The Design Things We Do for Love

We used to have a beautiful brown leather sofa. We lived in a sun-filled apartment by the water and the scale and color and texture and lines were all perfect for the space.

But no one, (not even me, if I’m being honest) found it to be particularly comfortable. And that was ok, because we weren’t really home that often. We both worked outside the house and we’d meet up with friends or go out to dinner after work. Then, the pandemic hit and I was pregnant and one day my husband said, “what if we got a comfortable sofa?”

So we picked out a very comfortable, very indestructible sofa and 8 months later it arrived.

It took up a lot of space, in reality and also visually, because it’s just a hulking mass of cream. But my husband really loved it and guests who came over remarked on how comfy it was and so all was basically fine, until we bought Foxside and moved out here.

You’d think, with larger proportioned rooms and more rooms in general to choose from, getting this big-ass sofa to look good would be easier. Instead, I’ve tried it in both the study and the family room and it looks eh, fine. Definitely not great. I sort of hate it. I’ve thought about getting a new one, and maybe someday we will, but the problem is that everyone loves sitting on it. Especially my husband, who swears it’s one of my most comfortable sofas ever and never wants to let it go. That’s a high bar for a replacement. And so, I’ve decided to take it on as a design challenge. Because he loves the sofa and I love him and that’s marriage, kids.

Of course, that means tackling this room more broadly. I haven’t really done anything to this room yet aside from taking down some the appliques and onlays and decorative grapes on all the woodwork, painting the walls and bookshelves, swapping in a ceiling fan and recovering the window seat fabric. So, with those basics taken care of, it’s time for an actual makeover.