living/dining room redesign

JR and I have been pining for an eating area since we moved to SF, but the amount of stuff we had and some large existing storage pieces we already had in place left us no room for such a thing. Since moving back in after the water leak repairs, we’ve had making a dining nook happen at the top of our to-do list, and we’re going to refresh the living room while we’re at it.

After making a spot to dine a priority, we surveyed our tiny space and realized that the spot taken by the massive black 6′x6′ IKEA Expedit bookcase was literally the only place that would work for a dining area. You can see it on the left in this photo of my sister, Karolyn, and me:

Karolyn & Ashley

So we sorted through everything that was filling it up and sent some of it to goodwill and found appropriate spots for the rest. Then, so sick to death of that bookcase and just wanting to get it out of our lives, JR listed it for free on craigslist. No takers. For DAYS. I told him to re-list it at $100, and it sold immediately. (Moral of the story: no one wants a crappy free bookcase, but everyone wants a bookcase that’s a steal.)

We assembled the 30″ wide drop-leaf table that arrived on Saturday from Overstock.com and promptly started our search for a pair of mid-century modern dining chairs. We found some on ebay; a pair of 50s Gunlocke chairs with grey vinyl seats, and they’re on their way today! We may need to recover the seats, but we’ll see. I definitely like the lines.

Gunlocke Dining Chairs, on the way from ebay

We also need a new sofa, as the cheapo tan microfiber loveseat we bought when we moved to SF has been systematically destroyed by Mercury, despite our (now half-hearted) attempts to stop him from using it as a scratching post. Plus, it’s hella uncomfortable. Your butt goes numb in an hour or so, and we both just end up wriggling non-stop and bitching about how much we hate that sofa. JR usually ends up in a weird position where just his shoulders are on the couch, and the rest of him is kind of on the floor. It’s a terrible sofa, and it looks like it had a run-in with a wood-chipper to boot. It must go. So we took the plunge and ordered a custom sofa (the 85″ Byrd sofa in slate grey leather) from EQ3.

EQ3 Sofa: Byrd in slate grey leather

Getting exactly what we wanted means a 4-8 week wait for delivery, WHICH IS GOING TO KILL INSTANT-GRATIFICATION-ME, but it will all be worthwhile when the room comes together. And we got a FREE “martian” floor lamp with the sofa purchase, which will look great and add all kinds of light to the space.

In preparation for the arrival of the new couch, it’s a new world order for Mercury, and our weapon is a spray bottle. The rules are: Merc isn’t allowed ON the couch, he’s definitely not allowed to scratch the couch, and while we’re at it he’s not allowed on the pedestal bathroom sink (where he begs for running water) or the kitchen counter. This is a hard one because we have to keep his bowl on the counter or else Winston will eat his food. So we’ll be teaching Merc that he’s allowed on the counter to the left of the kitchen sink, but not anywhere else. He’s a smart cat, and he’ll learn it if it kills me. But I might need a holster for that spray bottle.

The new sofa is going to take up significantly more space than the loveseat, which means we need to get rid of our two cottage-style side tables and I’ll finally get to re-finish the broken white shabby chic coffee table with gorgeous, sexy lines which someone dumped on the corner and I snatched up. I’m thinking glossy piano black, and it’s going to look DIVINE. JR isn’t 100% behind refinishing the coffee table – he likes the open space – but I need a place to set my drink, and so do our guests. I mean, what’s the point in building a new liquor cabinet/wine storage/bar if there’s no place to set your drink? Because we’re doing that too. There’s a surprising lack of realistically-priced, clean-lined, functional options for home bars out there, so we’re going to build it ourselves. Who knows – maybe that’s our next big thing!

So what all this boils down to is that we’re going to have a garage sale soon to get all this unnecessary stuff (that bugs me!) off our backs. And you’ll get to see the whole transformation of our living/dining room firsthand! It all starts off with the DIY industrial chic wall lamp JR & I built for the dining nook.

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