Couch shopping

The couch and arm chairs that came with our apartment are not cutting it.Besides having three different color and pattern schemes, we all are feeling sore in our necks and backs.  So after a few months, we decided to buy our own couches.  This was a first for us.  We usually just deal with what we're given by the embassy/housing, but knowing that we'll be here for four years, especially the last four years with Savannah and Thomas at home with us, we decided to splurge and feel comfortable. 
Briant and I ended up empty handed after visiting IKEA, so I thought I should visit some local furniture stores.  Jana, my relief society president at church, generously offered to couch shop with me and show me where to go since she's been here for a few years.  I really appreciated her perspective and insight that kept me on the right path, and kept me from giving up!

 

The shopping was tricky because we're working around a tall, solid wood coffee table that we recently bought from John Wang's.  It's a beautiful table that used to be a door, but it's taller than most couches they sell here.  They tend to be short in height, with short backs as well, so the coffee table looks like a beast compared to these dainty couches.  We found a huge selection of furniture at furniture malls with seven floors of different styles and companies.  We visited three furniture malls and still came up empty handed.  The closest we got to liking something were a few couches in an Ashley Furniture store, ironically.  They were comfortable and the height was perfect for a tall coffee table.  However, the price tag wasn't appealing.

 I carried around note papers with measurements of our new coffee table, our current couch, and family room area.  All of my measurements had to be in centimeters of course.  ;)  I also carried around a measuring tape to measure couches we were looking at.

We ran into a lot of furniture that was very gaudy and Victorian/Baroque style as well as traditional Chinese furniture as well.  We just shook our head and had a lot of laughs!

This couch was the most comfortable, but I didn't feel like a high backed blue couch. ;)

More low couches...cute but, ugh.

We actually seriously considered getting a few of these cream leather couches, because the price was right and they were comfortable.  But we kept looking...

And then the last couch we looked at that we liked had moveable pillow cushions.  Seems like a good idea, but didn't know how they would wear or hold up, or if they would be comfortable for Bri.  Plus, the price tag was very discouraging.

After another week or so of looking on Taobao, and trying to decide if I should just order some cheap couches online, Bri found a sectional on IKEA.com.  We hadn't seen it in the store when we went, so we didn't know it existed.  Frustrating for me after so many hours of shopping with Jana (poor Jana!), but yet I appreciated the solution of a sectional.  Jana and I tried to find a sectional unsuccessfully.  They always seemed to be couches with chaises in the stores, but hardly ever sectionals.  Without sitting on it, we didn't know what to expect as far as comfort, but so far we're all happy with it and we love the cohesive feel of it.  We paid $50 and had the couch "assembled" by an IKEA worker 5 days after it was delivered.  It took him 2 hours to do it at a fast pace, so it would have taken us double that.  Glad we paid for the assembly!

 

It will be harder to hide dirt and stains, but I've learned that every couch is hard to keep clean.  It doesn't matter what color fabric you have, stains always show.  My goal was to lighten the room with all of the dark floors and yellow/orange wall paneling everywhere.  Mission accomplished.  Now I just need to figure out the throw pillows and floor rug.  I think I'll wait until all our stuff gets here and see if any of my pillows and rugs will work or if I need to get new ones.

Rhea settled right into the couch as she videod herself teaching how to play "Catan." ;)  I look forward to all of the fun memories that will be made and family movies that will be watched with our new couch!