Comfortable in my own space

So, I completely love my boyfriend, but I was always on the fence with his couch.
It's comfortable, but a very man couch.... Women will know what I mean.

I loved him even more the day he told me he wanted to move his couch into the basement, because it was colder down there.

He gets a man-cave.

I get a fancy tea-party ready parlour.

Yes. A parlour. The name of this blog is The Fantastical Frugal Home, now isn't it. Right. Don't judge me.

Luckily his decision came a week or so before Christmas, and after agreeing that we wouldn't do anything until the spring, I woke up on Boxing Day and decided I would buy a couch and that everything was happening right away.
(For the Americans and others, boxing day is the big sale day in Canada - which has now turned into boxing week.... We don't take away from holidays to go shopping, we do it when they are all well and done.................. oh, and it's a statutory holiday.)

There was no problem with this. A quick call to a buddy and the next thing I knew I had a couch in my living room.

Before I took up residence in the home there were two love seats that were perpendicular to each other.... it worked, however, I only wanted one couch so that I could have my Oma's antique chair in the space as well.

I ended up deciding on a configuration having the couch parallel to the fireplace, and the chair facing the couch, off to the side.

Everything worked out pretty well, except that I needed a coffee table, two end tables, and I would eventually like a console table over by the windows.

I decided to hold my horses and just find a coffee table at this time. 

I was smart. A table I liked was posted last night, and was already a good price. I emailed her right away, said I would take it for the asking price, and asked when I could come get it.

People usually like to have the ability to sell something that quick, and won't give the piece away before you get there.

It was listed for $25, and instead of bartering to my usual $20 I just took it. It's $5 bucks after all.

Here's the piece;

The table has a glass tray that lifts off the top, so the wood will not get damaged. Very cool.

The lady said she originally bought it in California. Which most likely means this piece was brought over from Europe. I'm thinking early 1900s? But what do I know, I'm not one of those people that watch Antiques roadshow all day long... Although I could totally see that happening over the next ten years......

The rest of the space will stay modern. 

I have always maintained my style is transitional, I match antiques with modern pieces... but now all the designers are doing it and calling it something stupid. Whatever. It's transitional.

Moving on, I chose a nice indigo blue to be my accent colour, and I am working on getting all the pieces to tie everything in. I invested in new curtains, some pillows (with the help of my Mommy!), and a new soft blanket.

Here's the couch!

I decided I wanted to go with either a vinyl-type or a leather sofa for now. I want to be able to just wipe dog hair off.... I went with a cheaper couch for now (it was more comfortable than the leather construction anyway) to see how the dogs do. If they ruin it, well, I didn't spend a whole butt-load on it.

Will update with full room pictures soon. I have to finish making an ottoman, and a vintage world map painting first.... Here's what I'm basing the painting on;