Last year I decided it was time to refresh our living room furniture. It took a while to settle on the best layout, but once the arrangement felt right I could focus on the pieces that would work in the space. It’s so much easier to choose furniture confidently when you know how it will fit and where it will go.
Then, unexpectedly, I got distracted by a bedroom find: I discovered our Quincy bed on Facebook Marketplace! I love those serendipitous decorating moments you can’t plan for. Finding the bed felt like a little gift, and I’ve enjoyed working on the bedroom ever since.
But did you notice there’s no couch in my living room photos?
Here’s how that happened.
Over the holidays my mom mentioned she was looking for a small loveseat for their Tiny Cottage. They already have a charming wicker set outside on the porch, but she wanted to try sitting on a couch in person before buying one. Since the stores she’d prefer aren’t nearby, I suggested we could go to Seattle after Christmas to look.
At one point she said she was thinking of something similar in size to our leather sofa. That sparked an idea: our son was home and ready to help with heavy lifting, so I asked whether we could move our leather sofa to her Tiny Cottage so she could test the scale in person.
Our leather sofa is no longer sold in sofa form at Pottery Barn, only as a chair, so she couldn’t buy an exact match even if she liked it. But the sofa would give her a place to sit through the winter while she decided. With our son’s help it was an easy move—just a short walk through the backyard—and the sofa became part of her cozy cottage setup.
I hadn’t planned to permanently part with the leather sofa. I envisioned adding a new chair or two and possibly having a slipcover made for a lighter seasonal look. The sofa’s size and shape suited our living room, and leather was forgiving with dogs. It was one of the nicest pieces we still had after gifting many items to family when we moved.
As it turned out, my mom absolutely loves the leather sofa in the Tiny Cottage. She was gracious and would have returned it if I asked, but she wanted to keep it because it fits so well. I’m happy it found a good home and that I could make the furniture-search process easier for her. I’ll share new photos of the cottage once she has everything settled.
Over the past few years I’ve passed along four couches to family members, so now it’s time to rethink my own living room. I’m glad our furniture went to people who needed it—many of the pieces were too big for our current house anyway. Since we’re staying put, I want to select furniture that suits this space long term.
It’s a little like a reverse “if you give a mouse a cookie”: give family members couches and eventually you’ll find yourself shopping again. Furniture shuffling is part of our family life—we often pass along pieces when someone needs them or when we move. Sharing is caring, but sometimes you wish you could take a piece back.
Knowing the leather sofa worked well in this house gives me a helpful starting point for the size and shape I’ll look for next. But I still have several questions to answer before replacing it.
Questions I need to figure out
Do I even want another couch, or would a pair of comfortable chairs be enough?
Given the room’s proportions, would I be happier without a sofa or with something smaller?
If I do get a couch, should it go where the leather sofa was, in front of the French doors, or facing the fireplace?
What style, fabric, and color will work best for our lifestyle and the room’s light?
How long will it take to save up—furniture is expensive—and should I hunt for a secondhand find on Facebook Marketplace?
If I buy a new sofa, I’ll likely want new chairs to pair with it. I hadn’t planned to keep my current chairs long term, so that’s another decision to make.
So many choices, but at least the absence of the leather sofa gives me a clear set of parameters to consider as I move forward.
I co-wrote a book called But Where Do I Put the Couch? that tackles decorating questions like these. Answering other people’s design dilemmas is one thing—solving my own is a different challenge entirely.
It feels odd not having the living room fully put together, but it also reminds me how fortunate we are to have a home and furnishings at all. That perspective helps when making decisions about what to keep, what to replace, and how to create a comfortable, welcoming space.
What would you choose for this room: a couch or just chairs?
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