New Sofa Needed

[littlelysser]

Hello All.

I could use some assistance...My FI and I are in the market for a new sofa. We have a white sofa now that I just love, which is super comfortable but stained to all hell and back. And because of the style of the sofa, we can''t slip cover it...

Generally, our style is pretty contemporary and pretty simple - clean lines and all that stuff. Although I do also sort of like the sofas that are kind of retro looking.

Anyone have any ideas? Or even where I should start looking?

Also, we have two wonderful dogs that believe that the sofa is there for their enjoyment...so its got to be durable and preferably stain resistant.

Thanks
Melissa

 

[gingerBcookie]

Not much time to reply now but www.roomandboard.com . I think most of their fabric sofas are stain resistant. Totally cute stuff too!

 

[monarch64]

Littlelysser, not sure what your price range is, so I don''t know if this will work for you, but we got a great sofa from Pier One a couple years ago. We had to buy a new couch that would actually fit down our little basement stairs. DH had a great 2 yr. old sleeper sofa that we loved but it was too big to fit down the stairs so we ended up giving it away! Anyway, Pier on has some cute stuff that''s pretty inexpensive and durable, especially around doggies.

If you end up going to a furniture store, I highly recommend getting a Teflon stain-resistant coating sprayed on whatever upholstery color you end up with. We also have an ivory sofa and a dog, and the money we spent on the stain-resistant coating was well worth it. I''ve never had to clean it with anything other than a damp towel, and I''ve had to clean mud from the dog off of it several times. (Also vomit, fur, etc.)

I found some examples from pier one, and also Crate and Barrel, here''s a Pier One for under $1,000:

 

[monarch64]

Here''s another Pier One for under $1k

 

[monarch64]

crate and barrel retro style (also around $1,000)

 

[monarch64]

Crate and Barrel--different, pretty cool IMO

 

[moremoremore]

I would purchase a Mitchell Gold or a Clayton Marcus (although I just looked and they have gone in a farty direction) or even a Flexsteel or Broyhill which has fab Baker looking furniture...I would also try Thomasville...Good stuff. Lasts forever. Tons of durable fabrics and some let you do a COM (you pick your own fabric if you can't find what you want)...

I'm in LOVE with the Coleman...I get my groove on to anything with casters LOL. What a loser. It has this modern yet traditional thing going on...
http://www.mitchellgold.com/sofacol.asp

Great warranties. I'm not a fan of slip covers b/c they just look messy. The key is a good fabric in a good color. Will last and last.

 

[moremoremore]

Ahhh, sweet Coleman. LOL.. No skirt is good b/c it won''t collect dog hair or cat hair in my case and helps to make small spaces look larger!

Please tell us what you pick. I think we should turn this place into a decorating forum!

 

[monarch64]

MMM you made some fabulous suggestions. I agree with the Flexsteel or Broyhill framed pieces lasting forever...it is worth it to spend the money on a more expensive piece if you find a shape you love and don''t mind getting it re-upholstered 10-15 years from now.

Yeah, I think there needs to be a separate spot for us to post decorating threads! Marvelous idea!

 

[littlelysser]

Okay...so I REALLY like the Rochelle sofa from Crate and Barrel. That think is wicked cute...

I also like this one, but it may be too much...what do you think? Too much? And I''d probably get it in a lighter color...

Off to look at more!

 

[littlelysser]

Oh, and price range, between 1 and 2 k...

 

[littlelysser]

That MitchellGold stuff is adorable too.

Wow. Tough decisions...tough decisions...

I love shopping!

 

[Mara]

I have to put a plug in here for our sofa, we ADORE it. We got it at Macy''s (not sure if you have one?) which is a big department store here that also sells furniture...anyway our friends had it first and we loved it. It''s basically a loveseat with a chaise lounge on each end. So it''s fairly compact, I think it''s under 100 inches, but it gives you alot more couch space thanks to the chaise lounges, aka when people come over it can seat something like 6. We also can stretch out on it, aka each one of us gets a chaise lounge of our own and it''s perfect for TV watching or movie watching and very comfy. It comes in the faux suede and we got the soft chocolate brown/taupe color so it hides dirt VERY WELL, key because of our dog! I clean it once a month with a wet rag and dirt definitely comes off it. It''s very low maintenance and we have spilled on it or similar and it cleans up very easily.

I''ll dig out a picture but we LOVE it...we''d probably never go back to a regular couch, they seem so limiting in terms of space!! When we are chilling out watching TV and portia has her own cushion/pillow to lay on, I think wow we''d be like sardines in a too-small can if the three of us had a regular couch!

