Thank you all so much for the advice and information. I think you're right that I really need to sit down and think about this purchase more, rather than just jumping in feet first because of the "good deal". It sounds like if I like it enough to be the largest thing in the space, it will work with what I have and it will be a great quality piece. But, if I find myself doing this for the deal, then maybe I should reconsider and look elsewhere. Thank you, my3dogs for the pictures of the H&M September sofa in a darker color. I have to say, I'm liking the style a lot more seeing it in the darker color. Though I do still have similar concerns about the "heaviness" of the sofa. Wow, runninginplace, that's a really lovely sofa. I thought Thomasville was on par cost-wise with H&M. Maybe I need to do more searching locally to see exactly what is available and what I can find on sale. That's a great point about the fact that I'm considering the "life" of the sofa in my house.

We have a beach house in New England, so I'm guessing we'd have different decor styles, but my two cents -- we had a big brown leather chair that DH insisted on relocating from our full-time house to our beach house, and it just bugged me for so long... it just didn't feel right. Finally when we remodeled the house, we got rid of the chair. As an alternative to leather, you might check out Ultrasuede. We have an ultrasuede sectional from American Leather, and so far it's been indestructible! It was expensive, but after about 5 years it still looks practically brand new. And the color is a fairly light gray -- I was nervous to get such a light color, but it has been great. We also have a Bayside slipcovered sofa from Crate and Barrel, which is the most comfortable sofa I have ever owned! The slipcover has held up well -- I have washed the seat cushions just once because the dogs kept sneaking up there. It, too, is a light color (blue and white print) but it still looks pretty good. Here's our gray sectional and our Bayside sofa

Thanks for all your comments. When I posted here last Fall the prices in our area were still rising and only in the last month or so have they have stagnated. Last year some people in my neighborhood were listing in the upper 700's. But ended up selling in the mid 500's. The house around the corner that sold in the mid-500s was a bit bigger than mine, but didn't have as nice a lot. Things are slowing down here after a brisk fall and a flurry of sales here in February. Sales now are taking up to 60+ days on market. There are very few homes in my town for sale in 400's and 500's here so I am having trouble looking for comparisons. I have been going to any open houses to see how I compare. So far I don't feel we are out of the ballpark on our price. I went to an open house today for a new home, smaller than mine for sale (579,000) with a not so nice lot that is not in a very good location in town (bad road to come out of in the winter). If you like new then they were new, but they were only 2800 square feet. My husband set our price. I would have gone lower, for sure, and couldn't talk him out of it. Realtor had suggested upper 400's. I figure we weren't that far off and we will most likely have to drop our price anyway. We have only had two showings the first week of listing. This is our third weekend and no more lookers.. but they really haven't been looking at all in the 400's and up from what all the Realtors that I have spoken with at open houses are saying. I put 10K into fixing up the house this past Fall to get it ready for this sale. Spoke with the painter about removing the wallpaper in the mater bathroom, but we decided against it bc if I took it down then I figured I would have to update all the tile, too. There were friends of mine who told me to leave it the way it is. Apparently, they loved it. Also, painter wouldn't quote me a price until after it came down, due to not knowing what he would have to deal with. Also, I was sick of having the house all torn up for as long as they were here already and couldn't deal with them working in my master bathroom, too. I would rather offer someone decorating money to finish it themselves and am thinking of doing that instead. Besides, we may end up living here several more years if the house doesn't sell in 6 months, if that is the case. My husband is not in a hurry to move, but I am :) We did have a decorator (hired by the Realtor)who came through to help with some of the staging. She suggested adding the stuff on the buffet. The white cabinet in the kitchen stores my pet food and I really need to leave that there as I have a cat that knows how to open cabinets without kinderlocks. This one has the locks. Decorator mentioned taking the white cabinet out of the kitchen and the plates in the den. She also suggested the LR arrangement leaving the open area by the fireplace in there. For those who asked (or commented) the buffet in the kitchen is built-in. She suggested painting the trim in the LR and DR white to match the rest of the house. I may do that at the end of 6 months anyway for me, if the house doesn't sell. I am having a Realtor's open house this coming Tuesday so I should get more suggestions then. I am going to talk to the Realtor about offering money to redecorate the house. I can remove the drapes and take down the plates in the den, if need be, but I have no plan to do any more decorating/painting or wallpaper removal for now. I will wait to have them do more pictures until my garden starts to bloom up better in the front. It is still early spring here. The forsythia just began to bloom and I will have more color in the front for pictures when some of my azaleas, lilacs, and roses begin blooming. Now if it would just rain so my lawn would green up a bit more! This home has been well kept up. The only thing a person has to complain about is wallpaper, and since they will end up decorating their way, I don't see a problem leaving it. Especially if I offer them money for decorating. Would 5k suffice do you think? Anyway, my sister took her Victorian house off the market after 6 months. She lives outside of Sterling, VA where the market has tanked. She will be moving out next spring and is hoping that it will sell when they remove all their stuff. She is fixing up her second home in NC.

