A First for Us

We've been married for seven years. In those seven years, we've NEVER bought new furniture. When we got married, my parents "gave" us the bed and bedroom set that had been in my room at their house since I was 16. We inherited grandma's old kitchen table and chairs, and Wade's parents gave us a couch. Wade's sister felt bad for us because we didn't have a tv set, so when she bought a new one, she gave us her old one. It sat on the floor unplugged for three months until September 11. Then we plugged it in so we could watch news coverage.

One Saturday morning, some fellow apartment dwellers were moving out of their apartment. Two guys. One was headed back east for school or something and the other one was headed to Italy. They were trying to get rid of as much stuff as possible and they had a really nice entertainment center that fit our tv perfect. They gave that to us for free since it saved them a trip to the DI.

When we moved into our house, we added an old washer and dryer from grandpa, a refrigerator, a twin bed from Wade's parents house, and a couch and loveseat from my parents to our arsenal.

A few years later, my parents were upgrading their bedroom furniture again and so we got our second round of cast-offs. When Josh was coming, our Christmas present from Wade's parents was the crib.

We bought a used car bed for a killer deal off of KSL classifieds for when Josh outgrew the crib and a diaper changing table from the neighbor for a really good price as well just this last spring.

The only appliance/furniture we've bought together as a couple from an actual store is the washer and dryer we replaced 3 years ago. The old ones were both on their last legs practically from the time we moved in, but we eked it out for close to three years before caving. Definitely a wise purchase.

We've been in the market for a while for a new kitchen table, but so far nothing's come up. We keep looking, but we're known at the local furniture store as the people that come in and spend hours talking to the salesmen and then don't ever buy anything. I'm sure they're fighting in the back over who has to come out and help us. It's pretty much a waste of time on their part. Until last night.

Monday, we had returned to the local furniture store in hopes that they'd have the couch we want for the basement. We found the recliners, but another furniture store (who shall remain nameless) in Salt Lake didn't have any couches out on the floor. We spotted it immediately on Monday, and sat down, both of us exclaiming "this is it. This is the couch." The price tag was a slight damper in our spirits, but we weren't looking to buy right away anyways.

So another two hours later, after trying every other couch on the showroom floor, we came to two conclusions. First, clearly we have champagne tastes on a beer budget. There was no way we would ever plunk down that much money for a couch. Secondly, leather is nice. Really nice. And all these years we've spurned away from leather, but I think it was partly because it was so "above" us. How can leather couches be justifiable when you have student loans and such to pay off?

As usual, we walked away without buying anything. But we knew that was the couch we wanted. We would just have to wait until a good deal comes along or we fall into a big heap of cash that's fallen out of the skies. Besides, we had plenty of time. We still have the entire basement to finish.

Fast forward to yesterday. After watching the BYU game at a virtual stranger's house (will...not...give...in...to...cable...) with Wade's brother (Go Cougars!), we stopped in at the clearance center for the aforementioned store that shall remain nameless (mostly because I don't want to give them any more advertisement. I don't like them on principle, but as with most principles, my dislike can be suspended for the right amount of money). We just wanted to check if by some chance they had "our" couch in the scratch and dent area. And lo and behold, there it sat. Leather and all. We poured over the couch to see what the obvious scratches and dents were, and while they were there, they weren't noticeable except to those who knew. An hour and a half later, we were the proud owners of a new couch and matching loveseat. We got both for less than we would've paid for just the couch new from the warehouse, an almost 55% savings off of the couch we fell in love with on Monday.

Of course, there's no where to put our new couches, so we've had to rearrange everything to fit them in the living room for the time being. But we watched a movie last night to try them out and they're perfect. I can see why people go into massive amounts of debt to buy new furniture.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some reclining to do before church starts. :)