To Free or Not To Free

Let me share with you a little something about myself, something that brings me much happiness……as long as it goes the way I want it to. Honestly, that’s how I feel about most things. Do what I want you to do, go the way I want you to go, do what I tell you to do, and I’m happy. A bit of a control freak are we? Yup. That’s me. That’s not what I planned on sharing. Hmmmm…..lemme get back on track here.

Ok, here we go. I.Love.Free crap. I’m totally guilty of stopping to pick up those free couches you see on the side of the road. By the time I’ve got the POJunk loaded in the back of the truck I can already picture how AMAZING it’s going to look once I recover it……and bug bomb it…..and let the soggy cushions dry out…..and fix the broken arm. BUT hey, it’s free so I NEEEED to take it. If I don’t someone else will and they’ll get all the fun of turning it into something fantastic. It takes about 5.7 minutes for the takers remorse to set it. First, I start to get a nervous feeling in my stomach about what I’ll have to say to M (aka the hubs) for him to let me keep it. Secondly, I start to do the math on how much fabric I’m going to need to reupholster this GREAT couch. Even if I find fabric for a steal it’s still going to add up, making this free couch not so free anymore. Thirdly, I think about the bugs. For all I know this couch could be crawling in crawlies. And I.Don’t.Do.Bugs. Once, our dog got fleas and I freaked. I bombed the house three times, treated all the carpets, flea dipped the dog twice and swore that if I saw one more flea I’d be putting a for sale sign in the front yard. Did I mention that I saw a whopping THREE FLEAS on the dog? Did I also mention that I.DON’T.DO.BUGS?! Anyway, when I pull into the driveway at home I stop and unload the couch. I leave it there, at the end of the driveway with a sign on it. Know what that sign says? FREE

BUT sometimes I find free stuff that’s actually worth the taking. Like this chair. You may recognize it from the Something Blue bridal shower.

It was a little wobbly and needed a new seat, but those are inexpensive fixes that I can actually manage AND no bug bombs necessary, which is a major plus :)

So, with some paint, fabric, foam, batting, sand paper and handyman help from M, here’s the old chair now.

It's shabby and has small character building flaws, but I love it………..and all it’s freebie goodness.