A Bear in His Natural Habitat

Although I am not a bear (I strive to keep my weight down, and I'm not hairy -- I guess you might call me Fuzzy Wuzzy), my thoughts lately have turned to improving my "den".

I entered the $500 gift card contest from Big Lots, figuring I could use it to buy one of their sofas. Then my brain kicked in and reminded me that I could use a new, better bed a lot more than a sofa. This twin bed with an old mattress (borrowed from one of the dorms) is pretty confining for a guy my size, even if it is a "long" twin.

I'd like a king size bed, so I really can stretch out, and after measuring the bedroom, it appears that one would fit. I don't want to spend too much money, since I'm not trying to kit out my condo again, and since this apartment is kind of on the cheap side. This bed doesn't look too bad, has drawers so I don't need to spend money on other pieces for clothing storage, and also has an available headboard, so I could conceivably put it against the outside wall and not freeze my brain. (Plus, then I wouldn't need any nightstands, which would have to be shifted every time I wanted to open the drawers at the head of the bed.)

For the living room, I'm leaning toward this sofa from K-Mart. Target has a similar one, but for just six inches longer (probably in the arms, not the seat), it sure isn't worth $350 more.

Actually, I would prefer a black leather or faux leather sofa, but considering the higher price of that material, I don't think it would be worth it. (And, after all, I'm not trying to create another stylish abode.) From browsing furniture choices online, it appears that "chocolate", "mocha", and "espresso" (all dark browns) are fashionable color choices right now. I'm not sure if that would complement the dark wood floors (which I'll call "walnut" until anyone with knowledge of stain tones contradicts me), but I'll go with it.

I need to ponder my paint choices, too, of course. (Here's the palette choices.) Froggy said that the school would buy the paint for me but that I'd have to do the painting. I thought of a dark, royal blue (maybe 6811 Honorable Blue) for the bedroom, but the school won't allow dark colors because they're too hard to paint over when someone moves out. I kind of pictured a sage green (like 6444 Lounge Green) for the bathroom, but my dark green towels are starting to fade and unravel, so I don't necessarily need to keep with that color scheme, but it has to go well with the "sand" vinyl floor. The kitchen has a pale, bluish-greenish laminate countertop and a "1970's Harvest Gold" electric stove (which, if ever replaced, would be white, like the refrigerator and washer/dryer). Maybe I'll just paint the whole place 6086 Sand Dune, which is the color of my condo living room back in Las Cruces. Then what about the closets... and the trim... and the closet shelves (for which I thought of a dark brown, rather than the sad white they are now)... and the inside of the front door... and...

I pondered if I feel lacking in some aspect of my life and I'm compensating for it with fantasizing about furniture and paint. (Other men fantasize about models or actresses; I fantasize about interior decorating.) Maybe I want to feel more comfortable in The Noog so I'm trying to adapt my space. Maybe (and this could even be a shocking truth) I'm already comfortable here and I'm thinking about settling in for the long haul.

Along those lines, I've had this song stuck in my head since waking up this morning. Not only does it have one of my favorite bears, it got me going and kept up through my workout and actually got me kind of jazzed to face the day (in which yet more rain is expected). Maybe it'll do the same for you.