Apr 11, 2012

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

6 comments:

  1. That is a stunning find! Congrats!

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  2. Are you still enjoying you sofa? I am on a journey to find my sofa too and was looking at the Rowe sofas as well. Was the price reasonable?

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    1. Yes, we love the sofa! I'd say they're moderately priced, but find a retailer and ask when they're having a sale. You'll pay 20% less...which makes it so much better.

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  3. @Kristen @ Inspired Whims

    Thank you so much for the reply. Have a great day

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  4. Kristen, I'm looking at the same sofa and wondering which fabric you chose. Do you happen to recall the color and/or swatch number? Has it held up well so far?

    Thanks much!!

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  5. @Casey
    Hi Casey!

    My sofa is the Townsend 3 cushion sofa by Rowe. On the receipt it says model number K620K-000 - that’s for the sofa model - then it has the following "TP: Q-10170-33" and then "R23721-10”. One of those codes represents the gray and yellow diamond print cushion fabric (it came with two pillows in an accent fabric of your choosing) and the other code represents the gray sofa fabric, but I’m not certain which designates which. The finish of the wood legs on my sofa is “chestnut”.

    We’ve really enjoyed it. We’ve had it for almost 2 years now and the fabric has held up really well, even with a toddler (we don’t let her eat/drink anywhere in the house but the kitchen though…). The gray color has been a very nice color that won’t ever look dated. It can look like a warm neutral or a cool neutral depending on what colors you pair it with.

    I try to flip and rotate all the cushions (thankfully the seat cushions and the back cushions move) every few months just to make sure we don’t wear any single cushion more than the others. I think that’s been a worthwhile practice to keep it in good shape. For the price this sofa is a tough one to beat. It looks a lot like what you’d find at Crate & Barrel or West Elm for twice the price.

    Hope that helps. Happy sofa hunting!
    Kristen

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