Isn't a 78" sofa sort of a longish loveseat? Or maybe that wouldn't matter since the room isn't used much. But why buy a new sofa for your cat (and the occasional daughter) when the old one still works? Perhaps you should wait until you can get exactly what you want.

Those are just my thoughts on the matter. :)

I would go with the CL. Do the back and side upholstery seem to be in good shape? I think the color might work with your walls. Just tuck a throw around the seat cushions until you're ready to get it reupholstered. In fact, since the T shaped cushions probably aren't attached, I would think it wouldn't cost too much to just have zippered or Velcro covers made for those cushions.

Have you got an idea of how much it would cost to reupholster the whole thing? Less than $1600, I bet. But check it out and make sure the frame's in good shape first.

My vote goes to the new sofa which has many of the colors of your pretty rug in its so-called "hideous" ((LOL!)) cushions!! Look closely and see the blues and beiges in the rug AND the cushion fabric!

PLUS -- if necessary -- you could have the cushions recovered in a fabric (like a thin stripe) that WOULD work with the curtains etc. And then add a couple of plain reddish velvet small cushions to it (or the two chairs) to pick up on the strong claret color.

Jan

Maybe it's just me, but the CL sofa looks funny with the light floral on the cushions and solid everywhere else, like they had a problem and had to recover that part.

I'm with wooderlander, there's nothing wrong with the one you have now except you don't love it. If you don't love the CL one, wait until you can buy what you do love. I wouldn't buy a sofa just so I can glance in a room as I walk by it and it's still just ok.

I like your sofa much better than the CL one. Yours is right, but very pretty. The CL sofa, in my opinion only, is ugly.

I'd spend the $200 somewhere else.

I meant to say "your sofa is bright," (not right), but very pretty.

I wouldn't buy it without bringing home a couple of the cushions and trying them. I'm wary of how well the color will work with everything else. If it doesn't work, save the money and wait, especially since it's a room that's rarely used
Also, in 5-6 years you may not like the style of the beige sofa!

For the smell, have you taken the covers off and had them dry cleaned? (I'm assuming the covers come off the cusions!). The odor may be in the foam cushions so replacing the foam may solve the odor problem.

**** I wouldn't buy a sofa just so I can glance in a room as I walk by it and it's still just ok.****

Sorry to send this is a non decorating, purely practical direction, but I think marti8a hit the nail on the head in a couple of ways.

At some point in the not so distant future, your home dynamics will change and you may have completely different needs for that room than you envision now. To me, (BIG qualifier there) it seems extravagent to spend $ only to create another almost but not quite scenario that is equally as temporary as what you have now.

Not to impose my sensibilities about US and world issues, but my instincts at this point are to fall back and regroup, learn the lessons of my parents and grandparents regarding make it do, use it up, wear it out. And above all else, I want to get creative with what I already have or can easily obtain, spend less, enjoy the process more. I wish my parents were still here to share the stories of their early marriage and silk purse/sow's ear lessons from the late depression and war years. They managed to not only make do but to thrive. I hope I have half the ingenuity.

Of course not everyone is feeling pinched and they can/will continue to spend at will - God bless 'em! But the ripples are continuing to spread outward across the country and the world so more and more of us will be making adjustments.

Again, sorry for the major detour - more like a derailment! For some reason this struck a nerve. Gotta turn the radio off ;-)

I would get a washable matelasse surefit slipcover for the sofa you already have. The back cushions on that CL sofa look like there might be a problem. Your sofa is a lovely shape, but a loud pattern. Slipcover and get a totally new look.

Definitely purchase a slipcover for your current sofa.

I too think that a slipcover would be the perfect solution to your "loud sofa" dilemma.

I also appreciate dlm2000's points. This is something I've been thinking of lately -- even as I continue to buy things I don't truly need. Even if they do come from Craig's List and they were bargains, did I truly need these things? Not really - but having them has made my life more enjoyable, so ... And that brings up another thought, which is the notion expressed in the OP's post that "real furniture" comes new from a furniture store, not secondhand from CL, Salvation Army, etc. I think that more and more of us who enjoy the thrill of decorating are going to be bringing "castoffs" into our homes instead of paying (often over-inflated) retail prices. I think we need to move beyond seeing that as a negative thing in any way, shape or form. It's a viable option that just makes sense in these difficult economic times that many of us are experiencing right now.

Sorry ... hope this wasn't too much of a highjack!

