Five Easy Pieces

If you went to UVA or visited Charlottesville you may think I am referring to the delicious sandwich from the famous Little John's deli.  Sadly, I'm not. But I am now craving it!  What I am referring to are some key furniture pieces that we have "easily" scooped up for our basement transformation.  Going into this project, we knew we wanted to create a cozy space that was casual and chic, but not spend a ton of money on it.  We started sourcing furniture at local stores as well as online and ended up finding some great stuff.

Easy Piece #1:  Sectional Couch
The basement is being divided into 2 distinct sections:  play area and TV area.  Since it is not a large room, we need to make the most use of the space and we thought a sectional would help us accomplish that by offering ample amounts of comfortable seating as well as act a natural divider between TV viewing area and James playing area (which we know will eventually be mashed into one space no matter how hard we try!).  Enter Bob's Discount Furniture.  We had been to Bob's a few times when living in NY and were really happy when they started opening stores down here. We paid them a visit a few weekends back and fell for their Venus II sectional model.

Not only is it a simple, clean couch, it was also very reasonably priced without being total crap that will fall apart in a year.  The best part - all the ice cream and cookies you want!!  James was a fan of that - as was Ed. :)

Easy Piece #2:  Entertainment Stand

I had a vision for what I wanted in an entertainment stand from the get go.  I wanted something that was solid, sturdy and tall enough to withstand the hands of a toddler and a tv-watching dog.  I also wanted something that had a good amount of storage to hide toys/games/books of said toddler and tv-watching dog.  And my final wish was for it to have a rustic, almost reclaimed look.  A pretty tall order, but my dreams were answered when I walked into Home Goods - hello gorgeous!

This beauty was all that I wanted without a Pottery Barn-styled price tag. It was probably the first time that I made a purchase like this without Ed being present to give it a thumbs up, but thanks to photos via text message, he was just as much on board as I was.

Easy Piece #3:  End Table
Because of the configuration of the room, we are in need of a single end table to house a lamp and some other goodies.  After securing the couch and measuring the space, we were able to get something fairly sizable and in my head it would be something unique, but simple.  The Home Good Gods shined down on us again and offered up this pretty piece:

It's hard to tell from the photo, but behind the little cut-outs is a mirror making it both rustic and chic at the same time.  It's also a door that opens to reveal oodles of storage which is a big plus.  The price tag was a little more than I wanted to spend on an end table for the room, but I figured it was worth it to have an attractive piece that also served up ample storage.

Easy Piece #4: Ottoman Coffee Table
This is a piece that I had been eyeing for some time and has actually been sitting in our basement for quite a while.  I first spotted it on my favorite DIY blog, Young House Love.  After doing some research, I found it for a whopping $800.00 and put it out of my brain then and there.  No way I was going to invest that much into an ottoman.  Then one day, while browsing the Joss & Main website, there she was for 75% off the rack price.  Uh - yes please!

I scooped it up then and there and we have had it for several months in anticipation of the basement.  It's a big piece measuring 25" x 25" and the best part is that it opens up offering major storage.  Are you seeing a theme here??  Full disclosure - we are still deciding if we want to keep this monster or try to sell it on Craigslist to get something a little smaller and not as matchy matchy with the couch.  We will make a final call once everything is in place.  I already have a back-up in mind (of course!).

Easy Piece #5:  EXPEDIT Bookcases

So technically we don't yet have these in our possession, but we will once we make our way to IKEA in the coming weeks.  Here is the inspiration:

We are going to get two of the 2 x 4 Expedit bookcases in white and fill it with some red and teal baskets for all of James' stuff.  The did is small, but he sure has a lot of crap so this will be one of the ways that we attempt to contain the crap.  The plan is to set them up in a similar manner so that we can also have his little table and chairs and a refrigerator along the same, not-very-long wall.  

So there you have it.  There are still some other items to get in place including a book case, a mirror and screen for the fire place area as well as some other decor related items, but I'd say we are well on our way to having a stylish and functional basement family room/play room!

You Should Know My Husband...

...and I will tell you why.

In a minute.

First some background. Ed is one of the most meticulous men you can meet when it comes to his stuff. While not the neatest person in the world (have you seen his closet??), he is crazy OCD when it comes to scratches on his things. Sorry honey...but you are! :)

Examples:

1. His 2006 Scion TC with 94,000 miles did not have a singe scratch on it when he sold it a few weeks back.
2. He saves the boxes of every electronic that he purchases. His reasoning is that when he sells it he can get more money, but I secretly think it is so he can transport his stuff in a safe, secure environment.
3. With the purchase of his new MacBook Pro, he bought a new case that is fully-lined with faux-fur as to not scratch the aluminum. (I'm actually on board with him on this one!)

So you can imagine how he is with all the new furnishings we have in our house. When the deliveries are made, it is Ed's job to scour over them and look for any sort of imperfection. The delivery guys don't know what hit them when he starts pointing out the flaws - and out come the furniture markers! We actually were able to get the Bassett delivery guys to give us the markers they use.

So...now to the reason why you should know my husband. Because of his nutty/brilliant need for things to be perfect, we are the recipients of not only a replacement leather couch...


...but now, a replacement bedroom dresser.


Let me explain.

We purchased our new big girl/boy furniture from companies that "stand behind their product." The couch hailed from Belfort Furniture and when it arrived it had some scratches on the hide of one of the cushions. Now, the naked eye would have a hard time seeing these so-called scratches. But the Ed eye honed in on them right away. :) After a call to the store and a visit by the leather technician, it was determined that the scratch was not fixable so they needed to replace the cushion. After a few weeks of not hearing anything, Ed called Belfort ready to whop some butt. But before he had the chance to, they informed him that because they are unable to match the color of the leather hide on the new cushion to the existing couch, they were going to just replace the entire couch.

WHAT?!! Within a few weeks, it was out with the old and in with the new. And wouldn't you know, the Ed eye saw some imperfections on the new couch!! Luckily, the 2nd technician was able to fix things this time. :)

Why am I sharing this old story with you? Well, it has happened AGAIN! Not the couch this time, but instead, the new dresser in our bedroom. This time, the furniture is from Bassett Furniture. And after realizing that the center leg was missing from the long dresser and that it looked as though it was caving in a bit, Ed gave our lovely sales gal, Susan, a call. She ordered the part and sent technician Junior to install it for us. By the time he left, this is what the underside of the dresser looked like:


Now, you might say "It is the underside of the dresser where NO ONE will see so does it really matter that it is messed up?" The answer to that seemingly innocent question is "YES IT MATTERS!!!!!!!" So, another whop-ass phone call was made followed by an email with the photo attached. And amazingly enough, the furniture Gods shined down on us again and are SENDING A REPLACEMENT DRESSER! It is totally nuts, but hey, we'll take it!

So, why should you know my husband? Other than the fact that he is a sweet, caring, sensitive funny guy, he can get you new stuff to replace your not-so-perfect new stuff! He's also really good at getting Comcast to give you 2 years of premium service at a cheaper price than what you are paying now. Skills...the man has skills!!!