A Sofa Buying Adventure

Our new sofa finally arrived and I'm excited to share it with you!  We had our previous sofa for about 6 years and we enjoyed it  but I was ready for a change of pace in terms of design and knew our old couch may not make it through a fifth move.  That's a lot of moves on any piece of furniture!  Here's a picture of the old gem...it's still a fab sofa and if we had a basement, we would have definitely relocated (or lovingly banished) it there.

You may wonder how a sofa-finding adventure plays out...let me just say that it took many many hours of online research, local furniture store visits, and review reading.  Our criteria for selecting a sofa included the following: 1) My 6' 2" husband must be able to fully lie down on the sofa - that means the sitting length has to be over 74" long, 2) I wanted structured lines and a tailored look - no "poof" allowed, 3) We both wanted quality construction, durable materials, and a good manufacturers warranty.  This was an important purchase for us because we see it as a major investment - it's our only sofa and it truly gets lived on.  After hunting and hunting, I happened upon Rowe Furniture, and loved the way their sofas looked and felt, and they were quite affordable for being "custom".  The model I decided on was the 89" Townsend Sofa.  I was drawn to the clean lines and contemporary look with a subtle hint of mid-century modern in the squared-off arms and long tapered legs.  And, the seat length was an amazing 80" so I knew my dear husband would approve!

I scoured through seemingly thousands of fabric choices for the sofa and 2 throw pillows that were included.  I knew I wanted a neutral sofa that would ground my living space because I love to play with different throw pillows, change out my accessories, and regularly move my accent furniture around.  Since I had a dark khaki/olive color sofa before, I wanted to flee from beige and browns and head more in a gray direction.  I settled on a pretty gray microfiber fabric with a chenille-like sheen and tweedy texture that would hold up well to regular toddler-induced spot cleaning.  And, for my accent pillows I had to go with a graphic yellow, ivory, and gray diamond print that called my name the instant I saw it from across the room.

Admittedly, it's sort of scary ordering a sofa without seeing the finished product first.  I had sat on several Rowe sofas and loved them all, but none with our fabric choices.  After taking a leap of faith and placing the order with the sad realization that it could take up to 8 weeks to get our new sofa, I waited patiently and only thought about it once or twice a day...  Surprisingly, we got a call just 5 weeks later saying it was ready for pick-up.  WaHoo!!!  We brought her home, moved our old sofa to the garage (after posting it on Craig's List, of course), and unwrapped her in our living room.  Let me just say - it's exactly what I had imagined and I was so happy with it!

What do you think?  Did I do well?  Please let me know if you want any more information on the sofa - i.e. price, fabric details, where we purchased, etc.  Oh, and does anyone know someone in Oregon who needs a nice gently used but still great looking dark khaki/olive colored sofa?  -Kristen