I agree with the rest to slipcover your current sofa. I am probably where you may be in 5-10 years. I have 2 teenagers, one 7-year-old and am tryingto figure out how to reenter the workforce after being on the mommmy track for several years. CL has become my friend--of necessity, but also of choice as auntjen has mentioned. I sell what I no long needer--BTW there is a good market for kids' stuff--and look there first to see if I can find what I need there before paying retail. Then in cases where I do pay retail, I don't feel so bad as I know I've economized (or waited for the right time).

As kids become teens they enjoy having more space of their own so I can see this room getting a lot more use in the years to come--either it will be the parent hang out with the kids in the other room or vica versa.

$400 is still a lot to spend for a couch you are not in love with and would need to spend more money to make it work. As for end tables, have you considered some nesting ones? You could keep one set to one side and pull out the extra tables when needed.

Thanks for all the advice. I want to clarify a few things.

It's not like the room is NEVER used. In fact, lately I've been going in there with my daughter to do homework (it's quiet in there) and since I'm taking a class, I've been doing my reading in there too. And (I'm surprised more people aren't grossed out by this) it's really bugging me to sit on the sofa and smell that weird smell. I've tried having the sofa cleaned but it didn't help -- I think it must have been sitting in someone's wet musty basement for too long and part of my shudders to think what might be growing in the cushions (although it looks clean and fine).

The other point I wanted to address was about the "real furniture." Believe me, I love thrift store and Craigslist shopping as much as the next person (I was doing it LONG before it became a trendy socially acceptable thing to do). But I'm getting to the point of my life where I want a room with furniture that I designed and chose because I LIKED it, not because it happened to be what was available at the local SA or on craigslist. My entire house is decorated with ebay, thrift, garage sale, CL, and inherited furniture (there's maybe 4 or 5 things we bought new, that's IT, and all of those are at least 10 years old). While I think I've done a pretty decent job of making the best out of it, ultimately, a lot of it is "almost" my taste or "good enough for now" or "it was cheap so I don't care if the kids wreck it" furniture. At some point, I really want to have something I picked out from scratch because I liked it, and not just because I stumbled across it cheap at someone's garage sale and thought it would work for what I needed. If that makes me a wasteful, extravagant, planet-hating person, then so be it. After 20 years of furnishing with other people's castoffs, I feel entitled to dream of having something that I actually picked out for once.

I appreciate dlm2000's points too, was thinking that if OP was going to buy a similar sofa to the CL in a few years and this one was in good shape, she would save $$ in the long run by getting CL one now and getting it reupholstered. Problem as I understand it isn't current sofa's print, but the size. But my motto is Don't buy anything (material - education doesn't count) if you're going to have to go into debt to do it (except a house, and we're 9 months away from having that paid off). Certainly don't spend $400 now and then go out and spend $2000 or $2500 for something nearly identical a few years later. GL with your decision.

It the current sofa stinks as much as you say it does I would get a new one.

I actually like this CL one you are considering but there would be the domino effect of then wanting to change the rug/curtains/chair/ect. It looks like a nice sofa and you can make it work in this room.

lkplatow: I think you have the bones of a very pretty room and was in fact surprised when you said it was rarely used. It would bother me as well to have an old smell in a sofa that I'd purchased used. Since you (and others here too) think the cushions are "hideous" why not make an offer for $300 (perhaps even $250) on it--stating your reason that you will have to get them recovered? Take this as you will as I am referring more about myself, but I know sometimes I will spend money on stuff I don't really like that much because it is a "bargain" only to never be quite happy with it and in the end, replace it for what I really want. It would've been better, in my case, to have just held on to my pennies a bit longer, until I could afford the item I wanted and/or searched a bit longer.

Do you really need a couch there right now? Alternatively I could see this room as a nice reading room with the comfy armchairs and a nice bookcase.

Here is my 2cents! Keep the sofa you have.I think it is pretty and it goes in the room much better than the CL one. The CL sofa does not go with your great chairs and rug at all. I think you have put together a pretty room. Why not keep looking until you find a CL sofa that works well with what you already have?
Since you have decided to redo the room the exact way you would like it when your children go back to school, why not wait until you have a design plan and the funding? I know how you feel about thrift shops and CL I have been doing it forever as well. I love shopping that way! But it would be so great to be able to spend real money on decorating!

But the stink... that'd bother me, too, and it'd bother me every day, and it'd make me use the room less frequently than I otherwise would. That seems to be a big issue for the OP.

Since that's the case, I'd go with the CL sofa (agreed w/other posters about trying to bargain the price down a bit, but Lee is an excellent brand). It'd be very easy to have new covers made for those two cushions, and much less expensive than doing a whole-sofa cover for the one you already have. Actually, I think it's a terrific find, and I wish Lee furniture showed up on my own local CL...

