Project House Update: The Sectional

This post has been a couple months coming. I first mentioned our living room furniture upgrade plans back in April when we switched out the coffee table. It was the first step in a grand plan to make our great room more functional.

Let's start at the beginning. Here's what our living room used to look like:

The main problem with this set up is that there really isn't that much seating. Add in my parents and my sister and someone is stuck turning one of the bar stools around or laying on the floor.

Let be honest, with a wall of windows, five doorways, and a fireplace, the configuration of the room was really limited. I spent a lot of time on Icovia trying to figure out how to make it work. There had to be a way to include more seating.

Oh, and here's the real kicker. Dan was insistent that if we were buying new seating, he should be able to have the recliner he's always dreamed about having. Ugh. Trying to create a stylish and functional room around an old man recliner? I don't believe it can be done.

Anyway, here was the best layout that I could come up with:

Sectional city! I've always wanted a sectional. Throw a independent recliner in the same material on the end of it and everyone is happy, right? Just remember this is a 'dream' layout when we have new floor and a sofa table and a big ass rug.

Off to La-Z-Boy we went. We ended up spending over three hours, sitting on sofas, debating materials, arguing loudly in front complete strangers. Can't say it was our proudest moment, but the people who work there offered to send their interior designer to our house for free to help us decide.

A week later, she showed up, and without showing her my layout idea, she basically suggested the exact same thing. The only difference was she wanted the sectional pushed up against the windows, which I absolutely abhorred.

We did the math, added in all the discounts {Sidenote: if you go into the store on a weekend with a good sale and they offer to send someone to your house, they'll still apply the sale prices when you purchase}, and found out we'd basically get the coffee table for $100 if lumped it in. Yay! The fabric we liked on the sectional was no extra cost, but it did cost more to add it to the recliner. All in all, it cost us roughly $2300 for a five cushion sectional, a custom fabric recliner, and a coffee table. Certainly a dent in our bank account, but I definitely don't feel like we got ripped off.

Ready for some 'After' pictures?

 

{Sidenote: I know the pictures aren't great, but the couch has two pillows from my sister's new Etsy shop. You should go check it out...}

So, here's the thing. I know the pictures aren't great because everything is crowded. Unfortunately, that's just how the room is. It's a lot more, um, full than I imagined. I love the sectional and Dan loves his recliner, but to be honest, the room is much more occupied than the layout suggested.

However, I'm not heartbroken or even stressed out about it. It works great for now. Our house is a work in progress and this temporary layout is just part of the journey. Some day, I can see this sectional ending up moving to the formal living room/play room. We paid more for the Scotch guard so, even though it's a light color, I can see our future kids and their friends lounging on it. The recliner will probably move to the den or the shop, whenever either of those get redone (geez, the list is so damn long.)

Eventually, I'd like our great room to evolve to something like this:

Or this:

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Maybe even this one:

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I know they have less seating, but once we get to the point where we can have this room, hopefully our house will have evolved enough that guests won't feel trapped to just this one room.