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Thread: Please help me fill up my living room

  1. #1
    Raident Guest

    Default Please help me fill up my living room

    Hi everyone, I just signed up! This forum has so much furniture information that I've never heard of anywhere else, and it's been a real pleasure to learn from all of you.

    I moved into a new apartment just under a year ago, and I've been searching for furniture ever since. Unfortunately, the living room has been a particularly difficult challenge - the keyword these days seems to be "big", with sectionals and oversized 110 inch wide sofas taking up most of the floor space in showrooms - so I've left it for last.

    Anyways, I'm looking for a 3-seater sofa (would prefer leather as I have dust allergies), coffee table, side table and a table lamp to go in this space:

    Click image for larger version. 

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    To make this even harder, I'll only be living here for maybe another 4 years - possibly longer, but this is by no means a "permanent" home that I'm going to be living in for the rest of my life, so if I'm investing in quality furniture that's going to last for decades, it would have to be something relatively neutral in style and color that would look good not only here but also across a wide variety of different living rooms.

    Finally, I do have preliminary candidates for the sofa and coffee table, but I'll hold back on the details for now in order to avoid implanting a bias. After all, there might be something gorgeous out there that I haven't even taken into consideration

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Alexandria VA
    Posts
    15,889

    Default Re: Please help me fill up my living room

    It appears you have a 'blank slate' to start with, but there is not much to go on. Its like asking someone to tell you what flavor ice cream you are going to like at Baskin-Robbins, that person would have no idea. So you have to self-start somewhere, at least with a style or photos of something you like. Right now the brush you painting with is too broad, you should narrow down some parameters so you at least get into the style you are seeking. Look at the manufacturer's web sites and you can start with a style you find appealing.....
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  3. #3
    vbnet Guest

    Default Re: Please help me fill up my living room

    or peruse houzz.com and find a room you like, then look for those types of sofas/chairs. You haven't even told us if you like contemporary, transitional, traditional. If you are looking for a little contemporary, Duane has an excellent picture of an Arrington from his store. Do a search on it. He shows it in piazza mink which I think in actuality is darker and richer than the picture. Kinda wish we'd ordered off his floor, we wouldn't have to wait for it to be built. Sigh.
    Last edited by vbnet; 06-03-2014 at 09:25 AM.

  4. #4
    Raident Guest

    Default Re: Please help me fill up my living room

    The two of you are right - I suppose it helps to give more info than less. Anyways, I was thinking of something along the lines of this for the sofa:

    http://www.eliteleather.com/products.../hillcrest/339

    As for the color, I'm thinking perhaps a light cream color (like Champion Curling) or black, both of which are fairly universal colors. Alternatively, I could get it in a shade of tan which would suit the room as it's currently configured, but I have a feeling that it wouldn't look very nice if I were to move to a place with hardwood floors in the future, particularly with the darker shades of hardwood that seem to be popular these days.

    And I'm thinking of something like this for the coffee table:

    http://www.natuzzi.us/en-US/product/...o-50c1138.html

  5. #5
    vbnet Guest

    Default Re: Please help me fill up my living room

    I like the button tufting, it's different. I also like the square arms. Bradington Young has some similar ideas, but not the exact match. The Zev sofa looks pretty contemporary. Remember you can change not only leather, but the wood stain as well.

    In choosing a universal color, I might consider anything neutral as well, light taupe or light OR dark gray. They can be paired with just about anything with out being locked into contemporary. They can go contemporary OR transitional to give you flexibility later.

    Also, if at all possible start checking out rugs so if you are going to do an area rug to anchor the seating arrangement, it might help you choose your leather color. Take it from me, we did it inside out and backwards (sofa color; chair color; rugs but oh, nothing grabs us; art work - found a picture gotta have it; oops art work is messing up the color scheme and gotta change the chair color; uh oh, look at these other chairs we haven't even considered; chose the same chair we originally loved but a different leather color; back to looking at rugs; found a rug but it has a major pull and we have to return it). So moral of the story, don't lock in the color scheme until you like a rug with it. Insert in all the searching that I kept finding pillows I loved but its much easier to match the pillows at the end after you have the rug, sofa, and art work.

