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New Luxury Living Room Set: The Aruba, Jamaica, Wallaroo’s Wanna Take Ya
Now that Miss Rona has canceled all of our summer vacation plans, it’s time to pivot. I know you want to be lounging on the beach, drinking a Piña Colada, and listening to waves crashing on the shore. But, 2020 has other plans. Unfortunately, I can’t take you to the beach, but I can introduce you to our new luxury living room set, the Aruba. And let’s just say it’s a little closer to home because it is your home. That’s right, I’m talking about your house. Siri: Play beach sounds. No one can stop you from wearing your swimsuit. Introducing the Aruba Luxury Living Room Set One night, Bailee and Nathan were pacing their home, with a margarita in one hand and a pair of novelty sunglasses in the other. ”Kokomo” by The Beach Boys was playing in the background. Their feet had sunk into the sand they bought at Costco to fill their living room with. They were pondering the question that keeps them up at night: “How can we give our customers more furniture for less money?” They spend hundreds of hours trying to make furniture that makes you sit on it and say “wow!” and when you find out how much it costs you say “how?” At Wallaroo’s, we believe you shouldn’t have to sacrifice comfort for style and vice versa. Luxurious Inspiration Inspired by a competitor, they hit the pavement and sought out the best fabric, the highest quality design, and the most affordable (and eco friendly) way to create the product they had in mind. And thus, The Aruba was born. A 3-2-1 set that is perfect to fill a large seating area. The Aruba feels as comfortable as it looks. With extra deep cushions, there is plenty of room to lounge with friends and family. The chenille microfiber material is our ONLY piece with this fabric. And it’s softer than the white, sandy beaches of Aruba!! It feels like a snuggly blanket when you take a seat, but doesnt suck you in like some down-filled sofas do. This sucker has down-wrapped cushions that give you a luxury, melt-into-the- sofa kinda feeling. And the best part? The cushions are supported by a foam core. Maybe that’s not actually the best part, but it’s still #goodnews. Like a Sand Castle, but comfortable and durable The base has coiled springs to give you a solid foundation and it sits higher than some of our other trendy down-filled sofas. The Aruba has a hardwood base and super sturdy legs. To top it all off, it comes with throw pillows and washable sofa cushions! The beach isn’t the only thing that is #hot #hot #hot this summer, because The Aruba super affordable. We’ve been bringing Spokane and the greater PNW #hotdealz for 5 years now, and we’re not stopping anytime soon! We wanted to create a product that makes the time at home a little more cozy. I wish you could be in Aruba or Jamaica, ooh I wanna take ya. But for now, what I can do is offer you that luxurious, kick-back feeling and some excellently photoshopped pictures of our furniture on a beach. Head in today to your local Wallaroo’s furniture to check out The Aruba! And if you’re obsessed with the feel, but are looking for a sectional sofa in just a few weeks we will be welcoming The Barbados! We’re taking The Aruba, and making it into an L-Shaped Sectional because we’re f crazy!!! About!!! Furniture!!!!! #staytuned.
