Now that I know I will be in my teensy abode for another year (maybe less, but still – for the foreseeable future) – I have decided to make some changes. I need more ROOM.
I have gone with the bold move of turning all my books horizontally (well, not all – but most of them) which has freed up an entire bookshelf. I am throwing out a bookshelf which is falling apart – I need my rent-a-husband to come over and help me move it out. And (unbelievably) I am NOT going to replace the bookshelf with another one. No. Until I can move into a more spacious apartment where my books can spread out – I will deal with the horizontal weirdness of my book collection – and revel in the extra space.
And I think I am going to buy this.
I have dreamt of owning such a chair.
It is a chair that haunts my dreams.
I want to keep it in the velvet (there are all these different swatches you can choose from) – and I do like the sort of gold-ish velvet – but I’m also very partial to the “espresso” velvet color – the dark brown, which would go with my curtains as well as my Oriental rug. What do you think? Too dark? Since my curtains are dark and the rug is dark – should I go with the lighter color?
Friends who have seen my apartment: what do you think?? About the color and the style?? I am thinking of placing it in the corner – where a bookshelf now is – the corner where the radiator is. I will place it on the diagonal, so that it will face into the room (looking at the kitchen door). What do you think??
Also, any other thoughts are welcome, from those of you who decorate homes, and have opinions regarding color and texture.
My only fear is that the chair, when being delivered, will not fit through my narrow hallway leading into my apartment. I have to do some measurements. It makes me scared to think I could forfeit my chance at having my dream chair because my hall is made for midgets.
Fingers crossed please.
That chair is SWEET. It could suck you in for a nap, big time.
It reminds me of a similar chair my mom ordered from Plow & Hearth (had corduroy-like upholstery) and my sister and I called it the Pottery Barn Chair. Maybe b/c it was kinda big, and it reminded us of the “Friends” episode with the apothecary table. My mom’s probably the last person you’d see in Pottery Barn. Then again, she’s a Libra, as am I, and we do like nice things.
That chair is awesome. I have one similar. I bought it with our living room set about 8-and-a-half years ago.
My wife was pregnant with our oldest child and was put on bedrest about halfway through the pregnancy. The furniture we had at the time was second-hand, bought from a friend of mine while we were in Okinawa. It had become uncomfortable to lie on for long periods of time. Since my wife would be spending most of the day lying on the couch, we had to suck it up and get new furniture.
I went alone — my wife still speaks in hushed tones of her horror at me making such a big purchase without her — and my only prerequisite (in my mind) was that the set must have a chair such yours here.
I love my chair.
I had a similar dilemma getting my La-Z-Boy into my place.
We were only halfway through the procedure of shoehorning it into the doorway when I learned that it came apart to get through tight spaces. See if it has assembly parts, or if it’s just one huge piece.
Excellent Choice, by the way. I see it in a Burgundy.
LOVE that chair. It looks so comfy. All you would need is a warm blanket to snuggle in for a night of reading. I have a chair in a similar color and it tends to show stains, so if you’re a huge klutz like me, maybe it would be worth it to get in a darker color?
wutz – yo! How are you??
I know the little “legs” come off – but you can see how small they are, taking them off won’t make much difference. It’s the hallway I’m mainly worried about which is miniscule. I also live on the first floor … so I keep trying to think: Hmmm, maybe they could hoist it thru my window from the backyard if need be???
That is an amazing chair… I also have a chair in the same general family. I love it. I’d go with the darker color, but some of that is personal taste – I’ve always liked darker furniture.
Jen – yeah, that’s what I’m thinking, in terms of the dark color. Easier to keep clean, etc.
Maybe I could get a couple of light pillows (sort of like you see in the photo) – of a lighter brown, or green – just to contrast.
Oh God, I can’t wait. Next couple of weeks – I should probably get an ottoman too.
I am gonna live in this chair.
Oh, yeah… and the hallway comment reminded me of a book reference – have you read the second Dirk Gently book by Douglas Adams? The one with the programmer who had a couch delivered that got permanently stuck in his hallway – couldn’t go further, and somehow couldn’t get it out either?
I’ve never bought furniture new – I have furnished 90% of my apartment with other people’s cast-offs and things I find on the sidewalk or at yard sales.
So I get nervous about stuff like this. Excited – but nervous too.
Melissa – I haven’t read that. Ha!!
It reminds me of an absolutely insane move – where my friend Allison and I literally could NOT get the mattress around the corner – it was completely stuck. It was also 200 degrees outside. We worked at it, pushing shoving, going in from different angles –
I think we finally knocked on some dude’s door – and he happened to be there – and he allowed us to back the mattress all the way into his apartment, which gave us enough room to finally get it around the corner in the tiny stairwell.
Insane.
get the darker brown…with pretty celery or orange colered pillows..it will be easier to keep clean…defintiely measure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
New furniture is so nerve-wracking indeed, but so worth it. It made me feel like a “real” adult when I bought new furniture. :)
Hmmm, maybe they could hoist it thru my window from the backyard if need be???
We did something like that when we got the basement finished last year. My in-laws gave us an old sofa and love seat for the family room, which we had to store in our living room for a week until the carpet was in. None of this stuff was going through the kitchen, around the corner, and down the stairs–so we took it all out the dining room window (double-sized), over to the back door, and straight down the stairs.
