Santa Fe, My Old Friend

This is my couch. I call it, "Santa Fe" for obvious reasons. And also because I love the musical Newsies and feel that the song Jack sings to his dream place really captures how I feel about my couch. The love, the hope, the yearning.

Santa Fe and I go way back. My grandparents bought it and a matching chair that is also parked in my living room, in the early 90's. Mauve, country blue and aqua green with a southwest pattern? Oh yeah, it was smokin'. This thing has gotten insane amounts of use every single day since then.

We used to tear off the cushions and make bed sheet forts with them and had jumping competitions on the springs. I spent many a sick day at Gee and Papa's house, nursing a bowl of ring-o-noodle soup from this titan of comfort. Papa took a nap on it almost every day.

I remember one amazing day in particular: I was at Gee and Papa's house, as always, (I spent a LOT of time with both sets of grandparents when I was young. Gee used to have to PAY me to go home. That is not a joke.) and Gee was caring for her aging mother "Grandma Jakes" who had Alzheimer's. She called me over from the couch, where she was resting under a blanket. I walked suspiciously over. Grandma Jakes was not known to be a pleasant woman, even when she still had her wits about her. She said, "Hold out your hand, honey, grandma's got something for ya." I don't know why I held out my hand. I can see now it was an obvious set up. You can bet I'll never hold out my hand to a suspicious character again in my lifetime. Grandma Jakes then leaned over and "thwaph", unceremoniously spit a half eaten piece of candy into my waiting, naive hand. I didn't scream, and I think I deserve some kind of award for that. My eyes got to be the size of dinner plates and I walked to the bathroom to wash up in a zombie like daze, but I never screamed.

So, you can see why I was so moved when in my last year of college Gee and Papa offered me Santa Fe. I was moving into my own apartment and Santa Fe was just perfect. I've had it ever since then. The couch is now 21 years old and I've had it for 11 of those glorious years. When people come to stay at The Snug Bungalow they choose to sleep on this couch, rather than the bed we have in the guest room. That is how comfortable this couch is.

But, alas, Santa Fe is getting old. I mean, it's old enough to drink, for Pete's sake! The fabric has started to rip and you can feel the wood slats through the stuffing. I've had to fashion a slip cover for one of the cushions because the holes were so big.

Never fear! You won't see Santa Fe and it's matching chair out at the curb. Oh, no! We've been through too much together! I'm saving this old war pal. No couch left behind and all that. I'm going to have Santa Fe recovered. Teal corduroy if I can manage it. Next week I start getting quotes and soon after that I hope to have a gorgeous new couch and chair. It will still be named Santa Fe, I mean, you can't just REname something that's been that way for 21 years.

It's not cheap to get something upholstered. But, I figure accounting for all the time I spend on the couch (I admit, it's my spot that I had to fashion the slip cover for.) x21 more years + decades of love = great value.

I think a re-made Santa Fe will look stellar with my decor. I'll keep you updated as we progress!

In Summary:

I love Newsies

Santa Fe: Best Couch On Planet Earth

Family Heirloom

Don't Hold Out Your Hand

Drunk Furniture

Why Don't I Have My Own Show On HGTV