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Office Furniture Perfection: Renovation at Wallaroo’s
Many of us have been renovating our home offices over the last few months. This means new office furniture for most of us. Whether you’re a DIY-er or looking for something totally modern, Wallaroo’s Furniture and Mattresses has office furniture you can take home today. The word “renovation: comes to English from the Latin word, renovat. Its comprised of the prefix re, meaning again, and the root novus, or new. To renovate, to make new again. However, before it entered the English language, the word took a brief detour in France. There it gained a spiritual appendage we often forget in contemporary home living. The French word, renovacyoun, was used in the 1400s to refer to a spiritual rebirth. This is to say, when we renovate a space, we give it a new life, a new soul. Renovating Our Offices At Wallaroo’s, we’ve been renovating rooms in our warehouse. Formerly used for storing misfit and damaged furniture they’re now offices for Nathan and Taylor. Nathan and Taylor completed this project during the quarantine. Luckily, they were able to work separately and safely under recommended health guidelines. They do owe Bailee a mad amount of credit for throwing some primer down on MOTHER’S DAY. Office Furniture that Fits like a Glove When we started renovating these offices, they were grey, dusty, and lifeless. The prior tenants had half-primed the wall and there was some gnarly water damage. Not to mention all of the warehouse dust and random party supplies (don’t ask) that had piled up. After cleaning for a few days, it was time to paint. Initially, we’d discussed playing it safe and selected a basic, off-white paint from Rodda Paint Co. That was before Nathan showed Taylor the Eames chair he’d purchased for the office. Brothers Charles and Raye Eames designed the Eames Lounge Chair for the Herman Miller Furniture Company. It was designed to have “the warm, receptive look of a well-used first baseman’s mitt.” An American design made of American wood, the original Eames Chair has become a large part of our cultural fabric. Its regularly featured on television shows like Frasier, House, Archer, and Shark Tank. With the Eames chair in the picture, we knew our offices needed to be bold. We settled on Rodda’s 2020 recommendation, “Lioness Yellow.” With the warmth of a Saharan Sun, the color gives the office an uplifting, fierce, and focused vibe. However, the painting process wasn’t quite as focused. Nathan needed to take some time to explore is inner Jackson Pollock. This led to a collaborative art piece between Nathan and Taylor, titled “The Lioness Rises”. $1,000,000, contact us if you’re interested. Throwing it All Together Nathan curated the rest of the furniture around the Eames chair. He blended mid-century modern stylings with the contemporary functionality of adjustable standing desks. The accent pieces include a cowhide rug (procured by Bailee from Facebook Marketplace), a brass lamp with Edison bulbs, and a Mannequin daringly rescued by Taylor from Nathan and Bailee’s storage space. If you’re renovating a space in your home, what you fill it with is important. A well-furnished, renovated room, is a convergence of objects. They take on greater meaning via proximity. This is likely to include important objects. You might have important family heirlooms or gifts from friends. However, you’ll also want some new items, to, well, make it new. At Wallaroo’s, we have unique items from around the world. We also have a large catalog of items we can order. We’ll help you find the right vibes for your space. We’re pretty good at throwing a room together, no matter what it used to look like. We’re sure we can help you, wherever you live.
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What We Miss About YOU
The tumbleweeds are twisting in the dead breeze across Division Street. We gaze longingly across the street at Chipotle, like a man who, wandering the desert, mistakes the heat rising from the sand for water. They call this the new normal, but not long ago folks of all kinds would walk through our door, searching, not for water or relief, but for smoking hot dealz on factory direct furniture and mattresses. We still wonder: what was wrong with the old normal? Now, there are no more customers here. No signs of life. No one rings our bell as they walk into our stores to check out our hot dealz on The Bliss, lounge on a Bellevue, or even hideaway under one of our storage beds to surprise us after we close. This is to say we miss. We miss you dearly. These are the things we miss most about you: 1: How Cute You Looked Lounging on the Bliss Remember when you came to the store for the first time and saw that we had the Bliss? You were wearing those new clogs you’d fallen in love with after our trip to Holland last year. We asked you if they’d float and you sang “We’ll all float on” over and over. Then we told you about the price and you’d said you’d never heard of a better priced modular sectional. We said, “We know, that’s the point.” 