Searching for a sofa

Well the time has come people�and I AM SO EXCITED!!!

Yippee!! :)

Because we are now debt free (did I mention that??), I can move forward with my plan for a new sofa in our family room.

SO EXCITED!

Excited because it will be the first time we�ll pay cash for a major piece of furniture since we moved into this house seven years ago. And excited because I am so, so over our sofa, it�s just ridiculous. (More on that in a bit.)

I showed you back in January how I went against the sofa rules and removed the loveseat from the family room:

We love love LOVE it!! It�s made a huge difference in this room. I have another big change in the works as well that is going to help a ton too, but for now, it�s time for a new sofa.

Are you excited?! SO EXCITED. :)

I get emails asking about our sofas often � and from far away they look really great. They have that going for them.

They are comfy too. They�ve got that too. But that�s about it.

We bought the sofa and loveseat about three years ago from a local furniture store. They look like we�ve had them around for about twice as long.

I�m thoroughly annoyed with how they�ve held up, considering the cost. Over the years, I�ve found more and more things that bother me and have learned what to look for in a future purchase�

When you lay on the sofa and put your feet up against the arm � it pops in and out:

It feels like cardboard under there. For reals. (That�s what I�m doing in the pic, by the way. :) I can do it with my hand � it�s that flimsy.)

The sides and back are not wrapped in any way, other than with the fabric:

That�s part of the reason I ended up getting a sofa table for behind the sofa. I was so afraid the fabric was going to get punctured with some random pointy toy and then we�d have a gaping hole.

The frame is flimsy, at best:

Another reason for the sofa table � people would lean against the back of the sofa and kind of sit on it, and I would nearly have a heart attack every. time. It creaks and pops, like it�s about to snap at any second.

Those are some big issues, but the biggest for me is the fabric. OHHH the fabric. I feel like a total goob because I used to work in the decor biz and would create custom sofas for people � so I know about fabrics and those that are good for wear and tear.

This stuff is not. It�s a chenille-type fabric, and it�s already worn really, really thin:

And my very favorite part (NOT), is that when you try to clean them, this happens:

Did I mention we have a preschooler and THREE cats? It�s hopeless with these sofas � everything changes the color of the fabric. You can�t use water and soap to clean them. Well, you can, and I do�but that�s what I get.

I can�t even use the cleaning stuff they gave me to use � now how does that make sense? They can only be professionally cleaned. I�m not calling professionals every time a drop of milk spills.

DUMB on my part. I don�t know what in the world I was thinking. Gah.

So now, up close, they look positively grody. I mean, they�re clean, they just look GRODY.

SO�(excited giggle)�I�m starting to look for a new sofa.

And we�re doing it right this time�I�m doing my research and we�ll probably spend a little more, but I want something that will last and is built well.

Like I�ve mentioned before, our family room is really large, but we have NO walls for a sofa. (Again, dumb on my part when we built.) So we have space issues as far as the size of the sofa is concerned � it can�t be too large.

I�ve been researching for months now and finally found one that works perfectly size-wise:

It�s the Buchanan Chaise Sofa from Pottery Barn. It�s absolutely the PERFECT size. We need to watch how wide we go, and this one is just right. (I feel like Goldilocks right now.)

I love the chaise part, so more than one of us can lay on the sofa at one time. It�s also great extra seating for when we entertain.

I love the lines and traditional look of the slipcovered Basic Chaise Sofa as well:

But it�s a LOT more expensive, and it�s about 20 inches wider, which I think is going to be too big.

I went to check out the Buchanan in the store today and it was SO comfy � the seats are really deep (one of the things you want to look for). It was so funny though � it looked so teeny in the store. WAY smaller than our current sofa. I took some measurements � seat height, back height, etc. � and checked them against our current sofa when I got home.

It turns out it�s actually quite a bit bigger than ours. It blew my mind. I�m sure it has something to do with it�s placement in the huge showroom compared to our normal family room. But the fact that it�s higher off the ground and taller made me fall in love with it even more�so I�m getting really excited. :)

I picked out a few color and fabric options:

We�ll go with twill or canvas � I don�t care for the microsuede look, at least the PB version. And the really light options you see up there? Yeah�those were knocked out of contention as soon as I got home. No way can I keep up with that. :) On a slipcovered sofa sure, but not on an upholstered piece. My goal is to NOT worry about stains this time around.

Sooo�this is where I ask for some input my Squeezies. Do you have a sofa you LOVE? What fabric is on it? Does it hold up well? Are the cushions still cushy for your tushy? Where did you get it? Do you own or have you owned a Pottery Barn sofa? (We never have.)

I�ve heard really good things about the slipcovered Ikea sofas as well � anyone have feedback on those? I�ve also seen great things online about some sofas at Macy�s.

Any thoughts? Suggestions? Like I mentioned, we�re not going the microsuede route, and won�t be doing leather either.

And FOR SURE none of that chenilley, nubby, whatever-it-is stuff we currently have. Did I mention that is the fabric we have on ALL of our sofas in the house? GAH! And OH YEAH, we have THREE cats? I swear, they are so much harder to keep up with than our son! (Hairballs people�hairballs.)

Now that I�ve left you with that lovely visual�I�d love to hear your thoughts! Fill me in on the sofas you LOVE. (And the ones you don�t!) Thanks in advance!

P.S. The Before and After Party is ROCKIN�! Check out the more than 430 links�awesome!

P.S.S. Now that I look at the pics of our sofa and realize how nasty it looks, I hope you all realize that it really is clean. Cross my heart, pinky promise, swear. But you see why I�m ready to banish it to the basement, yes? :)