Thanks for sticking with me through the odyssey that is my living room redesign. We’ve covered the drapes and the rug; the sofa is the next piece of the puzzle.
My dream sofa was – is – Mitchell Gold’s Liam.
Isn’t it elegant? I never fancied myself a shelter arm kinda girl – that’s when the arms are as tall as the back of the sofa – but I just love the near-shelter-ness of the Liam. It’s SUPER comfortable, and it recalls slightly the sofa in my inspiration picture.
It’s more masculine, of course, and has nailheads and loose seat and back cushions…I didn’t want a tufted sofa like the one in the pic, because the two chairs I’m working with are tufted. And too much of a good thing can be a bad thing.
So I was all set to buy the Liam (in this blue at right, which is slightly different than the blue in the picture), even though I hadn’t quite resolved the issue of Pip, aka The Shredder:
I think I was kidding myself that he wouldn’t like the velvet upholstery. (Yeah, I know: denial is more than a river in Egypt.) But I was ready to forge ahead, even if it meant putting tinfoil on the sofa arms. Now THAT would be attractive.
But then I called to place the order with Mitchell Gold, and it turns out my friend Liam was more expensive than I thought. I had the price wrong in my head, or I didn’t account for this particular upholstery, or I overestimated the trade discount, or something. In any event, the price was closer to $3k than $2k, and once you add tax and delivery…
I got cold feet.
It didn’t make sense anyway: I was willing to risk ruining a $2k sofa, but not a $3k one? I don’t want the cat to ruin ANYTHING. All of a sudden I just couldn’t do it.
So I did what millions of Americans do every day. I turned to Craig’s List.
Now, I’ll confess that I’d never actually been on Craig’s List before. My trusty assistant has, on my behalf, but I was a newbie. And this is why:
I can be a bit of an impulse buyer.
Only for myself, not for clients, but still. Something to do with fatalist tendencies (“Why is this person selling this right now, at the exact moment I’m looking? This was meant to be!”), and a constant, false sense of urgency. Anyway, I saw this:
Now, not everyone would see the potential :) But the seller mentioned the horsehair innards, the springs, the fact that several upholsterers told her to never EVER get rid of this sofa because “they just don’t make ’em like this anymore…”
She also was very up front about the fact that this bad boy needs to be reupholstered like nobody’s business. (Threadbare though the upholstery is, though, it’s mohair. This sofa was a beaut once upon a time.) But even as is, I could make it through Christmas – and the greeny blue color would be interesting to test-drive with my drapes.
Every other thing in this picture is wrong: the pillows, the picture height, and possibly (oh no!) the new rug. But that’s another (sore) subject. Please look ONLY at the sofa.
Kind of interesting, right?
I’m not 100% certain about our long-term future together. I’ll have to do a coldhearted cost/benefit analysis of reupholstering this one versus buying the Liam on sale in the spring. The cat issue has been…aaahh, how do I say this…resolved. We still have him, and I still love him, but there’s a little less of him to love, if you catch my drift. (PETA members, hold your tongues; it was a tough decision.)
BUT, for now we have a sofa that I find quirky and charming, that’s super comfy, and that won’t cause a heart attack if some tragedy – pet or child induced – should befall it.
I didn’t just buy a sofa. I bought myself some time. Because it’s easier to look for a sofa when you’re already sitting on one.