount of wear and tear on any furnishings we have. However I would like it to look good at the same time if possible.

Well we have been puzzling about the living room. Its sort of an “L” shape with one side of the “L” being very short. We had previously had two sofas but decided that they weren’t working very well in the room. The space by the window was not really included in the room. So we moved it all around several times to see what we preferred and decided that we needed to get rid of one sofa and possibly get one or two chairs instead. And so the hunt began.

Ceilings are quite low so I got a feeling that lighter furniture would be good. A lot of armchairs are very solid and heavy looking. I like mix and match/shabby chic but I also like retro 60’s/70’s. We hunted around Ebay/Freecycle/second hand furniture shops/auction rooms but we kept coming back to the same thing… Ikea Poang. There were plenty around on Ebay, they are retro looking but not heavy looking.

So we added some to the watch list for a while and then took the plunge when we found a deal we liked. Mr Patch took care of the bidding and collection. Now bought new these chairs currently cost £59.99-£185 depending on the covers you go for. We managed to get three (yes three!) chairs that look like this…And one footstool (that currently cost £10-£91) that looks like this…

If we had bought the cheapest ones from Ikea we would have paid £189.97 but we got them all for £50 (and some diesel). Yay!!! Admittedly they are not the colour I would have chosen. Woah!!! That orange is very bright and acidic!!! But there is the crafting fun. I get to make some pretty new covers for them. Ikea do sell replacement cushions if I want to be lazy, but I think homemade, unique ones could be much better.

Currently the living room ones are covered with some throws I already had

Looking better already. And LOOK what I did to the footstool…

That is just my blanket doubled over and wrapped round the cushion but I am very tempted to crochet a cover at some point in the future. I have also seen several pictures on Pinterest of chairs/sofas with patchwork covers and I might have to go that way. Or maybe some big funky 70’s flower print??? So many choices and, as usual, so little time!!! Its on my ever-growing to do list already.

You will be glad to know that we think we prefer the living room with the chairs. The space by the window feels part of the room now instead of being an unused add on. The third chair is in the kitchen near the window, a perfect place for a cup of coffee but the cat has already claimed it as his own!!!

Ok I’m off to make the most of the afternoon with a spot of sewing before I am invaded by small boys and their friends. Enjoy the sunshine Everyone.