Columnist: It's sofa, so good...

Discovering that a bed settee is now called a sofa bed, that – in very few occasion – said sofa beds do not offer storage space, that while taking the cash with one hand, on the other the retailer is advising a 10-week delivery date.

Then a couple of weeks and countless furniture stores later a similar story – this time, though, a 12–week delivery period.

The sofas made it within the prescribed period, but the brown furniture ... the less said, the better.

However, it is, finally, now in place – delightful delivery men lugged it all up two flights and took away all the equally heavy old stuff.

But, first reaction? “I don’t like it!”

Nothing to do but make the most of it, though, and get on with making use of it.

That’s a slow process. What to put where, is that the right place for those glasses, where should that ornament go, and what about the books?

Celebrating that there are still empty drawers – that means I have pared down my possessions – I remember there are still two boxes of ‘stuff’ under the bed.

They’ve been there so long now I’ve forgotten what’s in them, which begs the question – whatever the contents are, do I need to keep them, after all I haven’t missed them for several months?

But, finally, after several days and evenings of moving bits and pieces around until they find just the right spot, it’s done.

And, happy to report, I now love my new-look living room – except for the space for that armchair that I couldn’t order until I knew there was space for it.

It’s now discontinued ...