213 Gardenia, Part 3: Sofa, So Good

Until about August of last year, we were still living off of Carlton's sofa from college.

I know. Gross.

It was a good ole fella with a strong back, a tough exterior, and the ability to practically force you to lie down and sleep. The gunmetal gray upholstery never showed a stain, never ripped, never showed stress or wear. The tough hardwood structure underneath it all was sturdy and--one might think--made of a boulder. And you'd understand that if you ever tried to move the thing. And we did... multiple times!

But the cushions. Oh, those terrible, terrible cushions! Now, the seat cushions were just fine. They stood the test of time and college-aged boys like the rest of the sofa. But the back cushions just about disintegrated into a sad amoebic state, all wobbly and irregular and squishy and mushy and deformed. A person with intentions of sitting on the sofa like a normal human being would either a) have to sit and lean forward towards the coffee table as if he was eating a floppy slice of pizza, or b) turn sideways, curl her legs up underneath her bottom, and prop her elbow on the arm of the sofa as if she was knitting or reading a handy home decorating magazine. Either scenario was not conducive to comfortable TV watching or any sort of social interaction whatsoever.

And then the cushions, or the fabric, or the something just started to stink. They didn't stink like they were old, or like they were dusty, or even like we'd burried an entire dead animal in the sleeper mattress which was folded up inside the sofa. They stunk like there was some sort of fungus or mildew growing inside them, and it was overwhelming. The smell would just waft up to my nostrils and I'd smell it on again and off again. Have you ever left a load of laundry in the washer and forgot about it for a month? Well, neither have I. But I have forgotten about a load of washed laundry in the washer for about 2 days or so. And that yucko smell when you open the washer and suddenly remember that there are rancid clothes awaiting your return? The college sofa was just about like that, times 10! It wasn't constant. It would just suddenly waft up and surprise you like a slap in the face. So you never knew when it was gonna come around next. I was particularly paranoid about having our friends over at the house. Dinner would be served and everyone would enjoy the meal, and then conversation and full bellies would lead us all to the living room to lounge and joke around. But what hostess wants to risk a stinky sofa catastrophe when she's entertaining? Not this gal! Nobody wants the Jenga bricks to topple because of a sudden sofa stink.

And Febreeze, baking soda, Lysol, and other stink stomping remedies never would permanently work. Okay, so you get it--it stunk.

I got the OK to shop around for a sofa only a few months after we'd moved into the house. But actually following through and purchasing a new sofa was going to be a difficult task for me to complete! I had a very specific list of requirements I wanted to check off of my list before I was going to dish out the cash. First and foremost, I must have a guaranteed buyer for the Athens condo sofa before a new sofa is purchased. Then my new sofa must have: two seat cushions (because I like the look of two longer cushions as opposed to three smaller cushions), a tight back cushion (no loose pillow cushions like the Athens condo sofa had, no loose looking cushions that are sewn onto the back of the sofa), nailhead trim, heavy linen woven fabric or something that looked similar, and a sturdy composition. Nothing flimsy, nothing too fru-fru, nothing too traditional or contemporary. And I must be able to test the sofa out before purchase.

Then Pier1 came to the rescue. I'd never really paid much attention to their upholstered furniture, but as I browsed through one afternoon on a day off work, The Cameron Sofa just caught my eye and I knew it was the one! It had two seat cushions, a tight back cushion, a square back profile, nailhead trim, and the upholstery was a lovely taupe color. Even though it's a very short pile chenille fabric, it has a thin line pattern in it (sort of like the matrix has that line pattern), so it gives a nod to that linen look I think. So, a few weeks later, when the sofa was on sale ($100 off the floor model price!), my parents came to town and we borrowed a friend's pickup truck to drive the sofa from Valdosta's Pier1 store to the house. AND IT'S PERFECT!!!

I couldn't be happier with this purchase. It's a beautiful addition to our furniture and a very sturdy and heavy duty piece of furniture that works great as a focal point for the room.

The rug in the picture is also new! It's the Chevron Rug from West Elm in the charcoal color and it couldn't be more perfect in our living room. With these strong neutral permanent fixtures, I have had fun changing out seasonal throw pillows on the sofa. Over the holidays I had some bright red and green pillows. This spring I've got some lemon yellow, gray, blue, and green pillows to brighten things up a bit. Over all, it's great!

The two lamps were wedding gifts from my parents that were originally topped by beautiful bright teal dupioni silk shades which sadly died in one of our many moves. I replaced them with some pretty woven mini-twine shades from Target. The end tables are from Carlton's mom and Grandmama, and the coffee table is the one remaining piece of furniture from Carlton's college days (besides his "desk" which we will cover in a later post). I absolutely love the color, shape, style, and ability to withstand bangs and dents and glasses without coasters and just about anything else in the world. It's staying because I love it! It has three drawers to hold just about anything you might need to hide when company is coming over in 2-and-a-half minutes. And it's the perfect size for our living room. The picture on the wall over the sofa is a blown-up picture of one I took inside the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris in 2006 during a photo taking contest with Carlton. It's beautiful and I love looking at the low light by candle, the stained glass in the background, the strong stacked marble pillars, and the blurs of praying patrons below. It's peaceful, colorful, quaint, and lovely. I got lucky when this shot came out so perfectly. Wonderful!

So, that's the sofa and her surroundings. I love everything about it... obviously!

(Please forgive the picture. I took it at night under lamplight, which is the only light our living room gets. Fortunately, when I got up to take the picture, Vespa decided to ask me nicely to open the front door so she could "go outside" and her little pose was a perfect photo op! I couldn't trade this picture out for one I took during daylight because of her opportune vogue.)