Do you remember Nancy’s post We turned our bedroom into a beach? Well, today I’m going to share with you a makeover of my own. And boy, am I proud! So, a year ago we bought a new recliner for my husband. It seemed OK, and the price was right (only $250). Or so I thought. The expression “you get what you paid for” couldn’t be more true in this case.
Just weeks later (!) the stupid thing started falling apart. At first, it was the fabric that was holding together the padding under the footrest. We just used tape to fix it, aka redneck solution for every problem under the sun. Unfortunately, few weeks ago, the reclining mechanism broke as well. Oops, you can’t fix that with tape. My husband was going to cobble up a solution with some sort of a string (I know, I know).
But then we found out that my in-laws were planning to get rid of their perfectly good ten-year-old recliner. One minor problem: the recliner was dark green, which didn’t go with my living room colors. Did I mention that I don’t like green? But it was free, plus, my kids were going to destroy it anyway. So, we decided we might as well take it. The only thing I splurged on is a new valance for the window, purchased for $20 on Amazon. Yes, it’s green.
Are you ready to see my “new” living room? Ta da!
The rest of the furniture in the room is dark brown and beige. So it’s like a forest. This mix-and-match (not) style was inspired by Country Inn and Suites hotel where Nancy had a series of unfortunate events.
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p style=”text-align: center;”>What did I tell you?
Now that’s Instagram-worthy, alright.
Why I’m OK with living this way
All joking aside, I know the living room looks terrible. But it honestly doesn’t bother me. Why? I have other priorities at the moment that require significant amount of money, like my overwater bungalow in Bora Bora. The last thing I want to do right now is spend $1,000 on a new recliner.
If my husband insisted on it, I totally would. After all, it’s his chair. But he seems perfectly fine with the “old faithful” recliner, so I’m not rocking the boat. Plus, like I said, our kids are super messy, and I would rather wait till they are a bit older to buy a new one.
It doesn’t mean of course, that I think it’s wrong to splurge on a new living room furniture. Not at all. People should do what makes them happy, and I would be lying if I said that I’m not a tiny bit jealous of Nancy’s house. But not in a resentful sort of way but more like, someday we’ll also upgrade our home and make it look presentable. A gal can dream, right? Heck, I may even pay Nancy to choose our furniture. She seems to know what she is doing. Chip and Joanna who?
Truth be told, I’ve always been a minimalist when it comes to stuff. Our house is 1,400 square feet and when we built it, I remember people telling us that it’s a good “starter” home. Say what? Many years and two kids later, we are still in our starter home, which will probably one day be our retirement home.
I bought bedroom comforters on Walmart.com (in a student dorm section), and my sofa came from IKEA. Though I will splurge on a nice set of sheets every five years, so I have my weaknesses. My biggest weakness is my husband, who somehow managed to convince me that taking out a 6-year loan for a brand new Ford Mustang is a good idea. If only! Love makes you do crazy/irrational things sometimes.
But stuff aren’t all that important to me. Do you see the framed photographs that are hanging on my living room wall? Those are things that to me make our place look beautiful, because they represent the travel we’ve done over the years.
At this point in our life, we can’t have a beautiful living room and be able to afford a trip to South Pacific next year. So I have to pick one. And I choose travel, always. We live in a truly crazy world that is getting crazier by the day. I’m honestly trying to avoid the news just because it’s so freakin’ depressing. Travel is my wonderful escape.
I don’t hold lofty ideas that my kids won’t grow up to be Neo-Nazis due to the trips we take. I wish it were that simple, but plenty of racist jerks enjoy travel too (on their own terms, naturally). I’d like to think that even if we never ventured beyond our little town, my kids would always treat others as equals.
I travel because I still love it. It’s that simple. Despite the jet lag, the cost, the occasional uncomfortable hotel bed, it’s still a thrill. Travel is my escape from the mundane, and nothing beats sharing it with family and friends. Now excuse me while I sit in my ugly recliner and start planning our next adventure!
Image courtesy of Geerati at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Author: Leana
Leana is the founder of Miles For Family. She enjoys beach vacations and visiting her family in Europe. Originally from Belarus, Leana resides in central Florida with her husband and two children.
