I want a almond coloured leather sofa in the corner of my house, near the bookshelves. Like, really want. It'll look so classy and cosy and beautiful. I've never been able to afford one, and think it's about time I splurged. We moved the table away from the bookshelves as it was all too cluttered, and thought a nook would be in order - a place to create, play guitar, read, and chill. We only live in a small house, but we're economical with space and it's all open plan so that there are 'areas' in one large room rather than separate rooms, with the kitchen in the middle.

It'd look really nice with my rug, bought in a souk in Morrocco after much green tea and haggling.

I had the couch picked out from a company in Melbourne and all - chrome legs, streamlined in design, elegant. They'd have it ready in six weeks - a long time to wait, but it'd be here in the new year so I was all prepared to be patient. 1800 bucks, but it was on sale, so I could get it for 1300. Perfect - we had a Christmas bonus to spend, plus I'd designed a website for a community group which would pay for it.

Wanting, wanting, wanting.

Was the couch going to make me happy?

Plus - um - cows? Thus, I slapped myself in the face and rethought the whole thing according to @riverflows values. I've always been good at putting spaces together without any money - charity shopping and making do has been part of my way of doing things forever. I don't need to compete with anyone and I know I can make a place look beautiful (at least from my point of view) just by re-arranging things and maybe splurging on a cheap cushion or two.

Plus, I had a sofa in the guest bus which I wasn't really using. Sure, it was old and the vinyl was cracking on the seat (we'd picked it up in hard rubbish collection on the side of the road in Melbourne coming back from a gig one morning) but a throw would work, wouldn't it?

Back in from the bus it came. I remembered why it was in the bus - it's not the most comfortable seat ever, being fairly narrow and being - well, a cheap Ikea throwaway couch. Then I remembered that it is actually a convertable bed, so I made it into it's bed formation. Still, it had all those cracks in the vinyl. A throw? No, it just slides off and is too messy for me. A-ha! Flip it! In it's new formation, with the back rest of the sofa now to the front, and the front of the sofa to the back with it's arms cranked up on an angle, it's perfect!

A bit of re-arranging and a couple of new cushions (I love the green, a colour that's also in the rug) and moving of the monstera deliciousa from the bathroom, and I'm happy.

Feeling good for not being part of a consumer culture.

Plus, it's damn comfortable and I think it's going to be my new chill spot for the summer.