2: How We Would Recite Romeo and Juliet on the Juliette We’ve never been much for reading until you came into our lives. Sure, we have a bunch of Fem Lit laying around and that one book about the talking gorilla, but it’s mostly been to keep our image up as an intellectual brand. Then you showed up, in your teal, 14th century crushed velvet get-up, talking about star-crossed lovers, asking, “Oh Wallaroo’s, Wallaroo’s, wherefore art thou Wallaroo’s?” To which we replied: “Shall I compare thee to a Summer’s deal?” 3: How the Whole World Would Stop When You Rang Our Doorbell The noisy haze of Division street was often deafening. The constant traffic, the near-death experiences every time we’d try to cross the street for a quick cheeseburger at Wendy’s. We’d stare out the window at the blur of the world, wondering when it would come to an end (soon, we thought — and we were right). Then you’d come in and ask, “I’ve been looking around for a European lounging couch, any chance you have one?” We’d say, “Yeah, yeah we do. We’ve got the only one for miles – and it’s yours, for a great price and a smile.” 4: How You’d Hide Under the Hideaway Beds and Patiently Wait Until We Were Alone To Frighten Us You know we jump easily since we’re so often locked away in our own heads, dreaming up the next innovation in comfort or prodding over the best way to maximize our value. You know how attentive we are when answering customer’s questions and you know you can use that to your advantage to sneak away. When we’re explaining the intricacies of how our hardwood is fired, or that our cushions are made out of the same material as high-end mattresses, we won’t notice you slip away and hide in the Natasha’s storage compartment. When we walk by, hours later, and you pop out, we’ll jump in surprise — and delight. We missed you while you were gone. The real terror was the time we spent without you. 5: How You’d Always Come Back Sure, things got tough on the average Tuesday and Wednesday, when we’d spend much of our time alone. We might have spent hours in a hole researching the best factories world wide or ensuring the materials for our furniture were being responsibly sourced. After a while, we thought we’d never see you again, so we might make a new Tinder profile. But we’d always delete it after swiping left on everyone in a 60 mile radius, we promise. Just when things were looking the dimmest, and we were certain we’d never see you again, the little bell above our door would ring. It’d be you, asking “Is this the best place in a 60 mile radius to score a hot deal on a mattress?” We always loved that about you, how you’d play coy, like you didn’t know we have the hottest dealz anywhere in the country. But we know you know; it’s why you always come back.
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A Sectional for Social Distancing: 5 Bliss Configurations for Social Distancing
The irony of social-distancing is that its also creating a surplus of social time within family units. By now, you might be craving a meet-up with your book club and you might even be missing Debrah by now, even after what she said about your couch last time. Though, she might have a point, which is really what bothered you. You’re starting to think it would be nice to have a new couch, maybe a sectional for social distancing. If you’re looking for a new couch that will allow for social distancing within your home – and maximum comfort – you might consider the Bliss. Built for maximum comfort, the Bliss’s modular design also allows you to get pretty creative with your social distancing options. Check out our top-five suggestions below. 1: The Titanic Sure, you love your partner: they complete you, support you, and help you grow. You couldn’t imagine your life without them – until you’re quarantined together. Then you might need a few extra minutes of alone time or at least a little more distance on the couch. One great option is to throw your partner off a boat – along with a piece of the Bliss attached to a flotation device. This sectional for social distancing should get you a few extra minutes to yourself in the next few weeks. 2: The Rainbow This option is ideal for those with a healthy backyard. It is Spring after all. Maybe you’re still feeling some St. Paddy’s day vibes or want to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community – either way, the Rainbow is the ideal Bliss configuration for you. All you need to do is purchase some dye (or make your own with this tutorial) ) and stack your Bliss in an arc. You and your partner might be far away, but they were always your pot of gold anyways! 3: The Fortress Maybe you need more than six feet away from your kids for a few minutes. That’s totally natural: they should be at school right now anyways! Don’t worry, this sectional for social distancing can help! Did you know you can stack our Bliss Pieces on top of each other to create a fortress wall around your children? The high-density foam will also muffle sound – if you save a piece or two of the Bliss for yourself, you can take a quick nap! 4: The Wall By now, your children have most certainly broken free of “The Fortress” and what you need now is “The Wall”. A classic defense system, the wall is the prototype for all social distancing. If you’re not over the ending of Game of Thrones yet, you could recreate some of the epic battles at the Wall. Or just tell your children you’re going to do some live-action roleplaying, that they are are the White Walkers (Furniture), and that they should stay on the other side unless they want to see you spit fire. 5: The Tetris Master (Nathan's Choice) There’s literally nothing stopping you from filling your whole house with pieces of the Bliss sectional. That’s a recipe for endless comfort, which means the whole family can curl up after a long day of social distancing and get some much-earned and needed rest. There’s no end in sight, so you might as well learn to love every square foot of your home!
