Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Couch Debate Solved


A few weeks ago, we found ourselves with quite the conundrum. For the first time in our married life, we were getting ready to buy our own furniture. For these past years, so much of what we own is a hand me down. Not complaining because we’ve inherited some great pieces, but getting ready to put money on the table for something we picked out…well it was a little daunting to say the least.

With our hands in the Remodeling/Design fields, it is really easy for us to love so many types of design. There are aspects of eclectic, modern, and traditional that we love but the question remained “do we want this in our house?” In fact so much of my home boards on pinterest are not really our style, just things I find appealing. So after my last post on couches, we hit the stores the next day to revisit our choices.

What did we find? We ruled them all out. We did what? Yup, we threw out the choices and started over. And headed back to visit the same stores all over again in hopes that something would stand out. But before we headed out we spent some time revisiting our style.

I have a folder that I unearthed full of magazine clippings. Before pinterest:) And there was a common theme. Even Alex agreed when he saw them. There is a style we both love. Classic, comfortable, and a touch beachy with some eclectic mixed in. Think Cape Cod meets Ina Garten. Every photo I unearthed sported a slipcovered white sofa. Knowing that wasn’t going to happen since it’s not Alex’s first choice, we compromised. Getting in touch with OUR style definitely helped our quest for a couch. So back out we went with inspiration in hand and we fell in love with this beauty:


It’s the Rowan from Pottery Barn in a beautiful oatmeal linen. We fell in love as soon as we sat down. Swoon! But we didn’t stop there. The couch needed a friend; we found one with this chair:


Feminine, tufted, and has nail head. Perfect if you ask me. The tudor armchair just happened to make the list as well in a gorgeous cream twill. The light color sets off the brass nail heads. PERFECT!

We bought our rug a few months ago and we’re certain it’s going to look great with the new pieces:


Very neutral, very calming, very cozy…perfect for our north facing, dark living room. Now to pick the paint color and start gathering accessories. I can’t wait until this room begins to set the tone for our home. Now if only the floors would re-do themselves:)

In case you are wondering, there’s going to be a new house rule: No eating or drinking anything but water in our living room! Not at all worried about this little one coming along. 8 years I watched BOYS, from very young to pre-adolescent and their mother furnished their house with gorgeous pieces. They learned where they could play and how to enjoy the nicer rooms in their house. And anyways, no young children eating on the couch is always a good rule in my book. Because if they do, it’s always messy and you know who has to clean that up! And if in the end it gets dirty, we made sure the pieces were easy to clean, so we’re not worried.

After all that style soul searching we can’t wait for them to arrive. We know we’re headed in the right direction and I’m hoping to have a style board of the coming space in a few weeks!

Do you know your style? Are you modern, eclectic, traditional, or mid-century or a mix of many?

3 comments:

  1. We are looking at living room furniture also, and I too fell in love with the Rowan sofa. Unfortunately, they don't have one for us to sit in and try out in the store. Did you purchase it and if you did, how do you like it? There are no reviews anywhere that I could find.

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    1. I've meant to do a post talking about how things have worn so far but haven't gotten there yet. So far we love our Rowan. It's very comfortable, very deep, and has held up great considering we went with linen for the fabric. We also went with the cotton/padding wrapped foam instead of upgrading to down wrapped foam. We also found out that we can buy new inserts for our cushions for a small cost in the future to revive our sofa and that was a selling feature for us. So far we love it...it's in our family room so we use it all day long and it's been great!

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  2. Hi, Andrea. I'm sorry I'm commenting on an older post, but I find myself in your same shoes nearly one year later. My husband and I are buying furniture for our new home, and I just had no idea how overwhelming the process is! Since my PB store doesn't have the Rowan in stock, I, too, have been searching high and low for reviews and (non-PB) pictures online. I'd love to know any additional thoughts you have regarding your sofa. Were you happy with the fabric choice? Is it easy to clean? Does it hold its shape? Also, does the sofa really look like it does in your pic above? Thanks in advance for any info you have time to share!

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