Our Living Room Comforter Dilemma

I would love to have my family stop treating our living room as a spare bedroom... but after 9 years of occasional camping out for my son, nearly 8 eight for my daughter and some 40 for my husband, I'm better off making lemonade out of lemons than getting myself all worked up over a megshift bed in the middle of my living room floor. I think.

Even before we got married, I'd visit my then friend at his apartment and find him lying on the floor in front of the television. After some amount of time I realized he not only spent many afternoons napping in that spot, but he actually slept there at night too. So, why should it surprise me that after nearly 11 years of marriage he still finds the floor space in front of the living room television more comfortable than a bed? What's more... our children seem to think watching television with dad on the living room floor under a VERY worn comforter normal and preferable to sleeping in a bedroom.

I will pick my battles. I give up trying to rally everyone up off the floor to show them the living room couches or when 9 o'clock strikes and it's time for bed, convincing my daughter to stop cuddling with daddy so she can go to her lonely, but very pretty bedroom for a good night's rest. When I was her age I would have LOVED her pink bedroom with storybook princesses on the walls, fluffy pillows with her name embroidered on them, and even a DVD player for when getting to sleep isn't easy. Btw, the DVD player wasn't my idea either!

I'm not going to play bed police, but what I am going to do is replace that horrible blanket with some modern bedding. The comforter they all go for is from my apartment some 14 years ago. Before marriage, before kids... I actually bought the ugly blue comforter to tack over my bedroom window because there was a horrible draft that winter and my bed was right in front of it. Didn't make for comfortable sleeping. The comforter was only $17 at Walmart, so it seemed like the perfect solution and indeed took care of the problem. I think it's now time to place this sad looking blanket in the garage to keep for a future dog bed or maybe we could throw it in the back of the van as an emergency blanket. In any case... I don't want it in my living room anymore!

If we're going to have bedding in our living room, I'd like to see it match the furniture... or the room. So, I'm now in the market for something earth-toned, comfortable looking, large enough for an average sized daddy and 2 average sized children. lol Something that doesn't give me a headache and that I can live with... since it looks like I have no other choice.

I love to shop, love to solve problems, and love that I have an opportunity to do both. Do you see the photo? I just recently bought new pillowcases to match our living space. Before we had pillows in every color imaginable lining the floors of my living room. Tossed together with the ugly blue blanket. What you're seeing here is the aftermath of daddy and kids watching Disney rides in action as filmed by guests and posted on YouTube. That was 3 hours ago... yes, the mess is still there.Sigh.