The Itch To Switch

 One of my favorite YouTubers is Ashley from Til Vacuum Do Us Part. She loves switching her furniture and bedrooms around to create a new look, a process she calls the Itch to Switch. I know that itch only too well. As a teenager living with my parents, I would often rearrange the furniture in the living room. Thankfully my mom didn't mind; she knew I'd clean as I went, and she wasn't going to stop me :D. We switched bedrooms a few times, though it was hard because there wasn't a whole lot of space in the hallway of our apartment. Once I was married and had a home of my own, moving furniture and decor or painting a room became so commonplace it didn't surprise anyone. 

When we first moved into our new home, I set up the living room furniture similar to how the previous owner had hers set up. The sectional was against the stairwell. It worked perfectly, especially at Christmas because I wanted the tree over by the sliding glass doors.

When the spring came around and we were stuck at home because of the shelter in place order, I got the itch to switch. I flipped the sectional and put it in front of the sliding glass doors.

I really do like it in this configuration. It's open and welcoming whenever you come up the stairs. But as I began thinking of fall and winter, the holidays and the decor changes, I got the itch to switch again. The Christmas tree, I believe, looks best in the corner by the sliding glass door. Granted, Christmas is still over 3 months away, but I start decorating for fall in a couple of weeks. I couldn't help wanting to start the new season with a fresh look. The itch to switch took over and the rearranging began.

I started by  moving all the furniture off the rug and giving it a good vacuum (pause to appreciate vacuum lines). I got this rug from Costco, I wanna say three or four years ago, and it has held up beautifully. 

I pulled the cushions off the sectional to make it easier to move, and while I was at it I vacuumed underneath. No matter how careful I try to be, dust and crumbs get in there.

I lifted the coffee table to make it easier to move off the rug, and found this under it. My son E's drawings from when he was about three years old. You can't leave them alone for a second, y'all!

I should mention that I was doing this on my own; my son E was still asleep. I don't mind doing this by myself; I'm thankful I still have the strength and ability to do it. Unfortunately, you don't always catch the mistakes until afterwards. Everything looked good so far so I continued moving furniture.

I brought the chair and ottoman over and set it up like it was before but on the opposite side of the living room. 

I replaced my current decor because I'm not ready to start decorating for fall yet. By now I was pretty satisfied with how the living room looked and I began focusing on the dining room. 

My dining room table is a six seater with a removable leaf. Whenever I put the sectional in front of the sliding glass doors, I took the leaf out of the table to make it smaller.

Now that the sectional was switched, I felt like the table looked too small. So I got the leaf and added it to the table. I also changed the configuration of the chairs so they fit properly on the rug.

 By this time, as you can imagine, I was tired. The furniture is heavy, I was cleaning as I went, and I needed a break. I went and fixed lunch, woke my son up for school, and went about my day. As I did, I began to notice something that really bugged me.

It's probably hard to tell from this picture; it might be something that would only annoy me. But the rug was not centered. I don't think it's very noticeable unless you see it in person. The rug was over to the far right instead of being centered in front of the fireplace and bookcases, which then caused everything else to be off-center as well. Every time I walked by I saw it and I knew I was gonna have to fix it, but by then my neighbor was home from work and moving heavy furniture around would disturb him. I waited till this morning and got to work again.

Moving the rug meant moving all the furniture off the rug again, scooting it over and putting everything back. I should have take better pictures, sorry about that. I moved the furniture a bit more to the center and moved the chair and ottoman further back. It looks more balanced now which was what was lacking before. While I was at it, I took my olive tree from the kitchen and put it here in the corner. I really like how it looks. I don't know if it'll stay here permanently; it might go back before the day's end, but I'm enjoying it in the meantime.

I like switching my furniture for two reasons. First, it gives the room a new look without spending any money, and if I don't like it I can switch it back. Second, it allows the furniture to be used more evenly. Let's be honest, everyone has their favorite spot on the couch. Whenever you sit down it's always in the same place. If you look at someone's couch, you can see where that spot is because that's where most of the wear on the furniture is. By moving my sectional around I'm forced to change my favorite spot; it's technically the same spot in the room, just not the same spot on the furniture piece. I also rotate my cushions once a month so that they too wear out evenly. I find this gives the furniture a longer life.

This won't be the only itch to switch going on in my house this month. Fall is coming, and that means pumpkins and pillows and throw blankets, oh my! Come back soon!