A Big Comfy Couch

After more than twelve years, I still like my house. Yes, there are several things that I would change if I could, but in general I still love my little haven from the world. One of the house related things that Kevin and I have groused about more often than any other is the fact that the configuration of the doorway at the bottom of the stairs to the basement coupled with a narrower than normal doorway means that we can’t get any decent furniture down there unless it comes in pieces. That makes beds and desks easy to get down there but provides a big challenge in terms of couches. Over the years we have made several attempts and have had no success except for a second-hand love seat, and we have a gouge in the stairwell wall that attests to the wrestle it took to get it down there. We have even talked about remodeling that portion of the basement so we can get some better seating downstairs, but that is far down the list of things that are on our “if we become independently wealthy” list.

A month or so ago, as a result of the latest round of complaints about the lumpy, uncomfortable futon that has been standing in as a couch since we moved in, I googled “couches that fit through small spaces” and happened upon a web-based company that sells couches and sectionals specifically designed to fit into small spaces. Each one comes in multiple pieces that you assemble yourself with basically no skills necessary other than needing to be able to read directions. In about an hour, you can have a fine armchair that UPS delivered in a cardboard box that can fit through any size doorway. The company is enormously business savvy because they have a money back guaranteed 30-day trial of a single unit so you can try it out. Kev and I were both pretty excited about the prospect of being able to get some actual furniture downstairs, so we ordered some fabric samples, selected one we liked, and ordered our trial unit. While it was not as big and plush as some sectionals, it was far better than anything else we have down there so after about a week of test-sitting, we ordered an entire sectional worth of units.

The new sectional arrived in multiple boxes several days ago and we stashed them in Nathan’s room until Kev had time to put them together. We were all anxious to get them assembled though, so the task popped to the top of his list. Now we have some old furniture pieces in the garage awaiting removal from the premises and a nice new sectional in the basement. An unexpected perk to the new furniture is that while we have more usable seating, we also have more usable floor space. It’s a win-win situation.