Since we don’t use it much, the den has been a fairly neglected room in our house. If it weren’t for my grandfather’s generosity, it would only have a bookcase and some dog beds in it. Heck, it wouldn’t even have had dog beds in it but we’ve begun to use the wood stove for supplemental heat, which my single-coated critters appreciate.
But now, finally, we are planning to have a party in our party house. Only took us two years, right? It’s going to be a New Years Eve do and we’re starting to think about getting the downstairs set up for socializing. The only seating currently in the den were the two end chairs to our dining set which were there just to get them out of the way.

We recently checked out the ReStore run by our local Habitat for Humanity and stumbled upon a deal we couldn’t pass up. A nearly perfect black faux leather couch for a price that was lower than anything we liked on Craigslist. As soon as it was in the house, the dogs had to inspect it. Dash had a quick snuggle with Aaron while I was getting “before” pictures. Then Delta got up and gave it a thorough nasal inspection, paying special attention to the cracks between the cushions.

Once she’d gotten a good sniff in, Dash was ready to claim the new prime hangout spot – a sunny window and a view of the kitchen.

A couch “installation” is never complete in our house without a handsome Boxer stamp of approval.

Hopefully in the coming weeks I’ll have more house-specific updates to give. I am hoping to have the house at its most put-together by the time we have the party. We’ll see if any of that is something worth posting about.