purchasing a new sofa part 2

We did it!! There was a holiday sale at Pottery Barn that ended yesterday so in order to capture maximum savings, I made the purchase. The sofa won't be ready for 8 - 10 weeks but with how fast life seems to be flying by that almost feels like no time at all. To pick off where I left off on Friday, we had decided on the Carlisle Grand Sofa with a down filled bench seat but were unsure about the fabric selection. From the start, I knew we needed a performance fabric. The sofa is Booker's favorite place to nap and while, I have grand illusions of restricting access to the new sofa it probably won't happen. He just looks so cozy and cute snuggled up! 

I also had determined that we wanted something neutral. As discussed, the sofa is BIG! So I wanted to minimize its scale with doing a light colored fabric - one that would also hide dog hair. My gut reaction was to do ivory as that is what the sofa is always photographed in and what we saw it in at the store. 

Carlisle sofa by Pottery Barn

Now ivory might seem in contradiction to my desire for a performance fabric but it is not. Pottery Barn carries several lines of performance fabrics that are stain resistant regardless of color. Now would a navy performance fabric do better than an ivory one - yes. But an ivory performance fabric would win over a navy non-performance fabric. Interesting right? Or at least this is what I have been reassured to by several sales people. I also did my own stain tests on a selection of fabric samples. I tried soy sauce, sriracha and butter. The butter proved to be the hardest to get out but I also really rubbed it in there. The soy sauce pretty much just beaded up and I could whip it away and the sriracha for the most part came out with a little work. 

Ultimately, it came down to two fabrics - the Sunbrella Sahara Weave in Ivory and the Premium Performance Basketweave in Ivory. The Sunbrella is a Grade C fabric while the Premium is the highest grade above E. The overall color is really the same between the two but their nap or texture is different. The Sunbrella has a flatter and more striated weave while the Premium (which is a Perennials fabric) has more texture and looks like linen. Aesthetically, it was a clear winner for me - the Premium. But, the Premium would have been $550 more and I had concerns about how the texture would do with dog nails and little pulls in the fabric. So the winner - the Sunbrella Sahara Weave in Ivory! I still have some reservations about the fabric but with the dollar savings I am already thinking about finding two vintage chairs to reupholster for the room.... 

Fingers crossed the sofa fits through the doorway...eeks!

purchasing a new sofa

Back in September, I wrote this post about how we had moved into round 3 of our first floor renovation planning. The general theme of the post was about balance and fluidity. Finding a plan that works functionally and aesthetically but that is also feasible for us. It also was about relaxing the process and understanding that things might come together in pieces. After a couple of months of drawing, redrawing, sitting on the design and coming back to the design, I think we have a design plan that fits these two themes. I am not saying its not going to change but, at least right now I feel good about it. So good in fact, that I think we are going to take the plunge toward commitment and purchase a new sofa.

Now this is not how I would typically recommend proceeding. The purchasing of main pieces of furniture should generally be the last thing or at least near the end of a renovation list. But sometimes in the design of a home, things don't come together efficiently or necessarily in the right order. 

The main reason for us jumping out of order and why I feel fine with doing it, is that we really need a new sofa! Ours is my post college sofa that my parents bought for me for my first apartment. I think it was originally $400 and is now in its 7th year of use. It has been moved 4 times, been spilled on and stained an unmentionable amount and has never been professionally cleaned. I/we never anticipated having it this long and have really pushed its limits in terms of acceptability. We have put off purchasing a new sofa because I didn't want to do so without having a plan for our renovation. So now that we have a plan, one that is well designed and attainable in the near future, we are moving forward with the big purchase.

First, the living room plan. We need a sofa that will work with our existing layout and one that will work with the new. Our current room floor plan below.

The room is challenging because it is 1.) not that big 2.) has a flue that protrudes into the room and 3.) has 4 door openings and 3 doors. Its positives are that 1.) it is close to the kitchen 2.) has good natural light through a pair of french doors and one large window and 3.) has the original chair rail and molding. To address the negatives and accentuate the positives (plus keep in mind the flow of the rest of the first floor) I have come up with this plan. 

The first big gesture of the plan is to change the room's opening to our back hall and kitchen. Essentially, we will be closing in the current access and a closet to create a large center opening. This will allow for a partial open floor plan with sight lines from the living room into the kitchen and from the front door all the way to the back of the house. The second big gesture is to fur out the flue bump out to make a proper fireplace. We haven't figured out how or if we will retro fit the flue to be a working fireplace but by widening the bump out we will make an architectural feature out of what currently is an awkward eye sore. 

Now for the furniture plan. The obvious and really only starting point is for the sofa to go opposite what will be the new focal point in the room - the fireplace. And if you refreshed your memory by reading the September post, you know that I had pretty much decided on a sectional. Specifically, the Carlisle chaise sectional from Pottery Barn. In the plan, the sectional would look like this.

