Last year I wrote about wanting to refresh our living room furniture. It took time to figure out the best furniture arrangement, but once that fell into place I felt ready to decide what pieces to bring into the space. It’s much easier to shop and choose confidently when you already know how furniture fits and where it will go.
Shortly after that, I got distracted by a bedroom find—I unexpectedly discovered our Quincy bed on Facebook Marketplace. I love those serendipitous decorating moments that you can’t plan. Finding that bed was a delightful surprise, and I’ve enjoyed working on the bedroom since.
But did you notice in these photos that I have no living room couch?
Here’s how that happened.
Over the holidays my mom mentioned she was looking for a small loveseat for their Tiny Cottage. They’d started with a charming wicker set and placed the sofa on the cottage porch last summer and fall; it looked so cute out there. She wanted to try a couch in person before buying one, and since there aren’t many furniture stores nearby I offered to drive to Seattle after Christmas to look together.
My mom said she liked the scale of our leather sofa and wished she could find something similar. That’s when I had an idea. Our son was home and able-bodied, so I asked if he would help move our leather sofa to the Tiny Cottage so my mom could test the size and feel of it in her space. Moving it was only a short trip across the backyard, so we gave it a try.
Our leather sofa is no longer sold as a sofa at Pottery Barn—only a chair version remains—so she couldn’t buy the exact same piece even if she wanted to. I didn’t expect her to want leather specifically, but I thought having a couch to use through winter would be helpful since furniture orders can take months. So, with our son’s help, we moved it over.
I hadn’t planned to permanently part with the leather sofa. I was thinking about adding a new chair or two and maybe even having a slipcover made for a fresher summer look. The sofa fit our living room perfectly and leather was practical with dogs around. It was one of the nicest pieces we still had after passing many items on to our kids when we moved.
Short version: my mom loved the leather sofa in the Tiny Cottage and decided to keep it. She would have returned it if I asked, and she didn’t want to cause any trouble, but I’m genuinely happy she’s pleased with it. Furniture shopping can be overwhelming, so I’m glad I could simplify the decision for her. I’ll share photos of the cottage once she has everything settled—right now it looks so cozy with the sofa in place.
So after giving away four favorite couches over the past few years, it’s time to rethink my living room. I’m glad our family pieces found good homes—many were too large for this house—but now we need to decide what comes next for our space.
It’s a bit like a reversed “if you give a mouse a cookie”—pass along a couch to a family member, and soon you might want a different sofa yourself.
My mom didn’t have a couch originally because she had given hers away when she moved. Passing furniture among family has become our way of life; when someone needs a couch and we’re downsizing or moving, we usually pass pieces along. Sharing is wonderful, though sometimes you wish you could take an item back!
At least knowing the leather sofa worked well in the Tiny Cottage gives me a head start on sizing and shaping my next couch. The experience clarified what scale works in the space, which is a useful reference as I shop.
Questions I still need to answer
Do I want another couch at all?
Given the living room’s size and layout, would a combination of comfortable chairs work better than a sofa?
If I do buy a couch, where should it go—where the leather sofa was, in front of the French doors, or facing the fireplace? I previously didn’t like the fireplace placement with the leather, so that’s a consideration.
What style and fabric should I choose?
How long will it take to save up for a quality couch—furniture is expensive.
Could I find the right piece on Facebook Marketplace again?
If I get a new couch, I’ll likely want new chairs too, though I hadn’t intended to keep the current chairs long-term, so that may be part of a future plan.
So many decisions—but it’s exciting to have options and to be thoughtful about the next steps.
I co-wrote a book called But Where Do I Put the Couch? with KariAnne of Thistlewood, which answers decorating questions from readers. It’s one thing to advise others and another to solve your own layout and furniture challenges—now that I’m facing these choices, I have a lot to think about.
Not having the living room fully arranged feels a bit unsettling, but it also reminds me how fortunate it is to have a home and furniture at all—especially when I think of people who have lost everything to fires or other disasters.
What couch would you choose for this space? Or would you stick with chairs?
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