The Sofa Chronicles

With an apartment to furnish from scratch, the biggest purchase is the sofa -- the epicenter of the communal living space and the priciest piece of upholstery the boy and I will be investing in. The pressure of choosing the perfect piece is high – the sofa has to be a haven for both of us and serve its purpose as a place to snuggle and watch movies together, a place to lie out and watch football (him), a place for me to settle in to read my shelter mags (me), and most of all: it has to be comfortable!!!

Finding a comfy couch isn’t so hard, but finding one that has the design elements I am going for that so that it not only looks good, but feels good, is tougher than I thought it would be.

As a collector of refurbished vintage finds, I want my sofa to have some character and tie in the various elements of my design scheme. Shapeless bunchy square cushions and a boxy silhouette will not do. Microfibre, leather and slipcovers are also out. Give me tufting! Bring on the rolled arms - I want character!

My dream is Montauk’s tufted beauty, but that is obviously not within budget, so I went looking to the more wallet-friendly Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams’ Chester for answers.

What I found is that a tight seat and tight back won’t cut the mustard. If it was a formal living room that didn’t get used much it could maybe fly, but for the single lone couch in our apartment it has to have enough of that sink-in quality that invites guests in instead of repelling them like a dusty stiff antique.

Enter a possible candidate for sofa love: a model from Southern Furniture that not only has my requisite tufting and rolled arms, but also deep seat cushions and a sloping back and arms that looks hella comfy. Ignore the pukey calamine colour upholstery and forget the odd faux-fur toss cushions nestled into the corners, if I can find a floor model for the boy and I to test the search could be over!

to be continued…