Displacement of the couch potatoes

The feng shui of our house is all out of whack.

This is because the couch in our den is temporarily gone. At first I thought I'd buy a new couch The fabric on the top of the cushions was ripped. For a time I covered the tears with afghans draped over the top, but I realized this looked totally pathetic and something needed to be done.

I shopped for a small sectional to fit into the small room but couldn't find anything. Obviously they've been made, because I did get the one we have. But that was years ago, and if there's an affordable one out there, I couldn't find it.

Plan B went into effect: I am getting it recovered. I chose a family company that I found on google and felt good about it because they had done work for a neighbor whose taste I value.

So I went through books and found a fabric that I like. It is chocolate, the same color as the dog.

They took the couch out last week and this is what was underneath it:

Two dog toys
Several pencils
Change
A couple of Sports Illustrated magazines, and
A check that someone had accused me of throwing out, which I obviously didn't do, unless I tossed it under the couch.

The feng shui problem is that we hang out on that couch, and Maddie sits on a corner of it. The TV is in that room, and Joe and I usually watch "Jeopardy" or whatever in there.

The living room is nicer and bigger, but everyone sits in the den where the TV is. I don't watch much TV, but I do like a couple of shows, mostly "The Good Wife," the news and MSNBC.

I brought a dining room chair in the den to watch something, but it wasn't the same.

The room feels very strange and empty, and we have had to revise our ways. For the first couple of days, Maddie was so disoriented that she paced from room to room or sat down looking at me.

The other day I was cleaning up in the kitchen and noticed she wasn't on her bed in there. I looked in the dining room and still couldn't find her...until I walked into the living room and found her settled onto a corner of the good couch.

I yelled at her to get down but felt so bad that I went and found the blanket that she used on the other couch and put in the corner of the living room couch. She jumped right back up. Talk about lax parenting.

Now we have a new routine. She takes her corner of the couch and I take the other one and read. It's not as restful as stretching out on the sectional, but it works for now.