 

[littlelysser]

What do you think of this one from roomandboard?

 

[Mara]

here is a REALLY old picture from 2 years ago after we just moved in but it shows the couch fairly well. those pillows and throws are gone now but the couch remains! oh and it was $2k at Macy's but i think we got it during a sale so it was more like $1500.

ETA if you don't like the style of this one (since it seems you are leaning more towards the peg leg types than our chunky footed one), there are now tons more of the chaise lounge style couches around than there used to be, PB has one or two and I think CB does as well. I just can't recommend it highly enough for giving more space on the couch and making it more comfortable, then again we are people who like to curl up on the couch with blankets and read or watch TV!

 

[littlelysser]

And this one too...

 

[littlelysser]

Last one...and I REALLY think I like this one...

Thoughts?

 

[Mara]

OH and one more funny anecdote, my couch before this one, I drove myself INSANE trying to figure out what was the right couch for us at the time....it took me four months to find a couch. Greg was ready to kill me. Don''t turn into a freak like me...hahhaaa....there are so many options out there!!

Thank god our friends had this last couch we got so we took one look at it in their room, sat on it and watched a movie and knew we wanted it, when we were shopping for townhouses, the room HAD to fit the couch or else we would not buy it. I loved the backwards-ness of it, ensuring we could find a house we loved with a family room to fit the dream couch!

 

[littlelysser]

Mara - I like the idea of Chaise attached...we are HUGH tv/book readers/laptop users as well...so the more comfortable the better. My poor FI usually ends up in our oversized chair...but he''s probably be much happier in a chaise!

Hmmmm.

Lots of things to consider...

 

[Mara]

Oh and another cool thing (can you tell how much we love our couch) is that when another couple comes over, the chaise lounges are large enough to actually fit a couple on each, so it''s fun to cuddle with your honey and watch a movie when friends come over and be able to fit on one side of the couch (angled a bit of course!!). That''s what we did at our friends house and I was like OMG we have to have this couch, how versatile is this!

 

[decodelighted]

Date: 1/26/2006 11:53:37 AM
Author: moremoremore
I would purchase a Mitchell Gold -- The key is a good fabric in a good color. Will last and last.

I concur 110%. I've had my Mitchell Gold sofa (purchased at Antropologie) for over eight years. Picked a "distressed-ish" silverish velvet and it looks almost as good as new now & I'm ROUGH on pieces (lots of pets etc). Cat hair doesn't stick to it, it's yummy textured & a beautiful shape. Since then Mitchell Gold has gained in popularity & style choices ... Crate & Barrel & Pottery Barn both carry them, but not all sofas are MG, though I think, so confirm.


ETA: stay away from the cushions that stick out around the arms. Those bow over time and end up looking weird. (One of your Room & Board ones has that problem.) I like that last one though (the dark one)

 

[moremoremore]

Deco, I''m totally drooling here. The color. The fabric. The no cat hair LOL.
Tell me more about the hair! I would think the hair would stick? I''m SO into that.

 

[decodelighted]

Date: 1/26/2006 2:22:49 PM
Author: moremoremore
Deco, I''m totally drooling here. The color. The fabric. The no cat hair LOL.
Tell me more about the hair! I would think the hair would stick? I''m SO into that.

I don''t think they''re making that exact sofa anymore ... this one is the closest I could find. The distressed velvet is AWESOME. Cats don''t like the feel of velvet on their paws for some reason so they prefer to be on other pieces in the room generally. I have no idea why the hair doesn''t stick ... I have a red cut velvet chair from Ikea that gets COVERED, COVERED in white belly hair ... so the distressed velvet is different in texture somehow .. more like sealskin, low "pile" or something.

 

[moremoremore]

Nice! And love the legs! Some fabrics just have a certain texture that the hair slides off....I'm going to drape myself in it

 

[eks6426]

mmm--any idea how much that Coleman sofa is? I''m not in the market now, but will be in a couple of years and that''s one of the few I''ve seen I like.

I''d love to do the chaise lounge thing but it won''t work in my room. My hubbie had one when we met and we were so sad that it wouldn''t fit into our family room!

 

[moremoremore]

oh you have such good taste LOL

... Hmmm, I dunno. I priced one Mitchell Gold piece a while ago...I''m almost afraid to ask...It''s probably not crazy over-priced...but I"m sure it''s not cheap..mainly b/c we like it..always the way