Furniture Shopping: Couches, Part One

The husband and I have lived in our home for 1 year and 6 months, almost to the dot. When we first moved in we had a mix of dated hand me down furniture and we very fortunate to be able to buy some new furniture and have our dining room set gifted to us. So it's been a bit of a mis-match, but nothing we couldn't handle, and fairly typical for a young couple. In truth, we were are very blessed for what we do have. Though just like any other couple, we'd like to update some of our older furniture. A lot of it belonged to the husband, he kept his both his desks, which he gave me the one from his childhood bedroom set, we managed to keep his old mattress to put in the guest room, and his childhood bedroom dresser managed to be small enough to fit into our closet. We did end up needing quite a bit more room then that dresser could provide, and we snagged a cheap dresser at a yard sale, which I painted and replaced the hardware on.

Currently we are looking at re-furnishing our living room. It just kind of makes sense since we went ahead an painted and are working on our bookcase. The couch we currently have isn't crazy old, maybe only 5 years or so. However, it has seen better and more comfortable days; I used to fall asleep on this couch all the time. Over time, and over people visiting often, falling in love with this couch, and using it every day, it's lost some of it's comfort, and I think the arms have broken. So it's not just a need of reupholstering it. I also feel like it's really chunky for our living space. I'd love to have something with a bit more of a streamlined look, as well as something where more then 2 people could sit comfortably. You can fit a third person semi-comfortably depending on how much every one likes each other.

Here are some of the couches we've been eyeing at Ikea:

Kivik love seat and chaise lounge- This was comfortable, but low, and the arm rests were a little low as well. I like to rest my arm against rests while I'm typing up blog posts. ;)

Kivik 2 chaise lounges and armchair- not liking that it doesn't have arm rests.

Karlstad love seat and chaise lounge- Comfortable height, but we both wished you could sink into the cushions a little more.

Then we saw this one:

Ektrop love seat and chaise lounge- A little more traditional looking then I had wanted, but I think the grey color gives it a more contemporary feel that we kind of have going in our home. Also, it was the perfect height, the cushions were incredibly comfortable, and  the price isn't so bad.

One of the reasons we're drawn to the chaise lounges is because in all honesty we'd love to get a sectional that reclines. But in a town home, that's not really do-able unless you like the crowded feel. We'll just have to save that for when we buy a single family one day....