This weekend marked the final nail in the coffin of our slow
march into domesticity. We sold our couch, a gorgeously simple chrome framed
piece with fine, herringbone wool fabric in warm brown and grey tones, to make
room for a boxy Ikea model with a chaise type end piece that is very popular
these days. We did so because of the change of lifestyle that we have
experienced since becoming dog owners, which is akin to becoming parents. Our
previous living room setup was carefully chosen by me to be stylish yet
functional. The main feature was a beautiful Kazak Rug. All of the other
furniture was simply designed but with complex textures such as the herringbone
couch in neutral shades and the modern end tables of glass, teak and chrome. I also had plants overflowing from every
corner of the room.
Then we got dogs.
Dogs are curious creatures, so the plants were relocated to
higher ground.
Dogs track in dirt, no matter how thoroughly you wipe down
their paws at the front door. I wasn’t interested in joining those weird
neighbors whose dogs wear shoes outdoors, so I bought a nice (though not
comparable to Kazak), washable rug to lay in the living room.
Dogs shed. I got a slipcover for the couch.
Dogs are fun to be around so we stopped going out so often.
After months of weeknights on the couch with the dogs, I realized that our
comfortable couch was kind of small when piled with two adults and two medium
sized canines. It also wasn’t so comfortable when you sat there with a dog on
your lap for several hours. In fact, my butt fell asleep on more than one
occasion.
The couch was the last holdout. I loved that couch. But I
love my dogs more, so I finally sucked it up and posted an ad online. I
received several replies within the hour (it was a nice couch) and it was gone
by the time that I arrived home from work the next day, carted off by a
not-so-young hipster. Two days later, a beige, boxy sofa was delivered. The dogs
love the couch. We all watched football together on it. SB is happy and none of
my body parts fell asleep. I looked out over our sofa kingdom last night,
taking in the sea of beige, from the beige and brown rug littered with various
sized chew toys, to the striped beige and green dog bed in the corner, to SB
drinking his coffee with a beige and black hound at his feet on the chaise
portion, and I realized that I was happy, also. And oh so beige.
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