Hello! Kylee here. I recently shared an update about progress on our townhouse and promised to tell the story of how we got our two couches into the new living room. If you’ve ever moved into a small home or lived with a thrifty partner, you might appreciate what followed.
In our old basement apartment—affectionately known as The Cave—we had a red leather couch and a matching loveseat that originally belonged to my grandparents. They were well-made and surprisingly comfortable, but not exactly the style or color I would have chosen. I appreciated having them for five years, yet I was hoping to start fresh in the townhouse.
I spent hours searching for the perfect sofa or sectional to fit our new space. My husband, Lance, however, was convinced we could keep the red couches and get them up the narrow stairs. Lance is practical and frugal; spending several thousand dollars on a new sectional wasn’t appealing to him when we already had two solid leather pieces in good condition.
I doubted the larger couch would ever make it out of the apartment intact, let alone arrive safely on the second floor of our townhouse, but I agreed to see how things played out. If replacing them turned out to be unnecessary, at least I hadn’t been wasteful for the sake of aesthetics.
Part One: Out of the apartment
Moving day arrived and the effort to remove the sofas began. After being stuck in the elevator for nearly an hour, twisting and turning the couch, pausing to come up with new approaches, and nearly damaging the elevator ceiling, we somehow got it out and into the U-Haul with only a few small scuffs in the leather. How we managed it remains a mystery to me.
Even so, I still doubted they would make it up our townhouse staircase. I remained convinced we were still shopping for a new sofa. Lance, however, was undeterred. “Ye of little faith,” he teased.
Part Two: Into the…garage.
We tried to maneuver the loveseat around a tight corner and up the stairs with a few friends, but it wouldn’t clear the turn, so it went into the garage for the time being. I comforted Lance by suggesting we could sell them on Craigslist and resumed my search for a West Elm couch, confident we’d decide soon enough.
The next day my grandpa, who’s equally determined, came to help. Watching them fight the loveseat up the steep, narrow staircase felt almost perilous—there were moments when everyone worried they’d be flattened in the process. Yet, against the odds, they managed to haul the loveseat upstairs. Given how difficult that move had been, we left the larger couch in the garage while we figured out our next step. For the moment, at least, we had a loveseat to sit on.
Part Three: A change of heart
Weeks passed as we settled in, content with the loveseat. When I casually raised the idea of replacing the furniture, Lance surprised me with renewed confidence that he could get the big couch into the living room after all. I gave him a two-week ultimatum: make it happen, or the couches go on Craigslist.
Part Four: The final attempt
Lance recruited several friends for a final effort. They spent hours wrestling at the base of the stairs, trying to twist and angle the red leviathan around the corner. At first it appeared impossible. Then someone suggested trying the balcony.
The balcony option sounded unlikely: it was high off the ground and the sliding door opening seemed too narrow. Still, everyone was determined to try. The couch was hoisted from below toward the balcony, but there weren’t enough hands above to pull it over. The crew below promised to come around and help hoist it up.
There we were, hanging on to a dangling couch with no support below—surely an entertaining sight for new neighbors. Just as the couch threatened to slip from our grasp, the reinforcements arrived. Using a coordinated effort and every ounce of strength, we managed to lever the couch over the balcony and set it down safely.
We paused for a celebratory photo, but the couch still wouldn’t fit through the screen door. The solution was to remove the stationary part of the sliding door. After a bit of work, the door component came off and, once again, what had seemed impossible suddenly became possible. The couch slid into place in the living room and Bella—cone of shame and all—immediately inspected it for approval.
In the end, hard work and persistence won the day and Lance was elated. For now, the red leather set stays—and I’m not mad about it. With a rug and a few accessories in place, the pieces actually work in our space and are starting to grow on me. Maybe someday I’ll get that West Elm sectional, but today is not that day.
Soon I’ll share another one of our frugal adventures: how we cut a queen-size box spring in half to get it up two flights of stairs into the bedroom.
