When we were newly married, we purchased our first lounge from friends who were moving interstate. Our secondhand lounge along with some other pieces of furniture cost $100, a princely sum to us at the time. We assured ourselves it was just until we could afford something better, as we were not happy with our ‘choice’. The fabric was rough, it was ugly and it was brown, a colour I didn’t like. The upside was, the fabric was tough, it hid the dirt and it contained a fold out double bed. It was well that we found some positive points as “just until we could afford something better” turned out to be many years later. With each passing year we disliked that lounge more with a growing fervour. It’s ‘positives’ became a mantra.
Fifteen years later a neighbour was upgrading her lounge and we become the proud owners of a mushroom pink lounge. It was such a pretty colour, so comfortable and came with two single seats. With the rising cost of $350 we had upgraded our price bracket too. It was with great delight that we relegated our brown lounge to the paddock to await a trip to the tip. It still awaits now, a home of, I daresay, mice and snakes, we have no pity at all.
Pretty however didn’t necessarily equate with durability, the suede fabric was quick to tear, despite repairs it continued to rip. The comfort wasn’t as successful as originally thought as the cushions hid a problem. The arm rests would often slip sideways and when the younger children threw their heads down they would hurt their heads badly on the timber frame underneath. The pink did not hide the dirt as well as brown. Four years after acquisition the lounge was starting to look the ‘worse for wear’. We started dreaming of our next lounge, it would be leather, a dark colour and large enough to seat us all.
The week of our birthdays PC entered our local furniture store to pick up a computer game the boys had ordered. He rang me from the store rather excited, a leather lounge was on a massive price reduction and it fit our criteria for our dream lounge. He wanted me to come in to see if I liked it. That afternoon we met at the store and after sitting on all leather lounges in the store we ‘sealed the deal’. It was a very exciting moment when the lounge was delivered the next day, just in time for our birthdays.
Our leather lounge has lived up to expectations, it looks terrific, is easy to take care of and is extremely comfortable. A couple of the children have slept on it and declare it is as comfortable as their beds. Whilst over the years we focused on the positives of our previous lounges, the ‘horrid brown’ and the ‘disappointing pink’, we value our leather lounge all the more for those years. Nineteen years is a long time to wait for your dream lounge, however I believe it is all the sweeter for waiting.