When we found out we were expecting a second child, we knew that our adorable 2 bedroom home in downtown Chattanooga would have to be let go for something with a little bit more room. The problem was that we LOVED the part of town we lived in so much. Our location is a huge part of why we are having so much fun in this city, and why we are as happy as we are. Tim is just a 5 minute bike ride from his work, which means a super short commute, and most days he has lunch at home with the family.

Unfortunately, most 3 and 4 bedroom houses in our area are CRAZY expensive. So when we found a 4 bedroom home in the right location for an affordable price, we decided to jump on it, even though we weren’t getting much more in the way of square feet.

The house we live in now is all bedrooms. The kitchen/dining room/living room is all one open space, and it is a small space, at that. Every other room in the house is either a bathroom or a bedroom. The good news is that our girls each have their own room and we have a bedroom available for guests. The bad news is that the guest room has to work REALLY hard for us and serve MANY different purposes.

Here are some pictures of the guest room, which doubles as a home office and triples as a play room for the girls.

Notice how my laptop is on the bed. I actually do most of my work for my blog on a bed, for goodness sake!

The door is the back entrance, and the one we use the very most. Entering the house through this triple identity room is very strange, indeed! I would love to have something much more welcoming and inviting. I’d also REALLY like to have a space that has a more polished and put together look. How I would love to have a sleeker desk and a meeting area (sofa and coffee table)!

But here’s the problem: the bed really is a must. We do have company from out of town several times a year, and they need a comfortable place to stay. So I’ve been thinking about getting a pull out sofa with a queen bed. Now, I actually slept on a bed like this for my junior year of college, and I’m going to tell you, IT WAS AWFUL! I slept with a bar digging into my back. Good think I was only 20 years old at the time, so my poor body could take it. But it is my in-laws who will be sleeping on this bed the most, so an uncomfortable mattress just won’t do.

I headed to La-Z-Boy to get some inspiration for a room makeover, a “mom cave” if you will. Are you surprised that I went to La-Z-Boy? Nobody is more surprised than me! Can I show you what comes to mind for me when I think of this brand? This:

I think of ridiculously huge, overstuffed recliners for men. Period. And I have to say, they do still sell these types of chairs if that is what you are seeking.

But did you know they also have chairs that look like this???

Swoon!!! I would never in a million years would have guessed that this was from La-Z-Boy, but I saw it with my own eyes in the store on a recent trip.

They also sell more than recliners. La-Z-Boy has a very impressive selection of sofas, including sleeper sofas. I went looking for one and was really nervous that the only options would be horribly uncomfortable. But La-Z-Boy has some innovative mattress options that I’m so excited to show you!

This mattress has an air mattress for the top section. It inflates in about 20 seconds (I watched it…couldn’t believe it until I saw it!). And it has a button on it so that the person sleeping on it can let small amounts of air out to adjust the mattress to their liking. It also deflates in a matter of seconds so that you can quickly and easily put the mattress away when your company has gone. Also, the bed is designed with the under-rails to be recessed, so they aren’t sticking up and into you when you sleep. That, my friends, is amazing!!!!!

I actually laid down on the mattress, and while it doesn’t feel like a regular mattress, it DOES feel like a nice air mattress, and NOT like a sleeper sofa mattress. I would have no trouble sleeping on it for several nights in a row and I would feel good about having my in-laws sleep on it, too.

Here’s a shot of the mattress just a few seconds after the deflate button was released. So cool!

I had a really good experience in the store shopping and was provided with excellent customer service. Before I was overwhelmed with all the style options for a sleeper-sofa, the salesman got to know my taste preferences a little better by asking me some questions. He quickly honed in on the fact that I didn’t like huge pieces of furniture, and directed me to a brand new sofa in their line called the Diana. It is only 77 inches long but still contains a queen bed, which is amazing!

Unfortunately, the store didn’t have a Diana sofa on the showroom floor, but he showed me information on it in the catalog. I really liked it! I was also able to check out more details when I got home and looked in the online catalog.

Then we headed over to the fabric selections. This is where shopping in the store really makes all the difference. You can browse through their HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS of fabric options online (very fun, by the way) but nothing compares to being able to see and touch everything up close and in person!

I may have squealed when we got to this part of the store. And I may have frightened the sales associate. Just a little…

I went straight for the blues and fell in love at least 6 times before something in particular caught my eye…

I pulled what I liked the very best for the pillows, and then we started talking about the sofa covering, itself (sort of backwards, I know, but that’s how my mind works!). Bob, the associate, told me about their recycled leather options, which are SO perfect for families. Leather cleans SO easily, in my experience, so it holds up better over time when you have kids in the house. But it can be terribly expensive! With recycled leather, you get the same look that you want with a much lower price tag. Plus, I’m a sucker for recycled stuff because it just feels like the more responsible choice!

Bob showed me the fabric I selected against the metal colored recycled leather. Once again, I may have squealed. But this time, Bob was prepared. 🙂

J ‘adore!

Once I had my sofa selected for the room, I headed over to one of my favorite online hangouts, Pinterest, and created a Mom Cave Inspiration board where I can put together other things I want to include in my mom cave. While it still has to function as a guest room, a play space and an office, that really doesn’t mean that it has to look so random. The room can still have a put together, intentional feel. Now that I have seen what La-Z-Boy can offer in the way of sleeper sofas, I believe that there is hope for this room, after all!

I would love for you to check out my board and let me know what you think!  And if you love Pinterest as much as I do, then you’ll be excited to hear that La-Z-Boy is currently holding a Pinterest contest! It runs from January 28th through February 11th and you’d better believe I’m going to enter it! You should, too!

And I have one more AMAZING thing to share with you: La-Z-Boy offers FREE in-home design consultations to their customers. As much fun as I had putting together my Pinterest board of ideas for my room, I also have to admit that it was hard trying to determine what would go with what. If I purchase this sofa from La-Z-Boy, their design consultant will COME TO MY HOUSE (!) and take measurements to make sure everything will fit BEFORE the order is placed, and help me find other pieces I want for the room that will fit within my budget. This is an excellent way to make sure that what you think will look good actually will look good, and it is a way for you to discover pieces you may never have found without some help! It is also a humongous time saver. I was pretty much blown away when I learned that this service is complimentary. That makes this sofa I have my eye on go from being a very good price to a complete and total STEAL. 🙂

Did you have any idea that you could get such beautiful things from La-Z-Boy! I certainly didn’t know until I checked it out for myself!

I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community.  This content has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries. #MomCave #CBias #SocialFabric. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.