(The above is not our actual sofa)
Eleven days ago Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared and has not been seen or heard of since, in spite of worldwide search efforts. Yesterday Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a treaty on Crimea joining the Russian Federation —an act the West has called a violation of international law. Yes, there’s much afoot in the world, so when I sat down at my computer this morning to write a blog about the painstaking process of buying a sofa, I felt my topic was insipid at best and, at worst, would receive a thousand thumb-downs. But in spite of my reluctance, I felt compelled to vent about my search for the ever-elusive sofa.
The sofa we have now is over twenty years old. In fact, I bought it before I knew my husband even existed. Actually it’s not a sofa, it’s a loveseat. We threw the sofa out going on a year ago. It was beyond worn-out and we had to make room for my husband’s baby grand piano. Now the loveseat is on its last leg and needs replacing. Every time I go to sit on it, I get a sinking feeling in my stomach or perhaps that isn’t a feeling, but me actually sinking into the sofa. It has so many rips and tears you’d think it had been attacked by a razor blade. I have to give it credit though, it’s held up reasonably well. I bought it used from a woman in Pacific Palisades over two decades ago. I got a great deal on it, and the tossed sofa, a glass coffee table and glass end table, both of which I still have. But it’s time to retire my tan loveseat with the white wooden base.
We’ve only been searching for about two weeks. We started out on Yelp reading all the reviews. My husband was wary about relying on the reviews, thinking they could be false. Our first stop was Living Spaces. I remember their commercial and the theme song. They have a huge selection and I thought for sure we would find our dream sofa, but what started out as a dream ended up a mini-nightmare. I felt like Goldilocks as I sat on one sofa after another. “This one is too hard.” “This one is too soft.” And I’m still waiting for the one that feels just right. If it were left up to me, I probably would just go through the Recycler and find another used sofa. I mentioned this to my husband and he cautioned me about other people’s energy. I had never thought about that. Wow, so for over twenty years the energy of the people I bought my used sofa from has been seeping into my pores. Yikes! I can’t help but wonder how many of the poor decisions I’ve made over the past two decades can be attributed to the energy of the woman in Pacific Palisades!!!
Once we decided on firmness, we searched for the right style and color. “That one is too old fashioned.” “That one looks like office furniture.” “It doesn’t have enough depth.” My husband and I are tall. After a few hours, we had made a decision. But before we moved forward, we decided to check out at least one more store. The following Saturday, we went to Plummers Furniture and they didn’t have much of a selection. So we decided to go back to Living Spaces and buy the sofa we agreed upon. However, after closer inspection, something just wasn’t right. Maybe it was the throw pillow that was coming apart at the seams or the unraveling of the thread at the base of the sofa—the very sofa I just knew was “The One.” And when the sales lady told us about the noncustomer friendly return policy, we ran for our lives!
Now it’s going on week three and we still need a sofa. A coworker told me she had a good experience at The Sofa Company. Hopefully we will, too.