Favorite Thing Friday

I am back to being an avid reader of a blog called Amazing Trips because Jen has triplets about a month older than mine and she has a baby about 6 months older than Reese. Last week she started doing Favorite Thing Friday where she describes an item that she absolutely loves and can't live without. Last week it was a chopper thing and I must now get one because I am easily persuaded by other triplet moms and/or blog entries. Anyway I thought I would do the same: show an item that I love, triplet related or not, large family related or not, practical or not . . .

We bought a recliner about 3 years ago when we turned Aaron's Man Den into a playroom. The room is on our main floor and it's our third bedroom and not very big. Before the kids were two years old, I would spend a lot of time in there with them and there was no place to sit but the floor. Aaron and I seldom agree on TV shows so he needed a place to sit and watch his shows at night. We decided a recliner would be great since we didn't already own one. We went to a chain furniture store and picked one out in a dark tan microfiber fabric. I thought it was a great color for stains. We also spent an extra $50 on a warranty that covered anything humans or pets did to the soil the fabric. For 5 years if anything happened to the chair, they would try to clean it for free or if it couldn't be cleaned then we would get a new chair (for free!). This is an excellent deal for someone with 2 old cats and 3 infant babies. We used the chair and then we used it some more. I never worried about anyone eating or drinking in it or the cats laying it. First, I don't believe in buying something and then be so overly concerned with keeping it "new" that you can't relax and enjoy it and second, I knew we would be getting a new chair in 5 years or less. Then the furniture company announces it's going out of business. So even though it had only been 2 years I decide to call them to get my cleaning/free chair NOW! Well, it wasn't so simple -- they were claiming bankruptcy so basically I got nothing but a form to fill out and maybe I would get part of my warranty money back -- still waiting on that. I borrowed by sister's carpet/upholstery cleaner and it didn't help. I warn everyone that if you are considering new furniture to stay clear of microfiber/microsuede anything if you have children, know children, or even on occasion think of children even if none come to your home -- bad stuff! Aaron hated sitting the chair but it was the only place to sit if he wanted to watch TV. It was really disgusting (see photo above)! We were ready to throw it away and I wasn't even sure the garbage man would touch it even if he had gloves on. I hated to buy a new chair in fear of of the same thing happening all over again.

So this week my favorite thing is triplet, large family, and practical all in one! It's a slipcover for the recliner! Now I know you're thinking: that is just stupid and when I first heard of it I thought the same thing. After all, I've owned slipcovers before. It can takes hours to get them on right and they can make a ugly or used piece of furniture look so much nicer until someone actually sits on the furniture and then it looks like you threw a sheet over your couch to cover it up. We were at Target looking at slipcovers. I noticed that they come in pieces (ours is 4 pieces -- one piece for each arm, one for the back, and another for the seat/footrest) rather than in one big sheet you have to tuck and tuck and tuck. And this one is stretch so it fits our recliner (which is a Stratolounger) like a glove and the best part it's washable! Now I can take off the dirty part and wash and dry it . . . oh heaven! Our chair looks so much nicer that I even moved it out of the playroom and into the living room. I noticed they have the same stretch slipcovers for loveseats, couches, other types of chairs, and even ottomen at Target in this stretch fabric and it comes in several colors. So if you have a piece of furniture that is disgusting or just disgustingly ugly I would try one of these out.

Also if you would like to join me on Favorite Thing Friday, please post on your blog and leave a comment on my blog so that I can enjoy your favorite things too!