Carlisle Slipcovered 2-Piece Chaise Sectional

The main draw back of this configuration is that the chaise extends into the center opening. Meaning you would have to walk around it to get into the room. With the renovation, the back hall is going to generously sized so I do think it would work if we really wanted it to. However, the sofa is already largely scaled for the room and I worry about how big it will feel - especially if it obstructs the opening. If we did the regular sized Carlisle at 80" long it would look like this in plan.

Carlisle Upholstered Sofa - Front View

And if we did the grand Carlisle at 90.5" it would look like this in layout.

Design wise, I would say the standard 80" size is best scale for the room. In fact, if I was being really design focused I would probably not recommend this sofa at all because of its 45" depth. A narrower sofa would be more in proportion to the room something around 38". But its not always all about design but balancing design with wants/needs and what we want is a big, cozy deep sofa. 

Carlisle Upholstered Sofa - Side View

So what have we decided on....the grand Carlisle sofa! We had the opportunity to sit on the grand over Thanksgiving in Chicago (our local store didn't have the model) and found the extra length along with how deep and cozy the sofa already is made the chaise not really necessary. Nice but not needed. And considering our room plan as well as the greater versatility of a sofa over a sectional, we have pretty much decided. We also know we want the one bench cushion - no center sag - and the down blend cushion. Now we just have to select the fabric.....

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

round 3 of first floor renovation planning

Back in June, I wrote this post about how we were in round 2 of the mud room renovation planning. I would now say we are in round 3. Round 2 consisted of getting bids on a major renovation - relocating a bathroom, knocking down walls, a new kitchen, the mud room. The plan was to break the renovation into two phases with the first phase being a new mud room, some spatial reconfiguration of the back hall and mostly aesthetic updates to our living room. We got three separate bids which were on average significantly higher than anticipated. In addition to having sticker shock, we also have started to doubt the idea of doing two significant phases of a first floor renovation - twice the mess, twice the disruption in daily life. And while we plan to be in this house for several years to come, its most likely not our forever home thus the idea of spending a large chunk of our time here in a construction zone just isn't appealing.

So back to the drawing board. For round 3 of planning, I am changing my approach in how I look at the project. In round 1, I was too focused on just the mud room and not thinking about the flow of the rest of the first floor. In round 2, I didn't give enough consideration to what it would be like to live through/pay for such extensive renovations. For round 3, its going to be all about balance. I want a design plan that feels right - flows, is functional and aesthetically pleasing - but that also is realistic for us - affordable and not going to require multiple stages of renovation. I think both round 1 and 2 have been useful stages to move us in the right direction and I do not consider them wrong turns or wastes of time. Rather, I feel like they have been necessary steps to get us to the final design that is right for us. Hey, third time is the charm - right?

Another change in my approach is that I am being more fluid in my design process. I always start with floor plans which hasn't changed but I am now also thinking more about the details that so greatly contribute to the look and feel of a space. I am giving myself the freedom to think about things like color, light and furniture because by this point I have much better grasp on the potentials of the space. So in no particular order and without any real design boards here are a few things that are currently providing me inspiration as I enter in round 3 of our first floor renovation planning. 

Carlisle sectional by Pottery Barn

Jeff and I have always wanted a sectional for our living room.  So with each plan I have drawn one in with varying degrees of success. At certain points in the process, the sectional was overly driving design decisions. But now,  I feel like I am at a good place with it - create a design that will accommodate one but isn't necessarily designed for it. It might not be the perfect furniture selection but I am ok with that. I want our living room to be super cozy and I think for us a sectional is something we really will enjoy. I think thats why I am so drawn to this Pottery Barn sectional - it just looks so comfortable! Its more traditional than I usual go for and I do tend to prefer a L shaped sectional opposed to a chaise sectional but I don't know I just keep coming back to this one. 

Home of Michelle R. Smith via Lonny

via Domino

I really like these two rooms for their eclectic mix. All the different styles of furniture work effortlessly well together and I love how curated but still laid back both rooms feel. These types of rooms can also be budget friendly because not everything needs to be new or perfectly matched. Its about gather things you love over time from all sorts of places. 

Home of Brian McCarthy via House Beautiful

I have had this image saved since basically we bought the house. I love the darker trim especially this steely blue mixed with the chestnut leather and natural woven rug. At this point, I am not sure I would go blue seeing as we painted our den BM's Normandy but I am liking the idea of maybe dark green trim. Maybe something like this wall color.

via REMODELISTA

Finally, I have been gathering lots of images of colonial fireplace walls. I love the texture that the paneling brings and I think it feels right for the age and style of our home. 

source unknown

via Country Living

via House & Home

To check our living room inspiration at our old house see this post or to read more about my thoughts on sectionals click here.