Living Room

Honey, I shrunk the sofa!

You may remember our pre-wedding living room as this:

Crate & Barrel Petrie Sofa Mid-Century Modern Living Room

But last week Ryan and I finally put together the mid-century modern sofa and chair that we brought home from our honeymoon, and it now looks like this.  What’s wrong with this picture?

Mid-Century Modern Living Room at Borrowed Abode

Whoops!

I’m not sure if you can tell from these photos, but the scale of the sofa is all wrong. It looks like we put a dollhouse sofa in an otherwise-grown-up living room.

But aesthetically speaking, with all the warm teak wood tones, it looks lovely.  It’s a great sofa but not against our large front window.  I think it would really well in an apartment or smaller living room.

Vintage Teak Mid-Mod Sofa

 The idea, when we saw it online, was that this wood-arm, teak sofa would be much easier to keep clean and pet-proof than our (secondhand) white Crate & Barrel sofa.

With the new vintage sofa, the cats can’t stretch out on the arms, snagging the fabric with their claws, because the arms are skinny and wooden.  And the zip-off covers on the loose cushions are easy to remove for cleaning.And I could easily sew different cushion covers to give it a more modern look.

But it looks absurd in the space, especially when Ryan sits on it.

Small Vintage  Teak Sofa Living Room

We knew we were taking a risk by registering for the sofa and chair set with it all the way up in New Hampshire – but you don’t know if you don’t try.    We used some of our Just L gift cards (wedding presents) to purchase it, so we’ll sell it on Craigslist for the same amount we paid for it and then use that money towards either a new sofa or towards getting our existing sofa reupholstered.

The good news is that we are loving the combination of the vintage teak armchair that came with the sofa, as well as the smaller (green) teak armchair that I bought at Just L last summer.

Vintage Teak Armchairs Credenza Glass Coffee Table

Also, in looking at these photos, I’m realizing that I do not like my bright red painting in the living room.  I’ll have to move it.

Have you ever brought a new piece of furniture home, only to discover it completely doesn’t work in your space?  This is definitely a first for us!

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13 Comments

  • Reply Christina Leaman at 1:19 pm

    Oh Jane! Poor Ryan! I totally giggled at this.

  • Reply Jamillah at 2:23 pm

    Hahahahaha, oh dear! He does look like a giant!!! I haven’t bought a piece of furniture that looks wrong for the space, but I do feel sometimes that I’ve bought furniture that caters to me and people of my shorty height. My friend came to visit me and he made my furniture look like doll furniture for sure.

    • Reply Jane @ The Borrowed Abode at 10:45 am

      My college roommate / best friend has the same situation. She’s much shorter than me and has furnished all her homes with nice tiny scale furniture. 🙂 It works for her – she’s the one hwo has to use it 24/7!

  • Reply Funnelcloud Rachel at 2:30 pm

    This is why I measure everything 50 times and still can’t make a decision…see ongoing bedroom furniture dilemma!

    Anyway, could you have two sofas in the living room arranged in an L? Keep the white one where it was, move the wood cabinet down toward the dining table, and put the MCM sofa under the little window? L-shaped seating arrangements usually work well. (Also, do you guys not have a TV?)

  • Reply sherry at 4:11 pm

    So, what are you going to do? Put the white one back (and btw, I really like the white one)? You can always move the new one to another or something. 

  • Reply Brenda K Spevak-Saito at 8:28 pm

    LOL! 

  • Reply Caitlyn at 10:55 am

    Um, maybe this is weird, but I love that sofa, I live in an apartment and I live in MD. Depending on how much it is, I would totally be interested in buying it from you. Not sure how far from Baltimore you live, I just know you live in MD too. Email me if you really want to sell it. Thanks!

  • Reply Melicia Laroco at 12:08 pm

    What if the sofa and the credenza swap places? The smaller window would work better with the sofa, I think…And plants on the credenza would get more direct light or at least provide a bit more privacy.

  • Reply Mikalah at 1:02 pm

    We had that happen with our floral loveseat! We have a mid-century style but newly made couch, and when we brought in the vintage floral loveseat, the sizes were totally off! I didn’t realize how petite vintage furniture is. Luckily, we were getting rid of another couch and so we switched out the screw-on legs and got a couple inches of height added to the loveseat. It was enough to make it workable! Unfortunately, your sofa doesn’t have removable legs! What a bummer. I hope you can find another spot for the furniture, it’s so cool! =) 

  • Reply Ashley@DesignBuildLove.co at 8:24 pm

    aww… Ryan looks so sad! 😉  The sofa and chairs are beautiful and it’s a totally bummer that the sofa is the wrong size.  You win some, you lose some.  In the end, I definitely think it was worth the try!  Can’t wait to see what you end up doing!

  • Reply Choosing a new sofa? Not quite. | The Borrowed Abode: Apartment and small space decorating tips for renters and homeowners. at 8:21 am

    […] its brief audition for “Honey, I shrunk the sofa!” last […]

  • Reply Ryan at 11:10 pm

    DON’T LOOK AT ME! I’M A MONSTER!  

    Five minutes after this shot was taken I rampaged through Tokyo. True story.

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