I’m all for jumping on once in a lifetime travel opportunities! The memories you end up with just can’t be beat. I’ve been to a couple destinations I didn’t care so much for, but I have NEVER regretted taking a trip, no matter how much it ended up costing.
Makes me think of my honeymoon with my German husband. We traveled all over the US for four weeks. Miles, points, budget hotels and picnic lunches saved us tons, but we didn’t skimp on destinations, and costs really added up. But it was money well spent, and I’m quite cheap when it comes to everything else. Our apartment would look a lot like a student dorm if it weren’t for my husband, who actually cares about decor, even has a flair for it.
Anyway, I wanted to suggest you hit bank account bonuses a bit more aggressively for extra cash in light of your coming trip (if you aren’t already)? It is time consuming, I am the first to admit that. I get by without written records in my credit card churning, but I’m lost without it as far as bank accounts go! And for thousands of extra dollars a year (allowing me to justify our travel even more), I’m not complaining.
@Debra Your honeymoon sounds like fun! I don’t know if you are planning on having kids, but I suggest you do truly exotic trips NOW. It’s a lot harder and more expensive once you have little people to worry about. There is a good chance my son won’t remember any of it, but oh well. Due to my in-laws’ age we simply couldn’t put off this trip any longer. Of course, most of our itinerary will involve just my husband and me, since it’s sort of an anniversary trip.
I Feel the same way you do. I’m cheap, but never regret spending money on travel. This trip gave me cold feet and I almost backed out due to cost. This is not the best time for us to do it. But then again, is there ever such a thing as perfect timing?
I do plan on paying more attention to bank bonuses. They can be time consuming, but cash is cash. You can never have too much of it.
@Leana — can’t wait to hear your stories.
Thanks, Stephanie!
I’m so guilty of this especially lately. I need to replace an area rug, a dying vacuum, and an ottoman, and I’d rather spend the money on passports and booking new vacations. Growing up super poor meant that we didn’t have much in material things, but we didn’t go to many places either. Now that I have my own family, we have everything we need so I want to travel as much as possible, and I love it!!!!
@Stephanie At some point I need to write a post on just how frugal my mom is. She never replaces anything! She absolutely hates waste. I think I inherited this trait from her. But it can get extreme sometimes. Like her old mattress had coils pocking out through the fabric, so I bought her a new one when we were visiting. Granted, my parents are poor, but they do take frugality to extreme. I have to force my mom to go on trips. She is still in good health, so this is the time to do it!
I will count pennies and be frugal on every single purchase I make…except travel. For some reason, I don’t even think twice or hesitate to book a trip. My mother-in-law commented the other day that she wishes she could’ve taken her children on trips like we do with ours and actually broke down a little. She said they just never had the money to. But I know they always had new cars and nice homes. It’s just what is important to each person. We have a modest home, and my car just turned over 100,000 miles. But we have some awesome trips coming up. 🙂
@Jennifer My family never traveled, but we were truly broke when I was growing up. No new cars, furniture or nice home to speak of.
I guess to each his own. Some prioritize material things. And other people truly hate traveling to faraway places due to jet lag and cost. My husband just wants to do a cruise or a trip to North Carolina once a year. That’s it! He gets so tired from work, the thought of getting on a plane seems like torture.
But then again, he tells me that he is glad that he has been to all these incredible places due to my passion for travel.
Leana,
I’m with you on this subject. I have a makeshift dining table – 2 card tables push together (how clever!?). Every year I look at the tables, browse the internet to find a better table and I pin some ideas on Pinterest. Every January when I get my bonus I go back to Pinterest but there is always a trip to take. I was planning to pull the trigger this coming Black Friday but my mom wants to go to Southeast Asia next year. She is the one responsible for my travel bug. She is super frugal but she has a passport full of stamps. She always said memories is the only thing you can have forever. Anything material can be taken away. She is so smart with money and always managed to take my brother and I on amazing vacations in Brazil. She saved up for 8 years to take us to Disney in the 80’s. But we never had fancy furniture, super expensive brand name snickers or the latest gadgets. If we want to play video games we had to go to our cousins. But my brother and I love to travel. In fact my mom and my brother are coming next month to NY and we are going to Canada together.
