Last year I mentioned that I wanted to get started on a refresh of our living room furniture. It took me awhile to figure out our furniture arrangement but now that I was happy with it, I was ready to focus on what we wanted in our space. It’s much easier to furnish a room and be confident in your decisions once you know how furniture fits and where it goes!
Well, I ended up getting distracted from the living room after I unexpectedly found our Quincy bed on Facebook marketplace! I love those serendipitous decorating finds that you never would be able to plan for. Those are the best surprises! I’m glad we unexpectedly found our dream bed. I’m still enjoying working on our bedroom!
But did you notice in these photos that I have no living room couch?
Let me explain how this happened. :)
Over the Christmas holiday my mom mentioned she was looking for a small loveseat for their Tiny Cottage. They bought a darling wicker furniture set to start with when the cottage addition was finished. They ended up putting their wicker sofa outside on their porch to enjoy late last summer and fall. It really looks so cute there — right now it’s covered for winter but we can’t wait for spring and summer to enjoy it in the backyard.
She told me she wanted to be able to sit on a couch in person before buying a new one. We don’t have a Pottery Barn or other furniture stores she’d like nearby so I told her we could go to Seattle after Christmas and take a look.
At some point my mom commented that she would like to find one about same size and scale as our leather sofa. Suddenly I had an epiphany. I looked at my son (who was getting ready to go home) and I thought to myself, maybe while I have his muscles here I should ask if my mom would like to try my leather sofa in the Tiny Cottage so she could test out the size.
My leather sofa is no longer available at Pottery Barn in sofa form (they only have a chair version now) so even if she liked it she couldn’t go buy the exact same one (but I don’t think she was planning to get leather anyway). But I thought she would probably enjoy having a couch to sit on for the next couple of winter months anyway since it takes so long to order furniture. So, we had our son help take it over! Luckily it isn’t far ha, just a little jaunt through the backyard.
I wasn’t necessarily planning on permanently getting rid of our leather sofa. In fact, I was just thinking of getting a new chair or two and keeping the leather. I had actually considered the possibility of having a slipcover made for it for a fresh summer look. The sofa size and shape fit our living room perfectly and leather was so forgiving for the dogs, too. It actually was the nicest piece of furniture we still owned after giving almost everything away to our kids when we moved in.
Well, long story short, my mom loves the leather sofa in the Tiny Cottage. Ha! She definitely would have given it back had I asked for it and she absolutely didn’t want to cause problems for me. I am just happy that she is happy with it. Shopping for furniture can be hard so I’m glad I could make that decision and process easier for her. I will get new pics of the Tiny Cottage with the leather sofa when she’s got it all settled again. It looks so cozy there!
So now that I’ve given away all four of my favorite couches over the past few years :) it’s time to figure out what to do in my own living room! I’m glad my couches all went to good homes (I couldn’t keep them because they were way too big for this house). We’re not moving so it makes sense to settle in with furniture we like.
It’s kind of the if you give a mouse a cookie but in reverse. If you give every family member a couch, at some point you’ll want another couch. Or something like that.
Speaking of giving family members couches, this is why my mom didn’t have a couch to begin with. She gave hers away to family members when she moved here. Our family is always passing good furniture along to other family members — furniture shuffling has become a way of life for us haha.
If a family member needs a couch or if we’re moving, we can usually just pass a couch along. Sharing is caring, but once in awhile you do wish you could take one back!
At least I know my leather one worked well here, so that fact gives me a head start on the size and shape to look for in my next couch.
Here are the questions I have to figure out answers to!
Do I even want to get another couch?
Given the size and shape of our living room, would I be happy without a couch and just comfy chairs?
I assume I would put a new couch right where the leather couch was? Or would I give one another try in front of the french doors or facing the fireplace (which I decided I didn’t like with the leather).
What style of couch and fabric do I want?
How long will it take me to save up, furniture is expensive!
Could I find a dream couch on Facebook Marketplace?
