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? :)

I do what I want

I may have mentioned five or 95 times that I do not like the way we set up our family room when we built our house. I so wish would have just gone with the model specs � cause they worked.

But no, no, no. We had to be all, Let�s smush the windows together. Yeah! And, Let�s put in a corner fireplace, it will be so cool. YEAH! And, Let�s have all of the TV and surround system wiring installed in the itty bitty wall right next to the (awesome!) corner fireplace. Yeahhhhh!

None of these things work. :) Both hubs and I have said for quite some time that our family room is the only space that bothers us in our house. And we have no one to blame but ourselves.

Drats.

When we have a party, the family room seems to get so cramped � because it is. We like to call it cozy, because it is. :) But the thing is, it�s not a small room � it measures 16 by 18 feet (at the longest points). That's HUGE!

Other than the way we set it up, there�s a few other issues. First of all, much of the room is a walkway between the garage and the rest of the house. Then, there�s the fact that we only have one full wall in the whole space. Open floor plans are great, but they come with their own issues. :) And finally, we�ve had a regular sized sofa and a loveseat in the room:

It�s a lot of furniture for this space. And I tell you what�by the end of last year it was starting to drive me a little mad.

I chalk it up to the end of the season hives that start popping up right before Christmas�the desire I start getting to get our house back to normal. Clean. Spacious. I love that feeling of putting everything away and having our house feel brand new again!

I had an idea that would help solve the cramped cozy feeling in the room�I was going to take out one of the sofas.

But I hesitated. I mean, was I allowed to do that? Really? Remove seating?

Would the sun stop shining? The birds stop chirping? The world fall off it�s axis?

And then I realized�geez Louise. It�s our house. We�re allowed to do whatever we want. :) As long as we like it, who cares? I could remove it all and put floor pillows in there, and as long as we like it and our guests were comfy, why does it matter?

So I did it. As soon as Christmas was packed up, I started. First, I pulled the loveseat out of the way and eyed it. I LOVED IT. I pulled it away even further, and I was SOLD.

Hellooooo space!!!:

Even though I loved it, it took some getting used to. I kept asking myself, am I really allowed do this? We only have seating for three or four people now.

But, interestingly enough � only three people live here. ;) And at the most, when my stepdaughter is home from school, it�s four.

Perfect.

One of us ends up on the floor half the time anyway. So�I called hubby to look, and his first reaction was I LOVE IT. Then, it was, wait�is it OK to not have another place to sit?

Seriously, are there couch police or something?

I never looked back though. Every. single. time. I walk in our house now, I feel lighter. We have space people!:

The only bad part � now that there�s no loveseat to block it, we can see all the critters, cords (GAH!!) and cars that live in the dust under the dresser:

It�s a price I�m willing to pay. :)

Removing the loveseat has quite literally doubled our usable space in here. No longer is the Bub quarantined to a five by four foot space to play. We can spread out to play games. I actually have plenty of room to lay down and do sit ups:

Stop laughing!

Wait, that�s me. Laughing. At myself. I don�t lay down and do sit ups. :)

Soon we will be getting a new sofa (with a chaise attached) after we finish paying off our debt. We hope to fit a small chair in the room as well, but we�ll have to see. (The current furniture is in sad, sad shape, which I�ll show you soon.)

But in the meantime, I found an adorable little poof on clearance at Meijer:

 

It�s so freakin� cute! It�s really an ottoman, but it looks like one of those poofs to me. For $35, it serves as an extra seat that we can move around the room. LOVE!

Now, because I caught it in action, I will show you the daily occurrence at our house � the throwing of all the pillows on the floor. I give you, for your viewing pleasure, my son and his thought process�

Oh, look at that! What a pretty, soft pillow! I should lay my head on it!:

But noooo, why would I do that? It would look so much better on the floor. Daddy agrees, he does it every day too. I�m just gonna put it right down�

On. the. floor. It�s SO much better there, right?

And�he�s laughing. Awesome.

Anyone else have this problem with the children/men in their lives? :)

You know what�s funny? It�s been pretty awesome to have just one sofa � we�ve ended up all cuddled together every evening. (I�d like to say that was my plan all along!)

And I figure, if we have a party before we get a new sofa and need more seating, we�ll just pull out the folding chairs. EGADS. (Heaven forbid.)

