It is 5:15 and I should be getting dinner ready for my starving children but I need some help with a bit of a crisis I am having. Okay, lets be honest, in the grand scheme of things this is not a crisis at all- it is actually quite selfish and trivial, but right now in my mind it is a crisis. So we have been wanting new couches for some time but after having a child barf on our 20+year old couches (not to mention losing all the buttons and feeling our bottoms touch the ground because all the springs were worn out) we decided to get new couches. And we knew we wanted leather, but had to get something basic and didn't have a ton of money to invest in something super fancy. So, we decided on this set we found online. Despite my initial reservations that it was not the $10,000 looking Italian coffee colored leather that I wanted, I thought it was nice and would be a nice upgrade. And it was in our price range. So we got it. Fast forward to today- our couches got here, Tim and I unloaded them and while I was in the kitchen making lunch, Tim unpackaged them. He was oohing and ahhing, so I turned the corner to take a look and I was not thrilled with them. And I was totally bummed that I didn't immediately love them! It really stinks to invest $2500 in something and not love it immediately. So Tim set them up in the room(s) and I have been waiting all day for them to grow on me. It is not that I don't like them, I just don't love them and I feel like I should love them. And I can't pinpoint what it is that I don't love- I think it is the color. It is just a very standard brown- I expecting something a little darker or richer looking. Maybe even a little shinier? Or maybe I am just not used to leather- I have never owned leather furniture before.
So, I took some photos to see what you all think. Am I crazy? Is it just my brown walls with brown couches that makes it all look blah? I do have 30 days to return them, but the problem with sending them back is that we would lose a good couple hundred dollars to ship them back PLUS we would then have to get something else that would likely be more expensive and I may very likely decide that I don't like them either when I get them. Argh...
So here they are in my living room- non photoshopped because I didn't want to make them look any richer than they really are. I actually think they look good in the pictures:P
And one of the things that bugs me most is that we got the chair and ottoman to put in our bedroom until we have a bigger house to put the whole set together. But because the color is a lighter brown than I was thinking, it looks kind of silly in our bedroom with our coffee colored furniture everywhere else. Do you think it looks weird? Am I being way too picky? Hey, at least it matches my wreath:P
And I think that this is what I
really want our couches to look like. Only this set is about $5000 more than the set we got. Maybe that is my whole problem...
So what do you think- should I stop being so picky? Should I give them some time to grow on me? Should I suck it up and be grateful that we don't have to look at those putrid green couches anymore (okay, they weren't that bad- sorry, mom, I hope that didn't offend you. They were beautiful when you got them in 1988.) Or should I send them back because leather is an investment and you need to love your furniture?
I would love to hear your input before my 30 days is up. PLEASE HELP ME!!
And one of the things that bugs me most is that we got the chair and ottoman to put in our bedroom until we have a bigger house to put the whole set together. But because the color is a lighter brown than I was thinking, it looks kind of silly in our bedroom with our coffee colored furniture everywhere else. Do you think it looks weird? Am I being way too picky? Hey, at least it matches my wreath:P 
And I think that this is what I really want our couches to look like. Only this set is about $5000 more than the set we got. Maybe that is my whole problem...
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10 comments:
Dear Mandy,
I don't know who you are or where you are based, but you need to take a reality check. Couches are for sitting on, not looking at. Sit down, have a cup of tea, cuddle your child/ren and your husband, and stop worrying about whether you 'love' them or not. Changing material things won't change how you feel, so changing them would be pointless.
First, they do look nice. On the other hand, $2,500 is a lot of money to spend on something you are not thrilled with. I think if you send them back, you should not gamble again with an online furniture purchase. Setting looks aside, buying a couch and chair you have never sat on seems risky to me. Mrs. P thinks the chair looks like a completely different color than the couches. Is that just the picture? Mrs. P says she/we would be happy to come see them in person if you like.
Mr. P
Mandy, I like them. A lot.
Honestly, your house looks beautiful and I love how it all looks together. Seriously. What I would give for your decorating skills and the smoothness of how you have put your home together! A year after that horrific move, my walls are still bare, plain colored, and furnished with really old and unattractive stuff.
That being said, I understand how irritating it is to spend so much money on something and then to find you aren't thrilled, but they DO look nice and it could be that the hope of something higher end has altered your view. I get that too.