If I do get a couch, I am pretty sure I will want new chairs. That sounds like if you give a mouse a cookie, but I hadn’t planned to keep my chairs here long term in the first place so I don’t think that applies.
So many questions to be answered.
Did you know I wrote a book called But Where Do I Put the Couch? (with KariAnne of Thistlewood). It’s a fun book with decorating questions from our readers! It’s one thing to answer other people’s decorating questions (and to give all of your furniture away to good homes LOL) but now that I have to solve my own decorating problems I have a lot to think about.
It’s a bit unsettling to not have my living room put together so I’m eager to make these decisions, but then I think about what it must feel like to have lost everything in the fires. Having a home and furniture at all isn’t something to take for granted.
What couch would you get for this space? Or would you stick with chairs?
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I love your sweet family! Working together, swapping furniture, and more! It is inspiring to this mama to create such a loving and generous family culture. xo
Thank you Ashley, it is a worthy goal for a new family. I’m glad it inspired you. Our parents have always been so generous with us and I strive to do the same!
When all your kids and grandkids come home do you sit around the table the whole time? If not I would think you’d want a sofa. You can always squeeze an extra butt on a sofa where you can’t really in just chairs. Or maybe two loveseats? And chairs. A rocker for those babies! Love watching your family move, grow up and create their own families. And pass on furniture! 🥰
Aw thank you, and that is very true — a little extra room to squeeze in makes perfect sense in our small space!
I love a sofa to anchor a room. When a room has all chairs, they feel like they’re floating and it’s not as cozy to me. And as someone mentioned, you can fit more people on a sofa. Good luck on your choices. I totally understand how not having furniture in your family room is unsettling!
Thank you! I think that’s the way to go, too. It was cozy how it was so I’m eager to get settled in here again.
We tried the “no couch” idea for a while….and didn’t like it at all. You really can squeeze extra people in when you have a couch, so it’s a more efficient use of space. Occasionally someone might like to lie down in the room (and even recliners don’t always fit for that). If you want to look at something like photos or read a book to someone, its much harder without a couch. And visually I think it looks better to have a continuous piece of furniture to balance out the chairs, tables, etc. So, after trying it both ways, I am a 100% yes!
Thank you! Excellent thoughts. I’ve tried to simulate the option of just chairs with the furnishings we had it didn’t feel as cozy to me either. Unless we only had two comfy chairs by the fireplace which wouldn’t be very practical for this room! So I think a loveseat is probably the best size wise and for coziness!
My family room is similar to your living room, Melissa. However, the TV is at one end and it’s open to the kitchen at other end. There’s a window on one side of fireplace; a patio door on the other. I have only one wall across from the fireplace that accommodates a sofa. My husband and I have decided to make comfort our priority, but we still want the room to look nice. We gave away the sofa and have two very comfy recliners at the kitchen end and facing the TV. Now I need ideas for the area in front of the window and half of the wall across from the fireplace (not enough room for a love seat). We just purchased a small swivel chair and ottoman that can fit in either area. How do you suggest I finish the room?
Good for you on prioritizing comfort and creating a space you’ll enjoy! Without seeing your room it’s difficult for me to offer solid decorating advice but I think using each corner of the room for a specific purpose and function is a good idea.
It is ideal to arrange the main seating towards the middle of the room and then the outer edges can be designated for other purposes.
I’m teaching my step by step method to decorate a room and create a sanctuary in HomeBody Gathering Place if that would be of interest! It’s a fun place to share our common love of home. Members can post photos and ask decorating questions, too.
https://theinspiredroom.net/join/
I loved that sofa with the rolled arms and legs. It made your cottage look airy but cozy at the same time. Can’t wait to see what you come up with.
It really did work well in this room! But I will enjoy the challenge of creating a new comfy space for our family.
I love the color of this room! Can you please let me know what it is?
Thank you!
Thank you! It’s Beach Glass by Benjamin Moore.
Its likely hidden somewhere in your posts as I’ve looked for some time. But may I please have the brand/ color of your living room walls. Thank you.
It’s Beach Glass by Benjamin Moore! :)