  6. #6
    Raident Guest

    Default Re: Please help me fill up my living room

    Light gray was my initial go-to color, as well as the color the dealer had the floor model in. Unfortunately when I took a swatch home, it just didn't look right. On sunny days, the walls, carpets and blinds together made it look somehow dirty - perhaps it was the overly yellow cast of the sunlight filtering in through closed blinds. On overcast days, it felt rather depressing as the leather was exactly the same color as the sky...

    As for dark gray, it looked like old, faded black leather under direct sunlight and looked completely black in any other lighting condition. I get the feeling that dark gray would look a lot better in fabric, where color is more independent of lighting conditions.

    I looked up the other colors on houzz.com for a bit, and it seems:

    • Virtually all of the examples of black leather sofas feature ultra modern living rooms with tons of natural light and bright-colored walls. Many also have light-color hardwood. Was I wrong here in that black is actually a contemporary-only color?
    • Surprisingly, there are by far the most examples of off-white sofas in various shades, in all types of living room styles and under a huge variety of lighting. They even had one featuring a sofa and coffee table similar to the ones I mentioned above: http://www.houzz.com/photos/2620101/...ly-room-ottawa
    • I can't find very many examples of taupe leather sofas. It's a very common color on fabric sofas where it looks gorgeous, but for some reason it's not very popular on leather. I'd love to see some, though.


    As for rugs, I'm thinking along the lines of dark gray if I go with a lighter-colored sofa, or ivory for a black sofa. I probably won't be buying anything until I have at least good candidates (or better yet finalists) for all the pieces (sofa, coffee table, side table, rug, lamp, artwork, toss pillows) that I can visualize though, so I'll be tweaking the vision as I go
    Last edited by Raident; 06-06-2014 at 06:32 PM.

  7. #7
    vbnet Guest

    Default Re: Please help me fill up my living room

    It Is hard to find taupe leather although I did. Sorry I'm typing on a mobile device & can't figure out cut & paste but if you put in just taupe leather you migt find some. Your question on black, I think of black as contemporary color but as with all things you have to look at the whole picture. Sounds like your plan has a good start.

  8. #8
    Raident Guest

    Default Re: Please help me fill up my living room

    I decided to pay a visit to my local H&M dealer over the weekend. They actually had the Arrington in Piazza Mink on display ($10k regular price, $7k sale price):

    Click image for larger version. 

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    What I immediately noticed is that the 3 back cushions are all different shapes. Is this part of the styling?

    They also had the Donatella sofa in Piazza Cloud ($11k regular price reduced to $7k on sale), which I liked the look of but is definitely way too big to fit in my apartment, at which point they suggested the Illusion sofa in Piazza Camel instead. They told me verbally that the Illusion would be around $5k with the promotional Town & Country covers - for some reason there was no price tag on this one.

    Do you folks know if sale prices reflect an actual sale, or is this dealer doing the huge markup then discount to the true price thing, or are the sale prices still overpriced?

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Alexandria VA
    Posts
    15,889

    Default Re: Please help me fill up my living room

    You know, I think every dealer has the right to set their own prices in order to stay viable and successful, but there is making a fair profit and then there is outright price gouging way outside the industry norm. While I'm not going to post a price here (you can call 703-360-6399 to get the price) that Arrington will be less than half that 'sale' price from my store.

    The reason those cushions are crushed down is because they need to fluff them up and re-set them. They've had that piece for awhile judging from how many people have sat on it, the cushions are all uniform when new - they're just not selling that sofa at $ 7,000 and I'm not surprised! I just don't understand how some dealers think they can get the same margins on furniture as the 7-11 does on bubble gum. Crazy.
    Last edited by drcollie; 06-10-2014 at 08:30 PM.
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  10. #10
    Raident Guest

    Default Re: Please help me fill up my living room

    Chances are that they get away with it because they're the only H&M dealer in town. Unlike books or electronics, buying furniture online is still largely a niche - most people still have a "I can't buy a sofa that I haven't seen and sat in" mentality. And since there's no local competition, most people living here would never know what is and isn't a fair price. I certainly would never have been able to confirm my suspicions if it weren't for this forum.

    Once my vision is finalized, I'll definitely be giving you a call if an H&M sofa is part of that vision...

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