… and we may or may not agree with you! Because, currently, we have a free sectional from a complete stranger sitting in our family room. These furniture shopping adventures have definitely kept us on our toes lately, and sometimes you can find help in the most random places.
For example: Facebook. I belong to a couple of my local community resale Facebook groups, which I mainly use to sell our old household stuff, and buy secondhand clothing and shoes for Connor (because that kid grows way too quickly!) So, one day a few months ago I happened to be browsing through the page and came across this listing:
I just looked back and me and David’s chat history. I sent him this picture, and then immediately said “howboutdat?” 😀
I mean, it’s a free couch. And it looked in decent shape. Smoke free, pet free. We still had no couch for the family room picked out. This could be an awesome temporary solution until we find the one that we’re head over heals in love with. Hey, and maybe we could resell it when we’re done with it and make a profit?
I sent the seller a message immediately asking some questions. Mainly asking him to explain “used condition” a little more. He replied: “There’s nothing visibly wrong with it. It’s 10 years old and I have 2 kids, so it’s had a lot of use, springs are squeaky, cushions aren’t firm, etc… we have it in our family room and a new one is getting delivered tomorrow morning.”
David was on board, so we decided to take a chance. Luckily, my brother was free that day, so he drove over with his truck with David, loaded it, and dropped it off in our garage.
I walked outside as they were unloading it, and was like. S!@%, I didn’t realize it was blue! Hahaha. On my computer, the pictures seemed like it was a dark grey. It didn’t bother me too much though, since I knew it was going to be temporary.
When we finished the flooring a few weeks later, we brought it upstairs. Not too shabby.
I mean, Riley immediately made himself comfortable. And so far, I have zero regrets, because this “test drive” of a sectional couch has helped us in so many ways.
- It’s been a spacious area for visitors to sit until we find the right couch.
- It’s helped me decide that I prefer a wider cushion that can accommodate more than 1 butt without falling in the crack. For example: the couch above, versus this:
- The depth of the seat is VERY important. The blue couch is good for sitting and chatting, but not really LOUNGING around the house. We decided that we definitely want a deep seat.
- We need a bigger couch than this blue one. I kind of knew this going into it, but what I didn’t really realize was that a sectional where both sides are the same length would really fit the room best. Ideally, we need both sides to be between 117″-125″ in length (the long side of this one is 111″ and the short side is 88″). If we don’t we’re going to have a lot of wasted space on the right side of this picture:
- Finally, I’ve been eyeing sectionals with ottomans on one end so you can lounge out on it, but I was a little concerned about the layout of them while trying to incorporate a coffee table. This sectional has made me realize that we don’t really need one. If we find a couch that has some nice depth in the seat, and a nice, big, comfy corner seat, I think we can do without it. Plus, that satisfies my OCD with symmetry. 🙂
So overall, yes, we have a free, used couch from a complete stranger in our family room. I realize that that skeeves a lot of people out. It skeeved me out a little at first, too. But, really, it’s been a really great temporary solution for us that has allowed us to not rush into any furniture shopping. It is for everyone? Nope. But it’s worked for us, and I’m glad we did it.
So Labor Day has come and gone, and we still haven’t found THE couch. Well, actually, I did. I was convinced it was the one. I spotted it in the Crate and Barrel catalog.
(click picture for C&B listing)
The dimensions were perfect. The seat was so deep. It was super wide, so the butt cushions were wide, too. The fabric was SO PRETTY. It has some nice texture to it to disguise stains and Connor snot.
AND IT WAS ON SALE. They were having a great 20% off sale with free delivery for Labor Day weekend. So we drove up that Sunday to King of Prussia (the closest store they have around here) to check it out. This one isn’t the sectional, but it gave us a good idea for the seat depth and fabric.
And I was THIS CLOSE to whipping out my credit card, giving it to the salesperson, and yelling “sold!”. Until… I noticed these damn little white feathers coming through the fabric. And my nose was starting to get stuffy. And I looked at the sign, and it says “fiber-down blend”.
You guys, DOWN MAKES ME SNEEZE!!
Ugh I was SO SAD.
And we then proceeded to go to the Conshohocken Ikea to drown myself in more home decor and a cheap swedish meatball dinner to make myself feel better. It didn’t really work. Connor fell asleep on the ride home, and I sat there in the passenger seat while Dave drove, dreaming about that sofa.
I can say now, that even though the perfect sofa for us was not bought on an awesome Labor Day weekend sale, we now know everything that we specifically want for this sectional from dimensions, fabric, to materials. So, the search continues. And for now, we’ll enjoy this free, blue couch.