So I’m back to the drawing board and I found good deals for Februara to fly Asiana or Qatar. Like a good miles and points addict I want to maximize the stopover so I’m researching my choices. Also my son is turning 5 next year so this is the last year I can pull him from school to travel for a long period of time without getting in trouble. Everybody has diferente priorities. Enjoy your hand me down recliner and here we come Bora Bora.
@Tania I agree with your mom! Enjoy your time with her.
Obviously, balance is important. I’m not sure I’m a good example on that, and perhaps we are biting off more than we can chew. But this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I’m going for it! I really wish we didn’t take on car payments last year, but I didn’t know this trip would be on the horizon. Plus, my husband is happy, so I have to make my peace with it.
On stopovers, I recommend you don’t try to go overboard. Yes, some programs will let you stop at five cities for free. If you want to visit them, great. But otherwise, it may be best to keep it simple.
We are redeeming miles on point A to point B tickets. Of course, with new AA rules, there is no choice now anyway. But I honestly would skip stopovers regardless, unless they were in places we were planning on visiting. We simply don’t have the time. Like money, it’s another scarce commodity in my house, due to my husband’s job.
I want to split the trip because I can’t handle a toddler and 24hrs flying non stop. We are planning to go to Thailand so no direct flights from NY. We are planning to go in February or March so I looked at Asiana but to stopover in Seoul during winter is not a good option. I also found Qatar a good option with a stopover in Doha. I rather stay one day in the pool in Doha than 1 day freezing in Seoul. But to be honest Seoul or Doha are not on my top 20 list. I only searched for cash options. I found $600rt – Asiana and $850 rt Qatar. I need to research more about points and miles, but I am afraid Southeast Asia is too “expensive” on points.Maybe cash is better option. As far as time off I am saving all my time this year so I can take 3 weeks off next year.
@Tania Your combinations are making my head spin! I’m not too familiar with Asia or Middle East when it comes to stopovers. Sounds like you got a good handle on it. I agree that when you have a small child, breaking up the flight and relaxing for one night is often a good idea. That’s why my SIL wanted to stop in Fiji on the way from Sydney to LAX. I would love to do that as well, but we simply don’t have the time.
This made me laugh – especially the other priorities you’re focusing on like your overwater bungalow in Bora Bora. We leave for our BB trip next Thursday, so that’s about all that’s on my mind, too!
There are a lot of things in this house I could upgrade but won’t. We have peel and stick floors in our master bath, for example. And our kid’s bathroom is still the same as it was 30 years ago when the house was built. But I just can’t bring myself to care.
@Holly Haha! That’s how I feel. I know I should probably get nicer things for the house, but I just don’t care enough to part with cash. I did debate on the recliner because it looks so ridiculous. The photo is a bit dark and doesn’t convey what a clown house we live in. 🙂
But I really need to save money for Bora Bora right now. And it appears that we may have to pay cash for overwater bungalow. It kills me to think about, but heck, how often do we get to go to Bora Bora, right? I’m slowly working on piecing everything together, though not all the flights are booked yet. And everything will end up costing an arm and a leg, even after burning points.
Enjoy BB!!
Totally agree with you as another person who lives in a 1450 square foot house. We’ve gotten the starter home comment a lot. Funny but the people who commented in the past are now realizing that they are “house poor” and wish they had bought a smaller, less expensive house. Meanwhile since we only spend 15 percent of our income on our mortgage, we are able to travel extensively. We’re leaving for WaltDisney world tomorrow to spend 8 nights at the grand Floridian. Next year we are doingDCL again and have done WDW every year since 2013. We spend our money on experiences.
We do plan to repaint the house, though..lol
@Natasha Wow! Grand Floridian resort? Very nice! That is one classy hotel. I always enjoy wondering through the store that sells fancy soaps. It smells so good.
Anyway, yes, my little house is absolutely fine. I don’t feel the need to upgrade, ever. Funny thing, our home is actually quite big by European standards. The first time I went back home, I was shocked by how small the apartments are over there. And then it dawned on me, it’s not that those apartments are small, it’s just that ones in America are so darn huge. Obviously, with kids, you need a reasonable amount of space. I just shake my head when I see a family of four share a tiny house or camper. I would lose my mind.