Couch Hunting

So one of the first pieces of furniture I went hunting for was the perfect couch. I had browsed Craiglist a bit, but decided that since I was supposed to be an adult, and because I get grossed out by other people's cooties, I should probably just bite the bullet and get something new. Based on my last experience with an overstuffed giant (comfortable, but huge) with a deep red couch slip-on cover that showed EVERY SINGLE ONE of Teako's white hairs, I came up with this criteria:

• Modern clean lines
• Light-colored
• Comfortable
• Easy to clean fabric
• Affordable (less than $1200)

There were several that I had my eye on. I'm a huge fan of pretty much everything at CB2, so one day we wandered in and saw this sexy thing:

It was called "Avec" and cost $1200. So modern, so sleek! It was comfortable too, other than the tall armrests, which could be remedied with some pillows. It was also ready to go; we could take it out of the store that day! Only problem was that it came in one color: "pewter". Wah wahhhhh. The final nail in the coffin for this guy was when we took a cloth swatch home and rubbed it on Teako to see how the hair would pick up. It was practically a lint roller and showed the hair badly. NEXT!

We found this one at a few furniture stores. Sofa made by Rowe called "Berkeley" (how appropriate):

Definitely something I could go for! I love the gentle arc of the armrests. You can also choose your upholstery! The cost ran between $800 and $1000 depending on the fabric. Now for the downside: every store that had this for sale said it would take 3-4 months to be made and delivered. NEXT!

Continuing on, we found a huge sofa warehouse with lots of floor samples about 2 blocks away. They had so many different choices, but I finally found the one I loved called "Belas". It was very similar to the "Berkeley" with the arched armrests. I missed the tufted buttons in the back, but the pillows were much more comfortable. I chose a cream microfiber for easy cleaning and some retro-ish fabric for the complimentary accent pillows.
Luckily for me, the custom order would only take about a month to arrive... I could live with that. With the customizations, and hefty delivery fee, the final came out to $1100, just under my budget.

It was a nice surprise when I got a call that the sofa was ready two weeks after I had ordered it! Here it is all shiny and new and, of course, with Teako's stamp of approval.

I think what I love most about this couch is that Teako's hair is TOTALLY invisible on it! It's also really comfortable and soft. The tall arm rests make it a great place to lounge.

Now for a coffee table...probably my biggest project yet! Stay tuned!