Sofa shopping

[v-girl]

So, DH and I are on the hunt for an affordable, but quality, sofa. We love the idea of a sectional (even though it means rearranging our living room). He likes leather. I like fabric. My compromise on leather is if it is a fun color. Well, we found and both fell in love with one yesterday. I just. can't bring myself to take the leap. Even my mom loves it (color and all).

http://www1.macys.com/shop/product/r...1&RVI=Browse_2

It's orange. Well, they call it terracotta. But it's really orange. Go ahead and laugh. Now, tell me I'm ridiculous and to find a chocolate brown couch. Or tell me it's fabulous and send me running to Macy's to buy it.

We did stop at Rooms to Go on our way home. Showed the sales guy a pic of the orange sofa. This is what he showed us in response:

http://www.roomstogo.com/product/Lea...Room/1129560P/

It's more vinyl than leather. It will be $788 on Memorial Day. Umm...I don't know what to do. It is a more practical price. Much more practical. But I think I'd rather have fabric than vinyl.

[v-girl]

This is another we keep coming back to look at (yes, we've been looking at sofas for 2 months without buying).

http://www1.macys.com/shop/product/e...1&RVI=Browse_2

We have not bought living room furniture (or any good furniture other than the girls' beds) in 15 years. This may be why.

[Flynn]

I love leather but would never ever buy it in a sofa or sectional. It won't wear as well. Flipping and moving around cushions is a requirement for me when I buy either a sectional or a sofa.

I LOVE microfiber. Love it. I vote for the last option you listed hands down. The only issue I have with it is that it might be a bit light in the color for a family of five. Do you eat on the couch? (We don't but a lot of people we know do.) I like buying big furniture in easy to clean neutral colors and accessorizing with pillows and a rug.

Good luck on your decision!

[v-girl]

For that last one, I think I'd go for the Vintage color - kind of a taupe-gray hybrid.

[spotty_dog]

When we bought our first ever couch three years ago (almost exactly, it was probably September or October after we moved in) I was amazed by how much of a difference the butt-test can make. Have you sat on each of these? Really given them a good settle in and squish and relax? Thought about how you'd use them and pretended to do that -- sit sideways with a book, lie back and have a good conversation with someone, etc.?

We have leather club chairs and leather upholstered dining chairs. I am unpleasantly surprised by how annoying they are to clean. Most stuff rolls right off, and you're only supposed to use leather cleaner on everything else and only every 3-6 months. HA HA HA HA HA HA. My chairs have all kinds of mystery crusty stains and they're the next things I'm tackling (on a housecleaning binge this week). Thumbs down to leather. Our couch is microsuede and it doesn't clean as well as advertised, but better than hoped. After my last cleaning binge there are only a few unsightly splotches and they're well disguised by the sueded nap. But I do kind of wish I'd gone with my SIL's advice to do patterned fabric. (Not that a piece that big would necessarily "go" in a busy pattern.)

Other than that I have no advice. Our entire living room budget was probably the cost of one of those couches! We have a Crate & Barrel couch and everything else is IKEA or thrift. I'm hoping we can wedge a redecorating project in there when the kids are tweens and can be relied upon not to smear peanut butter on the couch (tell me they don't do that any more when they're 9-10)!

[v-girl]

Just checked C&B. Out of my range. With 5 people, we need either a sectional or a sofa & loveseat. And even then, we have people fighting for space. We like to spread out. LOL

I have test all three of those sectionals. There's a store nearby (Weir's) that my in-laws have bought furniture from that we still need to check out this weekend. If I don't find anything and can't convince myself to choose this weekend, we will put it on hold another month.

[spotty_dog]

Yeah, I was when my SIL the designer recommended C&B, but we only needed a short sofa/big loveseat, and we found a couple that suited us that were on sale. She also had access to some designer-only lines of furniture at designer-only prices, so maybe if you know someone in the trade there could be more options there?

I know you've been looking forward to re-doing your living room! Take your time and enjoy!

[Deebs]

I love the color! We had a red couch for our first (maybe it's a trend in delayed-gratification furniture), and I LOVED it! It was microfiber and just didn't clean nearly as well as leather, so it is now in the home of a college student. We have had a leather sectional for 8 years, and through 4 moves, and it is just starting to show wear. We were fortunate and found a furniture store going out of business, so we got a Natuzzi sectional, leather, for $1500. I still remember because DH was finishing medical school, it was MY money, and we were mostly broke. It was a big, big, big splurge. However, we will probably have it, at least in our basement, forever.
You may not want to hear this (and I don't know if you have one), but we have so many friends with couches from Ikea that have held up so well. I would also look to see if you have any furniture clearance centers in your area. Short of those, this is the weekend to purchase! Good luck!

[v-girl]

We're going to check Costco. They had a nice big fabric sectional for $800. If they still have it I may do that.

The Macy's ones would be 12 months no interest though so I could take 3-4 months to pay it off instead of all at once. tempting.

[Phoebe]

We bought a sectional at Costco for our basement. I liked it so much it was moved to our main living area.

[MrsK]

I just wanted to say that seeing "v-girl" under this thread title made me smile.

[v-girl]

I just wanted to say that seeing "v-girl" under this thread title made me smile.

[Deebs]

We have a decorator friend who has told us that if anything at Costco fits your taste - get it. You can't get better quality for the price elsewhere, even with a decorator's discount (which is SUBSTANTIAL).

[diggitydot]

We're done the microfiber couch thing. Maybe it was the one we had, but I didn't think it cleaned up or wore well, at all.

We now have a reddish-brown leather "club" type set (couch, love seat, overstuffed chair, and ottoman) that we LOVE. Most comfortable furniture ever and it even holds up well to three kiddos and a 150 lb. dog who thinks he needs to sneak on the couch.

[ladymoreta]

I just wanted to say that seeing "v-girl" under this thread title made me smile.

Me too!

I'd definitely go with leather. My couch has had so much spit up on it. I don't even want to try to imagine how a fabric couch would smell after all that. It's so easy just to wipe it off with a damp cloth. (I know I should be using leather cleaner or something, but our couch is already destroyed from our previous cats, so a little water isn't going to make it look any worse!)