I’ve had sofas on the brain for awhile now. After witnessing my almost 9 year old living room sofa be drowned in baby puke, used as a trampoline by 3 & 4 year olds and partied on by grown ups (a lot), it’s showing it’s age and it’s war wounds. It’s time my good old sofa, it’s time.
We purchased our sofa (Room and Board Mercer) back in 2004, it was our first big investment in furniture, and an investment I’m glad we made. We had it covered in a custom fabric that has been so forgiving and chose a sofa with simple lines that grew (up) with us as our tastes changed. Another decision I’m glad we made was to get a sofa with the least amount of loose cushions possible. It’s been great with the kids, I don’t have to worry about fluffing and repositioning cushions all the time, and would like to repeat that good decision again. I’ve doubted a lot of my interior design choices over the years, but I have never questioned this sofa, it has been the best.
The time has come for this sofa to be put out to pasture. Super sad, I know, but necessary. The fabric is sagging and becoming frayed and the stains are mocking me.
We won’t be purchasing until later this winter but I’ve got my eyes peeled already. I’ve compiled a list of the top contenders. I’m on the fence as to whether or not we’ll risk it and go light with a quality fabric or stay in the gray and charcoal tones. I’m looking for the same good old simple modern lines but with a new fresh look.
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1 2 3 4 |
My fav right now is the the Room and Board Reese sofa, and it also comes as a petite sectional with a chaise, something to consider. What do you think? Any recommendations on dark vs light, can it be done if you were to use a quality clean-up-able fabric?
I heart #2! I love the buttons everywhere, and I think if i could change anything about my couch it would be darker. I feel like everything shows up on my couch! You could definitely do light, but you’d have to be dedicated to keeping it clean. This is my 2 cents…
I agree, I have a huge crush on anything buttoned and tufted these days!
Your couch still looks great, and that fabric is washable. I wish I could do light too but I think that probably won’t work out so great.
I love the Reese. And I see those fairly frequently at the outlet too. You might be ale to score a sweet deal if you keep an eye out there every couple of weeks :)
Yes, we’ll have to start prowling the outlet once we decide exactly what we want. It’s good to know that it shows up often enough, I’ve only been over there a handful of times since having the kids. Thanks for the tip!
As I scrolled through I thought the third one looked the most like you and jeff. but I think darker might be better with the kids/cats/partying grown ups.
You know us Roonz. Yes, darker makes more sense, I was just holding out hope that maybe there would be a way around it.
i spent over 3 years researching and contemplating sofas. my choices included all of the above except for the west elm. i choose the reese because of the quality and because of the excellent r&b delivery. it was the right decision. i have pets and frequently visiting children, so i needed a great fabric that would hold up to wear. and i love that the reese is made in the US. my fabric is dustin spice.
Kali –
Thanks for your input, I was hoping someone out there had first hand experience with the Reese. It’s good to hear that the Dustin fabric holds up! How long have you had your sofa? I LOVE the tufted seat.
I’ve only had mine for 6 months, so I can’t speak to the long term durability. But it’s handled 3 pets and a few spills by a 6 year old friend very well. I’m looking forward to seeing what you choose!
Reminds me a lot of my bro-in-law’s sofa, linked for your consideration… With this price, you can get sick of it in 2-4 years. http://www1.macys.com/shop/product/ava-fabric-sofa-81w-x-37d-x-34h-custom-colors?ID=702666&PseudoCat=se-xx-xx-xx.esn_results
That IS very similar. Thanks for submitting this, I wish I would’ve added it to my list as a more affordable option.
I like the classic lines of the Reese with the sectional option in a darker color. I wish I had selected a sofa with lower arms and darker color. The high arms are not comfy and I’m a slave to a light color couch. Your kids are still young and unless you want to spend a lot of time fretting about the couch I say go dark.
Can’t wait to see what you select I’m sure it will be fabulous no matter what, you have excellent taste!
Thanks Anya!
