Gentle Readers, do you have a hobby? I’ll bet you do, being the multi-faceted gems of intrigue that you are.
I had an unpleasant realization the other day: my only real hobby is also my job. I read fiction daily, I garden enthusiastically four times a year,
but if I’m being honest, in my off-hours I really enjoy decorating my house.
Does that make me boring? One-dimensional?
Don’t answer that.
Redecorating doesn’t have to involve major expenditures, by the way. I rearrange furniture, art, books, and tabletop items with alarming regularity, moving things from room to room, retiring some items and dragging others out of closets. That counts. As does making minor purchases that could have a big impact on a room, such as sofa pillows or a pretty bowl.
Unfortunately, though, my latest wild hair WILL involve an expenditure. Hosting guests at the holidays made me realize that I’m not 100% happy with the seating situation in my living room.
Here it is:
(Actually, I re-hung the art wall recently, so this is more current:)
Our living room has been the same for about 7 years. Which, as my family will corroborate, is something of a record for me.
But in addition to the usual itch of wanting to change things visually, I want the room to function better. And feel better.
I’ve always had chairs in front of the window because I didn’t want to block the drapes with a sofa. ?? Why did I think that would be a problem? Anyway, then we’ve always placed a loveseat opposite the chairs, with its back to the dining room. It seats 2 people (snugly), but it does hinders traffic flow a bit.
Inspired in part by my friend Sarah up the street (the layout of these charming Wardmans is pretty similar), I have decided that it’s time to replace the chairs with another sofa, and then perhaps place one small chair in front of the fireplace.
We won’t gain additional seating (nor will we lose), but I think it will feel better.
SO. When we took down the Christmas tree, we did a practice run and rearranged the furniture thus:
It’s GREAT! SO much more open. There’s a wider path between the living and dining rooms, and — stay with me — because our current loveseat is shallower than the lounge chairs, we can move all of the furniture closer to the window, which means we could put a second lamp table at the other end of the sofa, next to the fireplace. Which we did.
Why can’t we just reupholster the existing loveseat, you ask? Because it’s too small for that wall, as you can see. It’s only 54″W.
I will say, though, that it has been such a perfect size that I’ve reupholstered it twice. It was pink and white for quite a while:
In addition to being wider than a loveseat, I would like the new sofa to have lower arms. I’ve never loved shelter arms in this room — that’s when the arms are the same height as the back. Shelter arms can be cozy (especially in a bay window), but they’ve never been awesome here.
Low saddle arms like this would be more welcoming from the side, don’t you think?
And narrower arms = more seat cushion space = room for 3. Hopefully.
Even though we will have space for a wider sofa, it can’t be much wider. I still need to be able to get around it to open and close the drapes, which we do daily, and I’d like room for a small drinks table on the radiator end. John and I determined that 72″, which is a standard sofa size, is too long.
64″is ideal. 64″ is not a standard size. Sigh.
The new sofa also should be visually lighter than our big green sofa, which has a tall back and skirt — appropriately heavy for our 10′ ceilings. Exposed legs would be a good start. (I don’t want to call it a “settee,” though, because settees aren’t always comfy.)
In sum, the requirements are:
- Seats 3
- Approximately 64″W x no deeper than 34″; 32″ is better
- Low arms
- Exposed legs
Can you believe that I haven’t even thought about the UPHOLSTERY yet?! That’s the fun part ;) Let me get the frame nailed down (ha ha), then I’ll show you some fabrics.
And now, to make you think I’m much more interesting than I actually am, I’m going to round out my hobby roster and go read a book ;)
Annie Elliott Design is based in Washington, D.C., but we travel for fun projects. We’re now considering new projects for late winter/early spring, so please fill out our contact form to schedule a call.
ALSO, please tune into NBC4 this Friday at 4:00 for design trends to AVOID in 2024!