Goldilocks and the Three Sofas

You may remember a couple of months ago when I mentioned that we were selling our old blue sectional. Even though I liked the old sofa, we purchased it on Craigslist a couple of years ago and there were a few stains and tears that I wasn’t too fond of. Also, the more I hone in on my personal design style, the more I realize that I prefer neutrals on larger pieces of furniture both for the sense of calm they bring to a room,and for their versatility when it comes to decorating.

After we sold the first couch and knew how much money we had to work with, I began the hunt for a new sofa. Even if you’ve only read a few posts on this blog, you probably realize that this was a BIG deal. As someone who knows me well said, “You’re buying retail?!” It’s practically unheard of around our house. Since this was such a rare opportunity, I obviously wanted to make the most of it. There were a few specific qualities I was hoping to find in our new couch:

•  Neutral colored fabric, but not stark white: I have nothing against white we already have a white couch in our fireplace room. That being said, the family room gets the most use of any room in the house, and I didn’t want to worry about every piece of dog hair.
• Slipcovered: We’re hoping to have this couch for a while, and that includes when we (hopefully) have kids. I love the piece of mind that comes with being able to easily wash things.
• Sectional: We toyed with the idea of a couch and a loveseat, but the shape of a sectional really works in the space. We also love the comfy, family-style seating for hanging out with friends.
• Meets industry standards: Ok, so I wasn’t overly picky about this one. But I did do some research on what makes a quality sofa. Again- if I’m going to spend the money, I want it to be worth it.
• Classic: There are some modern pieces that I love, but it was important to me to prevent myself from looking back 20 years from now and saying, “What was I thinking?”
• Comfy: The new couch had to pass the husband test. Period.

With these criteria in mind, I started with a style that I new I liked. Any guesses where it came from?

Image Via Pottery Barn

I mean, duh. When it comes to classic style good ol’ PB is pretty much the authority. Annnd when it comes to being way over my budget. With a pricetag of between $3000 and $4000, it wasn’t coming in our house unless it came through Craigslist. That being said, it served as a great starting place for getting an idea of what I wanted. It met most of the things on my list (with the exception of eight way hand-tied springs, the industry standard for sofas). Unfortunately, the price was a dealbreaker. On to option #2…

If it was inexpensive I was looking for, there was little doubt in my mind as to where I would find the cheapest sectional. Any guesses for this one?

Let’s face it, when it comes to cheap furniture, that Swedish-speaking grown-up Disneyworld of a superstore wins just about every time. The sectional search was no exception. Ikea’s Ektorp model had a lot of the things I was looking for, and at $999, it was significantly cheaper than the PB version. That being said, I’m a little leery of buying big furniture items from a place that makes you assemble cardboard boxes. (I’m sorry, Ikea. I still love you and your cheapness and I promise to still fill with excitement when I see your blue and yellow sign and think of all the glorious things that I don’t need and will still somehow come home with every time I visit. Love, Arielle) The search continues…

After looking through several options online, I found that most of them were way more than I wanted to spend. I was almost ready to throw in the towel when…

Image Via JcPenney

Total Goldilocks moment. Every single thing on my checklist, and a price that wouldn’t break the bank. When I first found the JC Penney Friday Sectional online, it was on sale for about $1800. At that point, other than the Ikea version, it was the best price I had found. When I showed Zach, he was sort of excited, but not totally. We went to see it and both liked it, but he told me to wait a little bit longer so we could see if we could do any better. “But it’s on SALE!” I cried. “What if we go back and it’s the regular price [around $3600] again and we really regret it?” Yadda, yadda, yadda, doomsday, the whole shebang. If you’ve met my husband, you’ll know that he has not convinced by my theatrics (yet another reason why he’s so good for me). We waited and, to both of our delight, the price dropped to $1600 something. We also made a point to call the store to find out the schedule of the woman we had worked with the first time. She kindly gave us an additional 10% off, making the sofa about $1500. I know it’s not Craigslist prices, but I’m really happy that we were able to find a sectional that met everything on our wishlist and was within budget. I’m looking forward to sharing pictures of it in our living room!