It�s worth it to me:

Here�s a few before and after shots � with the loveseat:

Sans the loveseat:

With:

Without:

I tried removing the end table to the left of the sofa, but it was a bit too stark for me. For now, it�s staying. (This angle makes it look like it�s sticking way out, but it�s not.)

I love the change!! I was able to pull the sofa away from the wall a bit, which always bugged me. Because we don�t have to worry about the loveseat sticking out, I also pulled the sofa closer to the TV, so we have a BUNCH more space in the eating area in the kitchen. It fixed a number of issues that bugged me for YEARS about our great room space.

I�ve been thinkin�, and have a few more ideas for a slight reworking of this room. It will depend on how much the quote is from some professionals, but I�ll let you know if anything comes of it. :)

For now, we�re enjoying what feels like a brand new family room!

Before:

And now�.ahhhhh:

It may not be for everyone, but that�s OK. It�s our house and whateva whateva, we do what we want! (Name that show.)

Now�if I could just get rid of that massive subwoofer next to the TV cabinet, all would be right in my world. (They make smaller ones, but for a much larger price.)  :)

Is there something you�ve held back on doing in your house because you feel like it�s not allowed? Who said? Who cares? It�s YOUR home. Enjoy it, live in it. Do what makes it more comfortable for YOU. :)

P.S. The rug is from HomeGoods. The coffee table from Goodwill. The drapes I made myself. The sofa table is from Ikea. The dresser was a Craigslist find. :) You can all of the family room posts here.

P.P.S. The loveseat is in the basement. I shoved it down there today by myself � it has been in our dining room for a week, and I couldn�t take it anymore. :) Hear me roar! Or call me crazy.

P.P.S.S. (??) We�ve tried the layout every single way possible before now � I mean�every. single. way. The loveseat is too long to go in front of the window � it goes right up against the fireplace and looks odd. Then the long sofa is pushed way too far out in the walkway. Angling the sofa makes for a weird configuration with the sofa table/kitchen. (Thank you for the ideas though � you never know if something will work!!)  :)

Our warm and cozy family room

Since the beginning of August, I�ve been cravin� some warm colors around here. Have I mentioned fall is my favorite time of year? A few times? Well, here I go one. more. time. :)

The warm colors of fall make my heart go pitter pat. They�re just so�well, warm. Ah DUH. I�m a wordsmith you know. ;)

I�ve never been one to really change out my decor for the seasons � I mean, I decorate for fall and the holidays and all that good stuff, but I�ve never changed out drapes, pillows, bedding�all the bigger items.

But like I said, it�s August and I�m trying with all my might to hold off on putting the pumpkins out. You�d be proud of me � I�m determined to hold off till September. (September 1st, but whatev.)

So I figured I could cozy up the joint with a few changes � but I wanted to make sure they�d work into the winter, spring and summer as well by making just a few changes when the time comes.

I was on a mission -- make our family room warm and cozy and fallish without necessarily being fallish. Just a schosh of warm. A leeetle bit of cozy. Just a smooch. Like you�re kissin� your sister. (Name that movie!)

My first goal was to find a new rug. I got a new one back in January, but it was very spring/summery:

It was also way to small for this room. I layered a larger rug underneath it, but as time went on, it still wasn�t feeling big enough. And then Pee Cat struck again (CURSES!!! She owes me big time cash!!) and we needed to replace the big rug anyway.

Free cat to a good home!! Nah�I kid.

Kind of.

So off to HomeGoods I went again�and this time I found a GORG rug that was 7.3 by 9.3 feet. Score!! It couldn�t have been a more perfect size.

I hesitated on it for a bit though, because it had a color in it I almost never decorate with:

BLUE!!  :)

I waffled back and forth between it and another and finally asked the one person who always knows best � my three-year-old. He pointed to the one with blue and said �That one!�

And that one is was:

And ooooohhhh, I can�t even tell you how much I love it. Gleeeee! I love the blue touches!

I made few simple changes to the mantel as well. I had a smaller candlestick I picked up at Goodwill months ago, so I added it to the two to make a trio. (Decorate in threes � it works! Don�t know why, but it does!)

I sprayed the small candlestick in Heirloom White, the middle one stayed brown, and I found the PERFECT green called Oregano at Home Depot for the largest one:

I luuuurve that color!

