UncategorizedThe Epic Sofa Saga April 25, 2013I posted a few weeks ago about our decision to forego the white couch I loved so dearly and search for a new one. Yes, that post was entitled, “The Death of the White Couch.” I’m still in mourning… Oh well, onto the next little, comfy beauty. Y’all had some awesome feedback and I had to come back and give you an update. I had decided to go with charcoal gray and these were three I loved based on looks. 1. {via} Some of you liked this one best because of its classic versatility. Jennifer so sweetly said that it would be better to bring in more modern accents in accessories and go more classic with the couch. I totally get that point. 2. {via} Many of you liked this one for its mid-century modern vibe. I still love the wood base and tufting. 3. {via} A lot of you also liked the modern vibe of this one. Well….guess which we’re getting? Drumroll, please…. NONE OF THE ABOVE. I know, sadness. But as I told y’all that day, we had to test them for comfort and they had to pass the hubby test. He doesn’t have an opinion on all design matters, but he definitely did on the couch. He really, really wasn’t feeling 2 and 3. They were too modern for him. I won’t dare tell you the awful things he said about them because I can’t let them hear…it would hurt their gorgeous modern sofa self esteem. My favorite (though I didn’t tell in that post because I wanted all of your lovely opinions) was number 2. I loved the wood and tufting. So, after hubby destroyed my dreams said no, we decided on number 1 (just kidding honey…kind of ). Assuming it would pass the comfort test…. Well, it didn’t. It wasn’t horrible, but the seat was not nearly deep enough for either one of us. I like to lounge on the couch and watch movies, and when I did, I literally almost fell in the floor. Not good. Yes, I usually choose form over function, pretty over practicality, but it wasn’t happening in this case. So, while at IKEA, we had a look around. I came across their Karlstad sofa, which came in a variety of colors. No charcoal gray really. They had a dark gray, but it looked black. But they have this color and I am so in love with it. {via} Gorgeous linen-looking fabric? Wooden legs? I was falling in couch love from across the room. And then I sat down on it and wanted to cry. Much deeper seat that the Ektorp, but very short back. I’m not incredibly tall, but if I leaned my head back, there was nothing to rest on. Darn you, gorgeous, but not loungeable IKEA sofas! In my despair, I happened to glance up and saw this… {via} The Kivik Sofa in white. Of course I fell in love with the white immediately. It reminds me so much of the Restoration Hardware one that Lauren from Pure Style Home recently bought. The shape still felt modern to me, but a bit more classic for Chris! Perfect mix! I walked towards it, pleading with every step that IKEA would make it comfy. I reached it. I brushed the arm, took a deep breath and sat down. Am I being overly dramatic? For a sofa? Of course not. The Hallelujah Chorus started playing as I took inventory: deep seat? check. high back for lounging? check. comfy, plush cushions? check. Yay!!!! We found her… Of course, Chris quickly reminded me that we were not having another white sofa. I gave myself a little pep talk recounting the reasons why this gorgeous white sofa would not stay white in our home (read Great Dane Gracie). I searched the fabric swatches for other options and found two: Tullinge Gray-Brown {via} This looked much more brown than gray in person, which I wasn’t sold on. And Teno Light Gray {via} Huh, light gray? Definitely not charcoal. But I did love the texture this one had. All other colors were more flat. To throw another kink in the mix, on our trip to Savannah, we went thrifting. What? Isn’t that your main goal on a vacation? Check into hotel then immediately search for local thrift stores? I know, we’re weird. Anyways… On this thrifting trip, my husband found a dark leather chair and he was going to explode if I didn’t let him bring it home to live in our living room. This is a whole other story and a whole other day of mental processing for me, so I’ll share it at another time. But, long story short, we bought it as a compromise. It’s dark brownish and really looks bad with charcoal gray. So, here’s my dilemma… I love the Kivik Sofa and the Teno Light Gray would go well with this dark brown leather chair. But this medium, textured gray would be AMAZING with that chair and more in-line with what I was picturing. Only problem, I need to find a COMFORTABLE couch in this color. So, at this point, I’m still looking, but may end up buying Kivik in Teno Gray. Any ideas? Know of any gorgeous, cheap sofas in that great medium gray? Which color do you think would look best beside a brown-ish dark chair?
Sara Davis says April 25, 2013 at 9:37 pm We went with a linen sofa made by Kincaid and it goes well with all our natural wood items in the room. The best part is that the pillows on the back can come off so we do that often if we both want to lay. Spray any sofa with Scotch guard to help repel stains. My sister found a gray sofa she liked at Ashley Furniture (surprisingly) but went to another furniture and had it ordered much cheaper. Also a girl from my egroup has gorgeous furniture from Havertys. Can you tell I love talking sofas? We searched for 3 months for ours because I’m so picky 🙂 Reply
Lindsay says April 26, 2013 at 7:54 am Now, why don’t I ever think of going to a normal furniture store??? Again, I’m weird. I’ll check there! Thanks, Sara! Reply
Lauri McIntosh says April 26, 2013 at 12:46 am If you like the ikea sofa, there are websites that sell slipcovers in many fabrics that ikea doesn’t offer. Good luck. Reply
Lindsay says April 26, 2013 at 7:54 am Seriously??? I didn’t know this. I’m searching now…thanks Lauri! Reply
Kristina says April 26, 2013 at 5:39 pm The thing about the Teno Light Gray … it’s going to be as dangerous as white. Well, perhaps less, but still dangerous with kiddos. Kurt’s only criteria for our couch was comfort too! Hah, so funny. Those silly husbands. 🙂 Good to know the Kivik is comfy. I’m tucking that info away for when we buy a new house with a living room and family room so we’ll need more couches. 🙂 Reply
Joe says September 12, 2014 at 11:51 am Too late for this blogger, but for anyone else in a similar situation they now have the Kivik in Isunda Gray which is the same color as that Karlstad sofa in the picture. Reply
Rocky says December 30, 2014 at 11:52 am Way too late for this, but wanted to let anyone with pets know that the Teno Light Gray cover is a nightmare. There is really no way to get the cover clean of pet fur, at home or professionally, and the cover ends up feeling like burlap. Sucks because it is really attractive, just itchy to actually sit on. Reply
Lindsay says January 8, 2015 at 9:43 am Thank you so much for sharing this advice!!! So helpful 🙂 Reply
Amber says February 6, 2015 at 1:43 am Can you please tell me where sofa #1 is from. The link underneath it does not go to anything when I click on it. Will you please email me. Thanks so much! Reply
Lindsay says February 13, 2015 at 5:05 pm Hi Amber! I’m so sorry about that. I just checked and the link works on my end, so I’m not sure what happened. IT’s from IKEA 🙂 http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/departments/living_room/10670/ Reply