Sheila – I love the chair – and definitely go with a dark color. I like the espresso you’d mentioned. I’ve got two chairs like this – one in the finished basement and one in the little living room. I love them. The one in the basement is dark colors – browns and rusts and greens with a sort of tapestry look. The other one is beige, and for cleaning purposes (or peace of mind purposes) I like the darker one best. So that’s my two cents. And we had it delivered, and the guys had a hell of a time getting it into our basement…but – they did it, with just a few scratches on the paint. A small price to pay.
Oh – and you definitely want the ottoman too.
And (I’m so bored at work today) I have a mattress story too – when Bill and I were moving into the tiny house we rented years ago, we had a full-size mattress and box spring (hey – you were at my apartment the day that bed was delivered, I think…eons ago, I guess!) Anyway – a bunch of friends helped us move all our stuff, and while bill and I went to return the U-Haul trailer, the rest of them worked on getting the last batch of stuff into the house.
When we came back, everyone was hanging out on the front porch, just waiting. And Bill’s best friend, John, came up to us and said “It’s not as bad as it looks.”
They’d tried and tried to get the boxspring up the tiny little twisty staircase (think spiral, up against a wall, with a low ceiling, and angles, in a converted summer cottage) to the bedroom…and busted through the ceiling and the wall and had to dismantle the bannister…and it still wouldn’t go up, so they basically broke the boxspring frame and MADE it go up.
We bolted the boxspring back together and it held together just fine. We fixed all the damage and repainted.
And when we moved out five years ago, we chopped the boxspring up and left it by the curb.
I know – long tangent – but I can so relate to your narrow spaces issue!!
Jayne – ahhhhh, moving is stressful enough without dismantling bannisters!
I think that happened to my parents, too, as newlyweds – they had to saw their boxspring in half in order to get it into their apartment. Devastating!
Darker colors are great Sheila until you have animals. Fur on dark colors really stands out. If you were to get a cat…
sothernbosox – Ha!! So true! I WISH I could get a cat here. That’s the only bad thing about my apartment – the no pets thing.
There’s also the whole using every bit of furniture as a scratching post phenomenon that would be a bummer with nice furniture!!
sheila — Love the dark color. Does your place get a lot of light? Then I wouldn’t hesitate on the dark. Also, we got a sofa from PB and, well, I never really checked the depth on it. I mean, I was so swept away by it in the store and the catalog and I DID sit on it and all, too briefly, probably. But when it arrived and we sat on it, it’s okaaay, but it’s just not as deep as we’d like, you know? I’d like it to be deeper for that real cozy loungy experience. It’s like it makes me SIT UP too much, makes me behave myself or something. And I just wanna slouuch sometimes. Most times.
So — all that just to say, check the measurement of the depth. And decide, I guess, if you mostly want a SIT UP experience or a slouuuchy one.
Just FYI, the depth of my cushion, just the cushion itself — I just got up and measured it for you, hahaha — is 21 1/2 inches.
Tracey – You know, I was wondering about the cushy-ness of the thing. Also my apartment does NOT get a lot of light – well, in the morning it does – the sun actually wakes me up, so it’s eastern light … But I think the darkness appeals to me. Since I am, after all, a Hobbit-like creature.
I will do some measurements tomorrow – and – God willing – just order the damn thing.
Oh, I absolutely think that espresso color is great. Rich and gorgeous. And yes! Measuring is key! Next time I will measure MYSELF in a curled-up pose and see just how much damn room I need.
oh I love the chair! I like the espresso velvet and the cordovan velvet for your apt. Just imagine yourself, nice hot cup of coffee on a cold winter day, snow falling, incense burning, curled up on the chair, with a book and….the nana…
oh yeah baby. heaven.
the nana – hahahahaha
Yes! Heaven!!
I believe I’ll have some fireworks left over tonight, if you’d like that hall… adjusted.. somewhat.
Failing that, there’s always a good chainsaw.
Cullen – I meant to ask you:
Did you get velvet? Or is it leather? Or upholstery?
Obviously you are happy with it – I’m really psyched!!!
Mr. Lion – it is ALWAYS good to know a man with easy access to explosives.
Have fun tonight! Happy 4th!
OK, So I am so late to these comments!! I agree with Mitchell’s color commentaries. And Mere’s warm wintry Nana coffee scenario’s! Any chance you could talk to any of your neighbors and ask if they have had any problems with furniture deliveries? Other than that, I would take measurements of the hallway and give that to the place where you are buying the chair from BEFORE you finalize the purchase and make sure that they will be able to get it through the dimensions. Nothing would suck more than owning a gorgeous chair that you wouldn’t be able to get into your apartment!!
AND,the reason I am late to your conversation is that I am down in Virginia on the lake. And WE need to talk about KEVIN. NOW!!! I finished the book, and I have SOOOOOOOOOO many thoughts on it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh God – I am so so so psyched to hear EVERYTHING you have to say!!!
Ok-I keep losing internet connection here- but I am about to send you an initial email about Kevin and some of my thoughts. (Which are varied and deep.) I really,really wish you were here, so we could sit on the dock with a Tanqueray and tonic and discuss it deep into the night. By the way, I am leaving the mountains tomorrow and heading home. We are getting a dog (in Conn.) He is rescue dog. He is 4 years old, half black lab, half beagle. He is so stinking ADORABLE! We are naming him Ciaran (For those of you who need phonetics, that would sound like KEE-ruhn) In Irish it means little dark one.