Well, after a long long drive, we are back and had no luck with the blue sofas. At first sight, I was in LOVE and even though I realized they were more than a "few years" old, I really wanted them. They were even nicer than my Hendredons, so much more comfy and really seemed large and plush. I think I actually drooled on them! There were a bunch of scuffs and little marks showing white through so I am not sure what exactly that says about the grade of leather. I could live with those little scuffs but when I was all set to negotiate, DH got up from the love seat and right on the front face in the middle of the cushion was a big flaw so I passed. I don't know exactly what it was because it was so darn dark in the room but I had the owner come over and look and he said it was a scratch from moving them he guessed. I think it was all the way through in spots like tiny little holes all showing white and he suggested shoe polish-ugh. I was heartbroken but still thinking of taking them and seeing how to fix it but he was not willing to negotiate so we just left. I thought I had read that we could send the cushion back to H&M and it would be around $400-$600 to replace since obviously the warranty wouldn't transfer to us but I didn't know for sure. He didn't have any paperwork and the more things I asked like what color leather was it called or what grade, the older the sofa got and he couldn't remember. I asked him what was the lowest he would take but he wouldn't say. You can't negotiate with someone who won't talk prices! I don't know if he just didn't want to negotiate with us or what but really didn't know how much I would even have paid for a sofa with a hole...I know that $1650 seemed to be waaay to much for a sofa with a hole or even an "almost" hole. I just honestly did not know how low he would have had to go for me to take them. I thought about what it would be worth to just have the sofa if we couldn't get the loveseat repaired and then I knew I could most likely find a sofa for less than $1650. Then we went to look at the white ones and they were in brand new shape so we got them. They were in very old couple's formal living room and it looked as though no one had even sat on them once. The only reason she was selling them was because her Dh was sick and needed a sofabed in the living room so he would not have to climb stairs. Of course, they had nice big leather pieces in their family room they sat in all the time-lol. Ironic! Heck, they were $275 for both pieces so I just look at them as a "stop gap" to get me through while I keep shopping and hopefully find something I love just as much as the H&M. I don't see myself buying one new anytime soon though with ds only 2 years away from college tuition! Still, I am sure there is bound to be something I like and these can always move to our sunroom. My current loveseats are white and lasted more than 30 years so I think we can hang with these a few years. I think I will keep looking and try a leather sofa just to see if the cats are into it. If I find one that is reasonable, it would be worth seeing if we all like it before I take the plunge for something expensive and new. Thanks again for all of your thoughts and ideas. If it hadn't been for your encouragement I would not have gone over and would have regretted not checking it out at least! I sure wish that one of you could have been with me and said whether it could be repaired reasonably. DH did not love them at all so he was no help. He liked sitting on them but was so funny trying to get up! He was like a potted plant and I had to pull him out. Whoever complained about the seats not being deep enough must have not tried this model. Once I get the new ones in the house, I am going to take pics and ask you to help me arrange things. I bet with all of your good ideas, we can get the room looking pretty. Thanks again. I REALLY appreciate all of your feedback!