Would it be worthwhile being able to sleep one more adult? All of our siblings are married (or almost) at this point, so when family comes, I don't know that another single bed would be so helpful. But maybe friends visiting? There are a bunch of folks coming to town this September for Kevin's 40th birthday, for example -- we won't be in the house by then, of course. But that's an example. Writers who come for occasional writer retreats? Hordes of mathematicians?
The stinky couch is also a sleeper, full-size, and not miserably uncomfortable for sleeping on, although I don't think it's a dream of bliss either. But maybe with a mattress topper, it'd be fine for a night or two for a couple. I think Mirna and Gian slept on it okay. Maybe it's worth having it professionally cleaned, throwing a slipcover on it, and keeping it either in the attic playroom or the basement?
How much extra guest sleeping space does one family need??
I get a little freaked out when I think about how much furniture our house needs. This is what we don't have yet:
- Front parlor: chair, settee, coffee table, piano
- Dining room: six-to-eight chairs (ours are breaking and desperately need replacing), dining table (ours is battered and the wrong shape)
- Living room: small couch and chair and ottoman
- Library: two wingback chairs, ottoman, library table
- Master bedroom: king-size bed
- Playroom: small couch
Personally, I wouldn’t bother with a sleeper couch. They have very excellent blowup beds now that aren’t so expensive. Wait for a sale. Or black friday. This includes blowup beds that end up bed-tall for the creaky among us. My brother introduced me to these and his is ever-so-much more comfortable than any sleeper bed I’ve ever used. I don’t remember what kind he had (aerobed), but here’s the kind of thing I’m thinking of:
http://www.amazon.com/Wenzel-Insta-Bed-Raised-Bottom-Built/dp/B000ETXX1U/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=sporting-goods&qid=1276703553&sr=8-9
http://www.aerobed.com/category/1/store_ProductCategory.html
Also personally, I’d never knowingly sleep on your stinky-couch no matter how much you cleaned it at this point. I’m grossed out!
While I was looking for blow-up beds, I also found blow-up couches, which could be an interesting solution esp if you could also find a slipcover that works:
http://www.amazon.com/Smart-Air-Beds-Inflatable-Person/dp/B0032CYUO0/ref=sr_1_37?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1276703659&sr=8-37
Oh, and I think you should take your time furnishing your house. I think you’ll get things you like better and enjoy more if you do it gradually as you find things you like. Prioritize what is really needed and enjoy the process.
On a completely unrelated note:
I recently got interested in porcelein knobs and fancy pulls. While I found many I liked, I found few that matched, so my hunt is continuing. In the meantime, I’m painting pulls for my closets and bathroom. As I was painting them I thought that it was something you might enjoy doing for your house and it’s a heck of a lot cheaper than the real thing. Very relaxing. I may give up on the porcelein pulls and just make ever-fancier painted pulls. Maybe with celtic symbols if I can ever get my English husband over his irrational dislike of things Irish.
Yah, I don’t blame you, I’m grossed out by it too. Although I think any used seating runs that risk — in this case, you just know it for certain. 🙂
We do actually have an aerobed (and even had a raised frame for it, which I did not like and got rid of), but the problem is that Ellie likes to run across it, and she’s punctured it with her toenails. We used the patch kit, which sort of held for a while, but then developed a slow leak. I guess we’re planning to patch it again, but I’m just not sure Aerobeds will work as well for us as for people without dogs.
I will think about the painted pulls! My kitchen hardware is taken care of — it was my Xmas present from Kevin’s parents. But there is a lot more house to do.
Are you buying cheap wood ones from Home Depot or something else to paint?
I bought them from my local ACE Hardware, which carried them in a variety of sizes, costing from $.97 to $2.27
The wood was good enough to stain, if you wanted to.
I also agree in terms of furnishing slowly and finding things you really love. That’s what I’ve been doing (which reminds me, the Crate and Barrel sale starts tomorrow). I’ve found some gorgeous things at tag sales too…
In terms of pulls, you can also buy cheap ceramic ones and buy a paint at the craft store which bakes on (they have pens and liquid paint).