repose

Couch wants / needs:

To seat two visitors / guests occasionally.  To seat family members, always.

Must be comfortable for sitting or lying down with a good book.

Must accommodate one grown-up and one to two children and a stack of books.

Must look good – tailored, not too fussy.  Timeless.  Super neutral.  In for the long haul.

So here’s where I am on this.  We don’t even want to purchase a couch yet, but we do want to know what we are going to purchase so that we can plan the room around it – paint colors, shelving, etc.  I’ve long harbored secret couch crushes on a few pieces, but realistically we need something in a more moderate range.  Think a few steps above college apartment furniture, but a few steps down from taking out a second mortgage to buy a sofa.  We also would like something a little bit smaller than a full size couch – the reality is, when people visit, no one really likes to be the person in the middle on a couch – a couch comfortably holds two, and no more.  It would be nice for it to be long enough to lie down on, but I’m not super tall, and my super tall husband doesn’t often lie down on the couch with a book.  If we find a couch that doesn’t dominate the room, we’ll have more flexibility for some other great seating options in there – I’d rather have a group of smaller seats, than one large bench of a couch.

I was kind of excited when I saw this couch / chaise at Room and Board.  Seems like a nice cross between a couch and a chaise lounge, and also gives some flexibility for someone to sit on the end for a quick chat when they stop in to drop off the kids (that seems to be the most common form of entertaining we do now – kid shuffling!)  Also, this doesn’t seem like it would dominate the whole room, and it’s a little more interesting than just a regular couch.

Next up, the classic Petrie Sofa from Crate and Barrel.  This is pretty timeless, it’s always there, and I’ve liked it for years.  I know a few people that own this sofa, and it really looks great in any space.  It comes in an apartment length – actually most of these sofas do – which is what we like – smaller than a full size sofa, but larger than a loveseat.  This is a very likely candidate, and we can purchase it here and avoid extra delivery charges.

I was pleasantly surprised to see what was in Macy’s furniture department.  And they do run great sales.  All three of these next sofas had very high customer reviews, and were at a great price point.  But I’m still waiting on the fabric samples to arrive – and I don’t love the fabric options.  The Chole is kind of fun, but white velvet’s not really my thing.  I really need to see them in my own house, and meanwhile, the sale has ended.  Knowing how department stores run though, I’m quite sure it’s not the last.  The prices are hard to beat (and good sized images are hard to find.)

Room and Board also has a nice sofa called Andre.  I’ve ordered a few fabric swatches as well.