Our new couch

For the past year or so Joe and I have been making do with very little furniture. We've acquired a few things here and there as time has gone on, but one thing we've done without up til now is a couch. Luckily, I've had my chair that I inherited from my predecessor, but Joe's had nothing except the chair at the kitchen table — not exactly something you want to just flop down on to relax after work.

Several months ago I tried to convince Joe we should buy a couch, but we were looking at a minimum price tag of $300 or $400, and that was for some pretty dinky, low-to-the-ground couches. Joe just seemed too big for all of them.

But recently we spotted a classified ad on Get Hiroshima for someone selling their couch for 2,000 yen ($20), so we went and had a look. Amazingly, it sat up a bit off the ground, it actually had a bit of cushion and it was long enough to stretch out on. And the back folded down so you could sleep on it (albeit with a metal support bar down the middle).

We snapped it up, and Joe recruited a co-worker to use his school's truck to deliver it to our house last Friday.

Once we had the couch, we bought a cover (the original nylon covering was torn) and a rug to put over the tatami (those woven grass mats — hate 'em). Just our luck, the local department store was having a half-off sale on a bunch of carpets, so we got one pretty cheap.

So, I present to you our mini makeover of the family room!



It's so cozy! We're so excited! An actual couch!

Yes, that is a TV you see, too. My supervisor gave it to me for free a few months back because she bought a new one. The cool thing about this TV is the remote has a "bilingual" button. Sometimes I can hear news broadcasts dubbed in English if I hit the button. Sweet!

Now all the room needs is a splashy picture to brighten up the wall. And perhaps a region-free DVD player so we can watch DVDs on the TV...