I took the green grassy looking decorative balls out of my cloche, and replaced them with more rattan and twine covered ones instead:

Cause styrofoam wrapped with jute SCREAMS fall to me. Is it just me?

And it was done. I love it � the colors, the simplicity, the texture. YUMMY!:

  

I exchanged the end table at the corner of the sofas with one of my favorite pieces eva:

It was a Goodwill find from waaaay back. And it was hideous green. My Dad stripped the whole thing down and refinished it as a gift to me. Check out all the detail:

Can you even imagine how much work that was? I LOVE this table and I wanted to have it where it was really appreciated. (Love you Dad!)

I finally get to use all my purdy blue books now! Cause I have BLUE in the room � yeehaw!:

I found a large tray for 40 percent off at Michael's to hold all the necessities:

You know. Like magazines, tissue, a yummy candle and a jute wrapped jar. Cause you never  know when you may need a jute wrapped jar.

:)

I know the tray is massive on top of that table, but I really don�t care. Love it. (It looks like it doesn�t fit from the angle above, but it does.)

The new accessories in the room are from around the house. They�re simple but full of texture:

There were a few splurges in the space as well�but they weren�t really splurges for me � they were all bought on credit.

Chillax peeps � not credit credit�store credit. And gift cards. Awww yeah. Is there anything better? NO, no there is NOT.  :)

When I found out the rattan storage boxes from our bedroom were recalled, I took them back to Target and got a store credit in return. So I was able to buy the FAB baskets I had been eyeing for months�for fareeeee:

Oh the dear lovin� Lord, I adore these things. They are sturdy and pretty and HUGE.

And oh yeah -- the chalkboard labels? I�m dying.

I got a round one and a square one, trying to overcome my symmetrical issues. :)

Then, it was time for the pillows. Oh, the glorious pillows. Sigh.

I had gift cards/credit for Pottery Barn, so was able to get a few of their pillow covers free o� charge. I got some in cream, some in rust. They were $25 each, and I love their texture and the fact that they are washable.

Then, one day I saw a pillow in the most recent catalog, and there was this odd light shining down from the heavens on it and I knew�it must. be. mine. It was $40, and I only had $15 left on my credit, but I went ahead and paid the difference, and oh la la, it was SO WORTH IT:

Isn�t beautiful? It�s got all the colors from the rug � blues, reds, golds, greens. I just want to squish it, it�s so pretty.

Because I didn�t want to shell out the cash for inserts, I used other pillows and inserts from around the house to fill them:

 

:) They worked perfectly. For the longer pillow, a regular bed pillow filled it nicely:

Just the pillows alone warmed up this room SO much!

And now, we have a lovely, warm, cozy, almost-fall-but-not-quite family room:

The bigger rug makes this room feel twice the size, I swear. It was $199, which wasn�t bad at all for how large it is. Especially considering the 8 by 11 was $400, for just a few feet more.

Because the room felt bigger, the $10 beadboard coffee table was feeling all wimpy. I moved the black Goodwill table from our living room into this space, and at first was worried it was too big. But after about five minutes, I was in LOVE:

The Bub can really spread out his games, anyone on the sofa can prop of their feet, and did you know doing laundry is waaaay easier when you have a lovely spot to fold clothes right in front of the TV?:

Well, it is! :)

All of these changes, along with the addition of the Craigslist dresser a couple months ago, have made this room feel so grown up and finished:

It is truly my favorite room in the house right now:

I love how my Ballard art has all of the colors of the room in it as well:See that little black smudge towards the top on that art? That�s why it was a fraction of the cost at the Ballard Designs outlet. :) It doesn�t bother me one bit for that price!

I love that most of the changes in here are easy to work with for all seasons � I can spray paint the candlesticks whenever I want, the rug will always work and a few pillows can be changed out to lighten up the space in the spring.

If you could see me right now, you�d see the dreamy smile on my face. Love:

;)

I�m in full fall nesting mode and loving it! I love these changes so much, I�m making a few to the living room too. I�ll show you that soon.

Have you started warming up your spaces? Are you pulling out the pumpkins yet? If you say you are, I�m SO doing it!!

**I keep forgetting to announce the Wuslu giveaway winner � I will do that in my next post for SURE.