Alternatively, I wonder whether the cost of furniture is about to come way down in a big hurry, if the stock market goes on the way it has been. Is it possible that within a few months, you'd be able to afford your Platonic ideal of a sofa? (:

If you make the Liv rm more to your liking you might use it more.

Re: smelly sofa. Have you tried extra strength Febreeze? DD took a mattress and box springs to college where she lived in an old house with 3 other girls. When the mattress came home, I thought I was going to have to pitch it. It had that old-house-musty smell. I sprayed it with Febreeze several times and left the bedding off it. It took a couple of months of Febreeze-ing and airing but it eventually stopped smelling.

I would get a different sofa based on the smell alone. Which is a shame because I think it's a very charming piece of furniture. Maybe you could offer the CL person $300 and feel better about it :)

Since I have a nose like a bloodhound, I'd have to do something!! There are lots of odor neutralizers available now but it would bug me just thinking of what caused the odor. Make an offer, I always low ball it, you can always make a second offer.
A third alternative is to continue looking for a sofa on CL that is perfect.

Personally, I love the shape of your present sofa and don't really care too much for the CL sofa, but that's my opinion. Aside from the smell (which would bother me as well), I would try a sofa cover in a shade that would marry all the furniture and Fabreeze the heck out of it! I too was in your position, when my children left for college and needed furniture, they took my old and I got new. It was well worth the wait and the redecorating filled my "empty nest" time. PS: Love your wall color!

lkplatow, I certainly didn't mean to imply that you're wasteful, extravagant or planet-hating because you're looking forward to buying new furniture, and I'm very sorry if that's the message my words conveyed. I must have misconstrued what you were saying about the second-hand stuff not being "real" furniture. I do understand the desire to create exactly the room that you have in mind, and I know how difficult it is to get it just right when you're searching in the second-hand market.

As for the fact that your floral sofa is stinky, well I take back what I said about slipcovers, as that's not gonna cover up the odor. If the smell can't be eradicated, I'd definitely replace the sofa. Living with "castoffs" is one thing, but nobody likes to live with stinky stuff. ;-)

I think you're fine with either decision. I really like the lines of your existing couch, and how the feet coordinate with the feet on your chairs. IMHO the print is a bit bright and perhaps dated looking (maybe just because I had a very similar print couch in the late 80's?), but that could be easily fixed with a slipcover.

I actually like the CL couch very much - especially the print on the cushions! The lines of the couch are different than your other furniture but maybe that's not a bad thing?

One thing I'd definitely do is get rid of the existing couch if it smells. That would really bother me and is one reason why, although I purchased most of my wood furniture on CL, I don't shop for used upholstered furniture. You never know what happened on those cushions! Call me extravagant, but my couches and cushioned chairs have to be direct from the factory :)

I like your sofa. The CL sofa, not so much. I wouldn't buy it just because it's a great deal. Why not wait for something to come along that you really love.

For the smell, I echo fabreeze. DBF bought a mattress second hand that positively reeked of cigarette smoke - the person must have smoked in bed. We thought it would have to go to the landfill, but we tried fabreeze and it took two treatments, but the smell is gone.

Oh I forgot about the smell. Years ago we had stored some furniture from my Mom in a storage unit( not climate controlled, duh) and it smelled musty when we got it out several months later. This was in the dark ages before febreeze. We had gotten a bissell to clean the carpet and it has an upholstery attachment. We steam cleaned the furniture and the odor was removed. Is this something you have tried? Not suggesting that its dirty, but it may remove the odor. Otherwise,febreze, which is a miracle worker when you are traveling in summer in a van with field hockey goalie gear and smelly shin guards!
I still prefer your own sofa, and I know that if I bought the Lee sofa because it was quality, not because it was perfect as is for my room,when it came time to decorate, I would feel as though I should hold onto it, even if my taste or my vision for my room has changed. Which has changed over the years. JMHO!

EASY DECISION! DEFINITELY buy the CL sofa, if it checks out in person. Why live with a sofa that smells, is ugly and is too big? The smell is not going to go away, no matter what you do, and even inexpensive slipcovers are not so cheap.

Assuming you use the CL sofa for 4 years and then put it out in the street to throw away the day your kids go off to college, the $400 spread over the minimum time you will own the sofa is $100 a year or 27 cents a day.

I'd recover your current sofa and paint the legs black. Or else sell it on CL and wait for a better one to show up. The mis-covered cushions would bug me, and I know I wouldn't get around to changing them.

I like the shape of your chintz sofa and it's sort of English Country House with the oriental rug. More florals, not less, in the way of pictures and throw pillow would make it look less like a giant intruder, smothered in flowers.