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Bliss Section-L Sectional – A Brief History
By now, you might have read our past blog post about fun, social distancing friendly configurations of the Bliss Section-L Sectional.(If you haven’t, check it out here! You might be wondering about the origins of this mystical beauty, the Bliss Section-L Sectional, which is one of our top sellers. You can check it out in our store here! Origins of the Bliss Section-L Sectional Our story begins in 2017, when Nathan and Bailee were visiting Bailee’s family in her hometown of Salt Lake City, Utah. After a nice brunch, they took a trip to City Creek Center, a bougie, church-owned mall complete with a dress-code. They weren’t going to let Nathan in, until he proved he was, in fact, wearing H&M sweat pants. After snagging a coffee at Starbucks, the group made their way past the mall’s ornate fountain and caught up. Eventually, they found their way into a high-end, luxury store, which need not be named here. Bailee made sure to set her coffee on the ground outside of this store, just to be safe. You’ll find out why she would have spit her coffee out in a minute. As they walked through the store, a couch unlike any other caught Nathan and Bailee’s eye. It was a white, modern, modular sectional. The young couple sat down and experienced a level of comfort that would become the standard for Wallaroo’s. At the time, we weren’t making and designing our own furniture quite yet, so the couple considered purchasing this beauty. A young woman working at the store eventually walked by with her iPad and the couple inquired about purchasing the sectional. In a calm, matter of fact tone, the young woman looked up from her iPad and responded that the sectional would cost $24,000! Good thing Bailee left her coffee outside, or they might have ended up making that purchase! As lost loves go, you never forget the one that got away. Nathan and Bailee couldn’t stop thinking about that couch when they returned to Spokane. So, they decided on the only reasonable option for the owners of an up and coming furniture chain: they’d just make their own! Making it Our Own Modular Sectional In 2018, Wallaroo’s received its first shipment of our Bliss sectionals. Much to Nathan and Bailee’s dismay, our first version of the Bliss was disappointing. As a young company, we didn’t know how important clarity was when working with factories. As a result, many of the specifications were off. Not only was the size a little wonky, but it was upholstered with scratchy linen. To top it off, it was filled with 100% duck down, which made it lacking in the fluff department. This combo meant every time you sat down, it made a gross crunching noise. But, hey, at least it didn’t quack… Modular Sectional, Modular Mind This all to say the first version of the Bliss was a bit of a flop, which made Nathan and Bailee wary of experimenting with new designs for a few months. However, within a few months, they had bounced back, having learned from their miscalculations. And it’s good they did, because the Bliss is one of our best sellers. Nathan had this to say: “After the first Bliss, we went back to the drawing board. We studied the exact specifications of the couch we fell in love with and the versions our competitors came up with. We synthesized this information and used it to make what we consider the perfect modular sectional.” Our first step was to work with a different factory, one which valued quality and customer service as much as we do at Wallaroo’s. This allowed us a lengthier design phase, which resulted in a prototype we could inspect. The factory also sent us several fabric swatches, which Bailee painstakingly researched before settling on the colors. This research involved a lot of wine, but not (only) in the way you think! Durability is one of the major components of value, so Bailee spilled wine on each of the fabric swatches to see which fabric cleaned the easiest. Ironically, it was the lightest fabric! Achieving that Perfect, Blissful Feeling So, what makes Wallaroo’s Bliss “the perfect modular sectional”? The answer is simple: it’s the best VALUE of a modular sectional around. Featuring kiln-fired hardwood, memory foam cushions (yeah, the stuff they make those fancy beds out of), and removable, double-cased linen covers (80% down), our Bliss is built to last and comes at a price everyone can swing. If you want to check one out, you can be assured that there’s no dress code at Wallaroo’s (though shirts and shoes are highly encouraged). In fact, come on down in your sweats, so you can get a real test-drive of the Bliss. And, it is Spokane, so don’t leave your coffee outside!
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