I Never Thought I'd be Sentimental About Our Walmart Furniture ...

There are plenty of old adages about how we change with time. To me, though, a more obvious confirmation of those adages is a simple glimpse inside Casa de Cushman.

Mr. Cush and I have made five residences our 'homes' over the last nine years together. We purchased our Austin home in May 2009, and we've been steadily working on it ever since. When we first moved into our home, it was a giant cluster of furniture and knick-knacks and bedding that we had combined over time. Both of us are the oldest children in our respective families, and I think our parents both relished in 'helping us out' - i.e., handing off items they no longer wanted when we moved in together. (And I hope that doesn't sound like we weren't appreciative - without the support of our parents, we very well might have wound up sleeping on an air mattress for three or four years!)

Over time, Mr. Cush and I have used our increased salaries to buy 'nicer' items and furniture. We moved my old, high school bedroom furniture into our guest bedroom when we bought our first master bedroom furniture in 2010. Now that I think about it, only two rooms of our home are filled with 'inherited' furniture - our guest bedroom and our office/small guest bedroom that houses my Baby Brother's old bedroom furniture.

So as much fun as it's been growing into our home and making it truly ours, it's been a little bit sad, too, to discard some of our first shared items together. Sentimental Ashley kicked in Friday evening when I came home from work to see this on the corner of our front yard …

Thankfully someone hauled these away before I could convince Mr. Cush to stash them in our garage ... I sometimes become too attached to things, obviously.

You see, those two end tables are probably the first items of furniture Mr. Cush and I bought together. Our first shared home was a little condo in Macomb, Ill. At the time, I was in graduate school and Mr. Cush was in the frozen food delivery business to support us with health benefits and a small salary. Between the paltry rent we paid my parents (they bought the condo to help us out), a car payment and other monthly bills, cash was always tight. However, I vividly remember Mr. Cush finding those end tables at Walmart for $25 apiece … we both thought they looked more expensive than they really were, and we bought two to add to our living room.

Those little end tables made the trek with us from Illinois to Florida to Texas. And until this past weekend, they were a part of our living room. But as we've made changes around our home, we've found 'our style.' We've simplified and are big on 'bright and open,' and we like 'pops of color.' The end tables simply hadn't grown up with us anymore.

But here's a look at our living room without the end tables. One was located to the right of the sofa, and another was to the right of the love seat. It's amazing how the absence of those two end tables make the room a bit brighter and more open … which was partly why we made the decision to get rid of them.

View of the living room from the kitchen lookout over the sink. One end table used to be to the right of the sofa, and the other was to the right of the love seat on the left. I love how much more the windows stand out now.

View of our living room as it leads into the entry way and where one of the end tables was located. 
Read about that 'redo' here and prepare to be shocked Mr. Cush didn't end up in a neck brace.

Riley's headquarters in the living room. 
She's such a ham when she sees me taking pictures and has to get in on the action. 

I'd like to add something to the wall behind our television, but I'm holding out for just the right something. 
I have a strong "I'll know it when I see it" belief for home decorating.

I'm trying to talk Mr. Cush into a new, larger area rug, and maybe eventually a new piece of wall art that's a bit more modern for behind the sofa … but that can all happen in due time, just like everything else. For now, it's nice to have a few reminders of how far we've come from the days of Walmart furniture breaking our bank account.