After moving into our new home over a year ago, I was faced with the dilemma of what to do with our “hand-me-down” furniture. It’s been a year and a few months and we’ve bought a few year pieces here and there, but I’m learning how to make what we have work. As Tim Gunn would say “Make it work.”

One of items that is on our list of furniture to buy for the house is a new couch, but in the meantime, I’m making our current couch work :). My husband inherited a very interesting set of corduroy chairs and a couch from his parents and because it’s been around since 1980, it’s starting to show some wear. Not only was the furniture from his childhood, it also survived college with him (and his very interesting, and messy roommates). My husband has taken good care of the furniture (despite his roommates) but corduroy does not hold up forever. When we first moved in together, I did everything I could to try to hide the couch. I covered it with big blankets. I put pillows on it. I just couldn’t hide the corduroy. When we moved from our apartment into our house, I did not want that couch in our living room and was convinced we should go out and buy a new one immediately. However, because we did not have the budget for a new couch, I decided I would have to come up with another plan. I used to be anti-slipcover until I browsed around Target one day and found one on sale. I’m pretty satisfied with my temporary fix for the couch and think that it works pretty well for the time being. It doesn’t fit perfectly, but one of the nice features is that I can take the slip cover off and wash it! I think the couch looks much better now!

Here is what a slip cover and a few accent pillows can do for a couch!

Here is a peek at the corduroy. It doesn’t really go with the decor for the rest of the house. 

On another note, I was browsing around the Borders Going Out of Business sale and found this great calendar for planning out home projects. It’s from HGTV Home! My husband looked a little terrified when I showed it to him (probably worried about a “Honey Do List”) but I’m excited!

I can’t wait to get started on our next project and use our calendar to help plan and keep things organized!