If it makes you feel any better, we bought microfiber two years back (right before our big move) and I was okay with them. Not thrilled but I knew they would hold up and they were our first nice purchase. A year later, we moved and the main sofa frame busted in half. We're STILL sitting on a busted sofa. Seriously, it's laughable. But it has taught me that it's only a material thing (although I had a good cry over it when it happened). It doesn't matter in the long run.
So, maybe they'll grow on you. Maybe they'll get ruined somehow with kids anyway and you'll be glad you didn't spend more. Maybe it won't matter because you'll win the lottery (don't we all wish!) and buy nicer ones.
Either way, enjoy them. Don't stress it. They look fabulous. :)
I am totally laughing while reading this because I feel like I am reliving my couch buying experience from a year ago. I didn't buy what I wanted because they were of course too expensive. I couldn't find anything I liked locally, so I ordered from Crate and Barrel. I even saw the couches in the store and LOVED them. When they arrived I was SICK inside. Everything about them was wrong...the size, the color, etc. Actually, I lost a couple nights sleep over it. I ended up keeping them (because I didn't want to lose all the shipping $$$) and they have grown on me, but I have learned a few lessons from it all: I will never buy a large piece of furniture that I cannot return to a local store. Things look so different in the store (or online) than they will in your house. Sizing and spacing is a big thing for me and you just never know. One other side note...I really wanted leather, but I felt like I couldn't get a nice looking leather for my budget so I went with more expensive fabric couch (it cost about the same as a cheaper leather) and then bought a more expensive leather side chair. Sorry this was so long.
To the anonymous poster: It's kind of silly to post anonymously , especially if you're going to tell someone you don't even know to "take a reality check." Have the guts to say who you are.
And furniture is for looking at as well as sitting on/using. Why are there interior designers making a living? Catalogs and magazines featuring design ideas? Television shows based on making your home functional as well as beautiful? It may seem trivial to some people, but it's important to others, especially after investing a lot of hard earned money into something they waited YEARS to have. Mandy deserves to like something she has put into the home she works so hard to make beautiful. She's earned it!
Well, Mr./Ms. Anonymous had a lot to say. I do agree that couches are for sitting on, but if you are a stay-at-home-mom, I can say from experience, they get "looked at" a whole lot! Take that post with a grain of salt!
I really like them, Mandy. That being said, if you're like me, you'll have these couches for a very long time, so I understand your dilemma. Give it a week, see how you feel.
Your problem is that you are too good a photographer, even when you don't photoshop. :) Yeah, the anonymous comment is dumb; couches are the center piece of your home. However, aside from how they look, do you like sitting on them? My biggest complaint about leather is their "breathability." We had leather for a year I always felt warm sitting on the couches. I didn't realize it was the couches until we got microsuade for our new house and they are more comfortable.
Even if you loved the couches in the store, that wasn't your house and there was no way to know if you liked them until you actually put them in your room. You will look at them and sit on them every day, so make sure you get something you like.
I bet they will get better looking as they age. Leather is known to do that.
I do think they look nice though, and hey--they are new!!
When our couch for our formal living room was delivered a little over a month ago I decided that I hated it right away. I second guessed my decision that took me so long to make in the first place and debated whether to return it. However, I played around with putting different pillows on it and now, even though I still think the attached pillows on the back are too lumpy, I really don't think about it and overall I love it.
I was really glad I stayed within my budget too...with little kids I just think that if you get the expensive option that you totally love, it might also come along with some anxiety about not messing them up.
Also, on the leather thing...I am sooo glad that we have leather in our family room...so great with kids. On the dark leather I would say that I like the darker leather like you do, but overall, if it was me, I would keep the couches you have, I think they look great. BUT if you decide to not keep them you could try selling them on Craig's List for the same price you bought them to avoid the shipping fee:) I also think that $2500 is a great deal for all that. A really great deal (as long as they are comfortable...where are they from btw?)
And I think that the chair in your bedroom looks totally great. It doesn't need to be all the same color to work. Maybe put a throw pillow on it that pulls in the darker colors?
Keep us posted:)
K, I don't know you but I found your blog through Melanie's (Hi Melanie!) and I just wanna say that I think they look great BUT you need some color in there. Maybe that's what's bugging you. Get some color in those pillows! :)
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