Sofa So Good

Remember how last week I decided I wanted a new sofa? And remember how you all (especially one extra kind New Yorker) were nice enough to give me all sorts of feedback on the CB2 Bolla I was considering? Well, I decided that since I didn't get 18 million comments screaming about the couch being the most comfortable thing known to mankind combined with the fact that I couldn't test drive it in person, i just couldn't bring myself to order a couch I haven't sat on. So, Erin and I went on a wee baby little trip to the haven otherwise known as furniture row in Austin. Ok, it's 2 stores in a strip mall, but doesn't it sound good when I call it furniture row?

First we fell in love with this $3,000 gem at Copenhagen Furniture (a decidedly 80s-esqu store specializing in leather sofas fit for Patrick Bateman's condo). What can I say, sometimes white leather just works. Oh, and did I mention that it was like sitting on a cloud made from baby tears and angel kisses?

Apparently baby tears and angel kisses are expensive to manufacture, so I had to be responsible and just say no. Everyone, please give Erin a round of applause for her nearly successful attempts to convince me otherwise.

A couple stops later we found ourselves at crate and barrel. I originally stopped in for another look at the petrie but one glimpse of the Oasis washed the memories of the tufted trendsetter right outta my hair. Oh dear Oasis! J'adore!! You are the one for me. Please tell our dearest Design Crisis readers how you look so different in person than you do in this picture. Be sure to let them know that your narrow arms and your knife welts add just the right touch of bohemian mod to your most heavenly comfortable downy filled frame. Will you also tell them that your linen slip cover is machine washable and (le sigh!!) totally pet friendly? Oh will you?! Tell them of our love!

So, yeah, I'm totally buying it. Like any woman who wasn't raised by wolves I knew it best to go home and sleep on a (ahem) $1999 purchase. But it's been nearly a week and I'm still giving my old sofa the evil eye while visions of the Oasis dance in my mind.

I plan to make the final purchase next week, which should have it in my hot little hands by mid-May. I'll send you pictures as soon as it arrives.

Oh, and one last final note: unless you have some god awful story about how this particular sofa literally ate your niece's leg, I don't want to hear any bad mouthing.

Also, a second last final note: AB Chao recommended this AMAZING LOOKING site for sofa purchasing. I highly recommend you look at every beautiful piece in detail. I almost went for it, but I just have to sit in it first.

Tell Me Everything You Know About This Sofa

I've decided to replace my sofa. The couch I have now is pretty cute but for every point it gets in style it looses 12 for comfort. I'm not in a huge rush (would love to have one sometime this summer) but don't want to drag this out by looking at every couch on the planet.

I had originally thought I would get the Petrie from crate and barrel, but with a $1600 price tag I'm a bit gun shy. Erin and I went to Macy's yesterday where we test drove the $699(!!!!) Corona sofa but I found it was only $699 worth of comfort and I left with my back cracking. Literally.

As soon as we got back to Erin's she forced the laptop on me and pointed me directly to CB2 (You remember Erin's documented shopping problem, yes?) It was then that I remembered this beauty:

At $999 the Bolla is $1 under my dream budget and thus, totally fair game. The only problem? The closest CB2 is eight million and sixty four miles away. This is where YOU come in.

Ok, who has seen this sofa in person? Or, dare I ask, sat on it? My husband and I are both tall. Like serious tall not like pretend tall (I'm 6' he's 6'4"). I get that we won't be able to lay across it, that's fine, I have this daybed in the same room for lounging. I want a nice, deep, comfy seat that's not too hard and not too soft. TELL ME EVERYTHING YOU KNOW.

Also, if you own this, how does it wear? I want to know all the practical details

Or, if you work for CB2, tell me about shipping returns if I get it and it makes me want to puke.

xoxo forever!
K

What Have I Done?!

After months of resisting the urge to buy another single solitary stick of furniture for this overstuffed house, I finally gave in to temptation. Craigslist has been wining and dining me with brass this and lucite that, but I stayed strong. Until something suddenly came up.

And now I have a seven foot long black leather grub worm in my kitchen/dining area.

I hope you will forgive the janky photos as I didn't have a lot of time to play Richard Avedon this morning, but I think you can still make out the fact that I have a GIANT BLACK LEATHER THING IN MY DINING ROOM.

Actually, this "thing" is a Tobia Scarpa for Cassina chaise and matching ottoman (with labels!) that I scored for $75 including delivery. BLAMMO! It's a pretty sweet deal considering that it should go for a minimum of 10x that price. If you could find one.

It do be having some issues, though. Like a missing button, and some scuffs and a few deep gouges. I think I'm going to order some leather dye and polish this bad boy up, but I don't know what to do about the button. I'm totally open to advice on leather care.

But some day I'd really like to reupholster this behemoth because black leather is not the bizness -- sorry, black leather lovers. Karly says it will be a nightmare, but how awesome would this be in a super slubby oatmeal linen?

Oh, you know... kinda like the ones Kelly Wearstler has in her fancy beach mansion. The mansion that she's selling for 21.9 MILLION. Maybe she wants to buy my chair, too?

But I digress. It can't be that hard to drape some fabric over the frame, wave your hands over the surface, and hey presto! this baby into life, right? Can I get an Amen?

But my biggest problem is that I bought a giant thing and I AINT GOT NOWHERES TO PUT IT, which is why it's occupying its own zip code in my dining area. Shhhhhh, do not tell the Hunny about this little epiphany I just had, since he was totally against this really stupid purchase in the first place, and I do not feel like putting up with his I told you so shenanigans. But in my defense, this picture was dancing like a sugarplum in my head when I decided I just had to had to had to have it:

Thank you, Karl Anderson, for taking such a gorgeous stunning beautiful picture and making me buy this dumb thing I don't need. You bastard.

Ok, I bet you thought this post was going to end right here, but you were so very wrong. It gets worse.

You see, along with the chaise I also bought this Pace Collection coffee table for another whopping $75. BLAMMO! Score! Plus the dude delivered it to my house along with the chaise, which is a big fat freaking deal, since it weighs 200 lbs. At least. Seriously, I do not want this thing to live in my cramped, overstuffed office, but now that it's in there, it's going to take an act of congress to move it.

(Sidenote: check out the teak desk (which used to be our dining table) raised up on blocks in the reflection of the chrome. This was the Hunny's brilliant solution to a too low table that would not allow him to roll his chair underneath it. We are keeping it klassy at our house.)

So now I have a giant black thing in a place where no seat should be, plus a coffee table that I can't move because it weighs more than me, Ben and Ike, stacked up like a pyramid of clowns on a bicycle. I took a picture of my finger next to the glass and chrome so you can see how thick it is. It's probably going to drop through our floor any second.

So I'm thinking I could put the Scarpa chaise and ottoman against the wall where that futon (covered with a tapestry) is right now, and the futon will go live with someone else -- which is no great loss since futons are hideous, worthless pieces of furniture, anyway. But before I can put the chaise there, I have to move the coffee table. UGH. I suppose the table can live at the end of my giant bed, which I promise to photograph someday after I clean my room, but that probably won't happen anytime soon, so don't hold your collective breath. You can't have everything, you know.

I personally am taking a very deep breath right now, and I'm going to put on my magic brain cap and figure out how to solve this dilemma. I'm afraid the solution involves buying a bigger house, and that makes me all anxious in my innards, and now I feel an overwhelming sense of analysis paralysis.

I think I might just take a quick look at Craigslist instead.