GratiTuesday - Honey, I Shrunk the Couch

My husband decided to buy a couch while we were dating.  He chose a really nice couch and love seat from a major furniture company in High Point, NC, and we drove there together while he placed the order. It was supposed to be virtually indestructible and last forever.

Fast forward 11 years, and said couch is definitely showing its age.  With a few small tears and some major fading of the cushions, it no longer looks new - but the basic bones of the couch is good.  

Except that recently our couch has come under attack.  We've discovered that the stain proofing stuff no longer works - and then someone had a major nosebleed while sleeping on the couch.

I was contemplating slipcovers, when there was another issue lately that rendered two cushions in need of a severe cleaning, and I was at a loss for how to do it.

I considered using my steam cleaner, although I knew that might change the color, when someone casually said, "Why can't you wash it?"

I decided to try it.  My Little Man and I wrestled the heavy cushions out of their cases and placed them carefully into the washer on the 'delicate' cycle with only a tiny amount of soap.  After some deliberation, I decided to wash all four cushions instead of just the two in dire need so that if they did turn some strange new color they would all match.

Afterwards I fluffed - not dried - them and attempted to insert the cushions - but it was harder than I expected.  I realized after returning the cushions to the couch that there was a reason for that:  the cases had all shrunk.

I knew my husband wouldn't be angry about the new couch situation, but I was afraid that he would be upset or discouraged, especially since a new couch is not currently on our horizon.

Instead, when I shared the latest development in our couch saga, he merely laughed.  He joked about it and moved on.

I do have a plan to help hide the new gaps in our couch, into which a small child could now fall, but I'm happy that my husband has a sense of humor about his couch.  I'm glad that he doesn't get upset with me for my creative cleaning issues, and especially that he was able to laugh about it immediately - he was good with it from the start.  

Until then, we're all wiggling about on the couch quite seriously in the hopes that we can spread those cushions out again.

And laughing about the day that Mommy shrunk the couch.

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