Your sofa insight is spot on. You are right, light is not the way to go with the young ones, I appreciate you bringing me back to reality ;). I’m totally leaning towards the Reese but haven’t decided on a chaise sectional or not. Our living room is smaller, but I would love to be able to lounge sectional style when we are watching TV and hangin’. There will definitely be indecisive posts about furniture arranging in my future.
Hmmm, I wouldn’t go light just yet. Save it for about a decade down the road when the munchkins can control themselves. I have a charcoal grey sofa with washable fabric. It works for our family of four-but what I really want is a white sofa but alas cats and kids make this dream temporarily impossible. Hold your horses your time will come!
I hear ya! Someday we will have our white sofas!!
All I know about this is that the Petrie sofa really doesn’t age well. I’m guessing the Reese sofa will be much nicer! (and I like the way it looks more, too!)
Good to know, I really like the look of the Petrie sofa but how disappointing to invest $1,700 into something and not have it hold up. I’m all in on that Reese sofa!
Funny, we have the Mercer, too, and are itching to retire it ASAP due to all those annoying seat wrinkles. I love it but it has taught me that I don’t like tight-seat couches or even one-cushion couches, so for that reason I vote for #3 or #4. My R&B insider friend says the best types of couches to get are loose-cushion seats with a tight back—they are more durable and wind up looking neatest over time.
That’s interesting that you say that about the loose cushions. Definitely food for thought, thanks for your input. Our Mercer seat fabric is just starting to loosen, it’s held up surprisingly well in that department. I’m glad the Reese sofa fits this cushion criteria :)
I was at the R&B outlet today and there was a Reese sectional sofa in the light tan color above. I think it was$1700. We’re holding out for the Jasper sectional. Will be stalking the outlet until we find it. I love the Reese and Jasper the best, by far. There was also a super sexy cowhide ottoman. I want!
Oh Awesome! That is so good to know that it’s showing up at the outlet. I love the Jasper too, my best friend has a Jasper and it just wouldn’t feel right if we had the same sofa. She totally loves it though and it’s held up well throughout the years. Good luck in your hunting!
We got a [super cheapo] sectional in a faux tweed that has gray, tan, ivory and black in it. I like the durability and versatility of the fabric. It hides any stains that are surely lingering due to my 3 yr old and 5 month old!
I like “otter,” “grey” and “pewter” for sofa colors!
But, I agree with your choice – #3 is great! And the sectional version is really fun!
I realize I’m late to the party on this one…just found your blog from Design Sponge and I’m in love with your house! But, just wanted to weigh in on the sofa because we went through this a couple years ago. We have 2 kids- boys, ages 5 and 1 and a half. When we first got married we had the Petrie sofa (in white-what were we thinking?!). After we had our first, Aiden, I quickly realized that sofa was not going to work for us. And it wasn’t just the white that was the problem- I had a really difficult time with the buttons. They kept popping off. When we decided to buy a new sofa, I knew that tufted was not even an option because I got so frustrated. Anyway, we ended up buying the Ikea Karlstad sectional, which I totally realize Ikea sofas are not for everyone and I had a lot of reservations. It was actually Door16’s post about how much she loved hers that finally convinved me. My kids literally jump and climb all over that thing and it is in great shape. we’ve had it for 3 years. I wash the cover too and it is totally fine even though it says dry clean only. Just thought I’d share :)
Jen! Thanks for checking out my blog, and thanks for taking the time to comment.
I had a friend tell me that a friend of hers was not happy with Petrie sofa either. She had almost the exact same problems with it as you have had with yours. The buttons were flying of hers in no time, and overall they were really unhappy with the sofa.
Thanks for the suggestion on the Karlstad, I really admire the lines of that sofa and I’ll check it out again in real life next time I’m out at Ikea. We have a small Ikea sectional in the basement that the kids go nuts on, it’s not even as high quality as the Karlstad. Ikea sofas really do hold up well. The idea of having a sofa that can be washed sounds really enticing, and it’s good to hear it doesn’t lose shape after you do wash it.
I also have my eye on this Andre Sofa from Room & Board, but again, there are buttons involved…