Choosing a New Couch

Our living room has pretty well looked the same since 2011 when I painted the walls and got a new rug and coffee table. The rugs were 2 $20 Ikea rugs that I had sewn together to make a more space-appropriate size.

Really the only changes we made in the last 3 years were to add a second layer of curtains and replace the old slip-covered sleeper sofa with my old couch. This set up was just fine and worked well for us, but I started getting a little tired of looking at the saggy couches that David and I had both drug around with us throughout our college careers. They were quite comfortable, but definitely showing their age.

We started looking around at couches to see what we liked and what kind of budget we would need to make that happen. We both decided we wanted a large U shaped sectional, in a fabric that was not microfiber. After living with microfiber for so many years and with an assortment of pets, we (really, more me than David) grew to despise how difficult it was to clean.

After searching around and sitting on couches in pretty much every furniture store in town and online we narrowed our search down to three contenders.

Each one had pros and cons, so we took our time weighing each one to make sure we were getting the one that would work best for us. We actually made a list and talked about what we liked and didn't like about each one. We loved the lines and the tufting on couch #1, but it was the least comfortable of the three. Couch #2 was the cheapest, but also the smallest. Couch #3 was much larger than the other two, but also the most expensive. It was also the most comfortable and the only one out of the three that fit our coffee table inside the U.

We did lots of measuring to help us decide which would fit the space best, both in the living room and in the basement where (hopefully one day) this couch will reside after the basement is finished.

Finally, I talked with my friends and family to get more opinions and thoughts on each couch.

In the end (and by "in the end" I mean "after about 3 months of deliberation"), we chose couch #3. We decided that comfort and being able to use our current coffee table were more important factors than price or appearance. Since we plan to keep this couch for 10+ years, through children and all that life brings, we didn't mind spending a little more to get what we truly liked best.

 

We didn't, however, like the color of the couch in the store. Light tan was not going to be a good choice for us. We ordered a swatch of the grey fabric, and hung out with it in the living room before deciding it was the one.

While we were waiting for the couch to be delivered (it took over a month) we also made some other tweaks to the living room.

I was at Target one day when I came across this baby. It was an online exclusive that had been returned to the store and thus was $100 off the regular price. I had been pondering how our new grey couch was going to look with our current grey rugs and so, after some deliberation, I decided to go for it.

Even the new rug alone made me love the living room that much more.

On the day it was to be delivered, I was super nervous I was going to dislike the color, since I had only ever seen it as a small swatch.

I ended up loving it, though. It's a perfect fit for the space and is very comfortable, especially the corner spot.

We added more art to this wall to fill in the space. Our wedding guestbook canvas is in there. We also installed that Ikea pendant light over the corner section of the couch for cozy reading time.

In the end, we are absolutely in love with our new couch! It makes us feel like real grown ups.

Hopefully, hearing about our thought process is helpful for anyone else pondering a big purchase.