Couch Shopping
This is a great time for my wife, Helaine. She's in the zone right now, planning and strategizing her next move. And it all revolves around furniture.
For the last week, we've been shoppping for a couch. And not just any couch. We want something comfortable to sit in the rec room (now that the basement is finished, I'm not allowed to call it a basement) in front of the big TV. Our current couch is a sleeper sofa that we bought when we got married, almost 18 years ago. It's been a great couch, but the fabric is starting to break down in a few spots and it's time to let it go. The couch has been with us from New Orleans to Oklahoma City to Rochester, NY and now Maryland. In all, we have lived at 7 different addresses owning 3 of them.
The new couch that we're looking for can't be too big. The space we have to work with is about 120" and we want to leave about 30" for walking around the couch. 88" is about the standard size for a couch, but many couches are now 100" and if you're thinking about sectionals, then 110" or more is not out of the question. Well, this one area is a little tight, so we've been looking for a small sectional or a couch with a chaise on the left.
Have I mentioned that I really don't like furniture shopping. You know the drill. You walk into a store and the next salesperson in line pounces as you enter. The vast majority of them are actually very nice, but I find myself a little anxious. I'm sure the fault lies in me, but I get guarded when a salesperson starts to ask me the "personal questions". Like being my pal is going to make me spend all my money right now and with you. I think there's a fine art to being a good salesman. Be nice, give me the attention that I want, and know the product. That's it for me.
Sidebar: I had some minor work done on my car today and the service writer was trying to sell me on something I did not think I needed. I explained that I thought a transmission flush was overkill and potentially harmful and that a drain and fill would be fine. I also said that I had concerns that the flush could harm the internal parts of the transmission and if any chemicals for cleaning were not fully removed, then the new fluid could get contaminated. The guy tells me that I'm wrong and that my information is bad. I kept my cool, but I really resented it. Tell me why that service is good and put my fears at ease and maybe I bite. But if you in
sult my intelligence, am I really going to spend the extra money?
As for the couch, we found a 2 piece sectional that is only 89" long. It's from a company called Catnapper out of North Carolina and we found a dealer near Hagerstown that we'll probably buy from. I was talking with Topper in the weather office about it and told him that the end seats also recline. I then asked him if I was turning into an old man. The answer wasn't pretty... "down stairs, O.K., upper level, you're an old man."
But Topper isn't the one that needs to be happy, Helaine is! This couch will likely mean that we'll need to move some other furniture around the house and possibly add some ceiling lights to a couple of the bedrooms. More fun for my wife and more work for me.
All I want is to just lounge on the new couch with my son Philip, and watch my big TV.
For the last week, we've been shoppping for a couch. And not just any couch. We want something comfortable to sit in the rec room (now that the basement is finished, I'm not allowed to call it a basement) in front of the big TV. Our current couch is a sleeper sofa that we bought when we got married, almost 18 years ago. It's been a great couch, but the fabric is starting to break down in a few spots and it's time to let it go. The couch has been with us from New Orleans to Oklahoma City to Rochester, NY and now Maryland. In all, we have lived at 7 different addresses owning 3 of them.
The new couch that we're looking for can't be too big. The space we have to work with is about 120" and we want to leave about 30" for walking around the couch. 88" is about the standard size for a couch, but many couches are now 100" and if you're thinking about sectionals, then 110" or more is not out of the question. Well, this one area is a little tight, so we've been looking for a small sectional or a couch with a chaise on the left.
Have I mentioned that I really don't like furniture shopping. You know the drill. You walk into a store and the next salesperson in line pounces as you enter. The vast majority of them are actually very nice, but I find myself a little anxious. I'm sure the fault lies in me, but I get guarded when a salesperson starts to ask me the "personal questions". Like being my pal is going to make me spend all my money right now and with you. I think there's a fine art to being a good salesman. Be nice, give me the attention that I want, and know the product. That's it for me.
Sidebar: I had some minor work done on my car today and the service writer was trying to sell me on something I did not think I needed. I explained that I thought a transmission flush was overkill and potentially harmful and that a drain and fill would be fine. I also said that I had concerns that the flush could harm the internal parts of the transmission and if any chemicals for cleaning were not fully removed, then the new fluid could get contaminated. The guy tells me that I'm wrong and that my information is bad. I kept my cool, but I really resented it. Tell me why that service is good and put my fears at ease and maybe I bite. But if you in
sult my intelligence, am I really going to spend the extra money?As for the couch, we found a 2 piece sectional that is only 89" long. It's from a company called Catnapper out of North Carolina and we found a dealer near Hagerstown that we'll probably buy from. I was talking with Topper in the weather office about it and told him that the end seats also recline. I then asked him if I was turning into an old man. The answer wasn't pretty... "down stairs, O.K., upper level, you're an old man."
But Topper isn't the one that needs to be happy, Helaine is! This couch will likely mean that we'll need to move some other furniture around the house and possibly add some ceiling lights to a couple of the bedrooms. More fun for my wife and more work for me.
All I want is to just lounge on the new couch with my son Philip, and watch my big TV.
posted by Howard Bernstein, 9 Weather Now at
6:27 PM
1 Comments:
I can appreciate your furniture shopping ordeal. We recently went through the same in purchasing new living room furniture. I forgot the age old idiom of furniture stores..."objects in the furniture store appear smaller than they do in your own home" It probably appears on the sofa somewhere next to where your change usually falls.
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