Searching for Family Room Furniture

My husband loves leather. He loves big recliners. I prefer stylish chairs and upholstery. What's a family to do?!

A couple years ago we upgraded from Brent's hand-me-down sofa and loveseat. The pic below is how we had this set up when we moved in in 2012.

I had my heart set on a sectional for our long narrow space. We ended up with a lovely gray two piece from Macy's. We special ordered it to be extra long. I love it because the whole family (me, Brent and the dog) can all stretch out on it! The pic below is a smaller version of our current sectional.

via Macy's

But Brent still has his heart set on a recliner and I decided I didn't love the chaise in our space. We all make design mistakes, right? I remember my mom's big curtain mistake...this was mine. I didn't think it through very well. So now, the big gray sectional is for sale on Craigslist and we started the hunt for replacements.

Because our room is a bit narrow but long, I think we'll have room to do this:

I used the Room Planner from Ballard Designs. I love the easy-to-use tool when I need to space plan.


We spent a couple weeks driving from store to store, reading other blogs who experienced the same search, and we sat in LOTS of sofas and chairs.

We had almost settled on a deep sofa from Arhaus based on Thrifty Décor Chick's experience, but then we remembered Ethan Allen. Boy I'm glad we stopped in. We found the Retreat sofa to be the perfect fit for both of us and we could upholster it in a perfect Pewter gray fabric that looks great with our paint.

via Ethan Allen

Then we started looking for leather recliners. UGH!!! Why do recliners have to be either a) stylish and stiff or b) ugly but pillowy?!

Store after store. It was the ultimate Goldilocks tale. And then we found it. When we sat and both of us murmured "ahhh," I knew it was the one.

We're skipping the nailheads and we're getting it in a yummy caramel leather called Dorado Toast:

Now we wait 8-12 weeks. And just as I've been writing this post, I think I've sold our sectional. So we'll be sitting in miscellaneous chairs for the time being. Actually what we should be doing is working out instead of sitting...Maybe this whole debacle will accomplish several things.

Until next time,
Karli