Shopping for a New Sofa

Since getting Jim's new chair, I've become a bit obsessed with getting a new sofa. I don't usually obsess about things...okay...that's not completely true... Maybe obsessed isn't the right word. Maybe focused is better. Yeah, I think that's better, so let's start over....back up...rewind.

Since getting Jim's new chair, I've become very focused on getting a new sofa. Plus, since the bathroom is finished, I feel as though I need a new project. That's why when I was out shopping with my mom last Friday, I had sofas on my mind and asked if she'd be okay if we went to a couple furniture stores.  Mom is always up for those kinds of things, so of course, she said yes.

Sometimes shopping for furniture is easier with a good friend (aka, my mom) than it is with a husband (aka, Jim).  Mom gives me her opinion and gets excited about fabrics, style and design. We both went nuts for a curved apartment sized sofa in a muted lime green color. Imagine the chair above only sofa size. Gorgeous! But definitely out of the price range that I'd be able to get Jim...err...that Jim would go for... 

Besides, even though I loved the lime green leather sofa, it really is too contemporary anyway, so we kept walking. Across the showroom floor, we saw another gorgeous sofa. It was a creamy white, fully upholstered sofa with a button tufted back. I loved it, until I looked at the price. Definitely not in the right price range.  But a seed was planted in my head.  I knew I wanted a sofa with a tufted back.

JCPenney Penelope

When I got home, I started searching the internet.  Turns out there aren't a lot of tufted backed sofas in the price range I wanted, and most of them that are in the right price range are not the look I want. So I started pinning pictures of any tufted sofa I liked. I found this one at JCPenney, but the arms weren't quite right, plus the color wasn't what I wanted and the website didn't say different fabrics were an option.

Pottery Barn Clara

I fell in love with the sofa above from Pottery Barn...  Isn't it beautiful? Who doesn't love Pottery Barn? Well, once I found it, my search changed somewhat. I wanted a sofa like the Pottery Barn sofa without the Pottery Barn price.  

Guess what...I found it!  Actually, the Pottery Barn price for this particular couch isn't that bad, but it's only available online, and I'm not real keen on the idea of purchasing a sofa without sitting on it to see if it's comfortable. But I did find something locally that is very similar and very reasonable, plus I can order it a different fabric without an up-charge!  Whoo-hoo!

Art Van Wintour

It certainly isn't exactly like the PB version. It has fewer button-tufts and the back isn't as rounded. It has a seat cushion, the arms are a little higher, and the legs are square instead of turned... But the overall look is very similar and it is comfortable for both of us, which is sometimes hard to do with a 14 inch height difference.

So...here's what I'm going to do to make it a little more upscale like the PB version.  I'm going to order it a micro fabric that looks a bit like velvet in the green color similar to the color above...maybe a little darker or a little lighter--I can't remember. I wish I had checked out the sample.  I might have to go back to the store for the fabric sample to see how it looks here in our house. Anyway, I'm also going to try to negotiate different legs. The decorator at the store said they could order legs from a different supplier, so we're going to try to get them to throw those in for free. If we can't get them for free, we'll look for another source to get them.

Art Van Wintour Modified

In my mind, it looks kind of like this only the fabric will be a bit darker. I'm not going to get accent pillows, because I think getting matching pillows will give me more options for distributing the color to the other chairs in the room and allow me to get whatever accent pillows I want. It's also easier to carry a pillow around when you're trying to coordinate fabrics than it is to carry a sofa cushion!

Once we order it, it will take three to five weeks for it to arrive, so I'm kind of eager to get it ordered.  I can already imagine how it's going to look!  If you know of any other places I could look for a couch like this, please let me know, but I want to be able to sit on it, so keep that in mind.

Before you leave, grab a cup of coffee or tea. I'd love to hear your thoughts, so just click on that comment link and lets become better acquainted. I love getting comments. Or, if you want to click on one of the follow buttons, that'd be fine too.