Karl in the Hizz-ouse

I have no idea if I spelled that correct because I just typed what it sounded like in my head.

I actually had another post planned but I am just too excited and have to share this update with you. Post order be damned!

In my last post, I told you the good news about our sectional update; we found one! We chose the Karlstad from Ikea in Sivik dark gray.

Found here.

I had seen this sectional on younghouselove.com originally and really liked it. However, at the time Husband wasn't totally sold. It wasn't that he didn't like the color or style, he was just nervous about buying a couch without being able to see it in person. He worried the fabric might be uncomfortable or the couch would feel cheap. I completely agreed and we continued our search.

We have been searching and searching since the day we moved in. 9 months of nothing. Well, maybe not nothing (Double negative! English majors hate me!). We found a couple of options that we liked but weren't quite right for the space. The sectionals we found were either the wrong color, wrong orientation (we didn't want to block our back door), or it was ridiculously expensive.

We found this one from Havertys that we really liked. It was comfortable, a good price, and each piece is seperate so we could get any configuration we wanted to fit the space. I wasn't completely sold on the color but they have a good return policy and we decided to buy it and see it in the space. Different lighting can drastically change colors.

Found here. We went with the Porto Granite.

Sadly, the color looked worse in our living room. I don't have pic but, trust me, it was bad. We wanted a gray couch but it looked really brown, as opposed to only kind of brownish in the store. It also made the walls look pink. I tried holding up some gray paint swatches (since we want to paint anyway) but that only brought out more of the brown and it really clashed. We had to return it.

Womp womp.

Unfortunately, we couldn't find any other affordable option in the style and color we wanted. We had to go the custom route and order something. We picked out this little number from Christian Street Furniture.

Found here.

The price tag for what we wanted, with delivery and taxes, was well over $4,000.

Ouch.

We decided to suck it up and save the money. We didn't really have any other options. It turned out to be a good thing that we were taking so long to save the cash. It gave us more time to really consider if an expensive custom option was what we wanted. Our house has a dog, a cat, and a really messy wife so paying $$$$ for an everyday couch felt like a bad idea. Sure, a pricey piece would probably hold up well to the daily abuse. BUT. Husband and I knew we would just be sweating bullets every time someone came over and hovered too close with a drink or snack.

That's no way to live or host a party, ya'll.

I really knew Husband and I had to reconsider the custom couch when we had some friends and their son over. Their two-year-old cutie was playing with our chalkboard table (oh I'll have to show you that too! Later.) and he had chalk on his hands. He ran over to our sitting area couch and got chalk dust on it. The mother apologized profusely, trying to clean off the hand prints. I told her not to worry. The couch is slip-covered and inexpensive! It's not like it's a heirloom piece.

That's when it really hit me. Had the kid done that to our $4,000+ custom sofa, I might not have been so laid back about it. I told Husband about the incident and it registered with him as well. Could we really live comfortably with a sofa we couldn't be relaxed around? Nope. Nope. Nope.

We took another look at Karlstad and the price was definitely right. Even with $350 in shipping, the sectional with the add on chaise was only about $1,600. That's less than half the cost of the custom piece. Plus, the Petersiks had posted here with an update about how Karl was holding up to their daily abuse. Spoiler alert, it was holding up beautifully. That and the price really sold Husband on it. So we bought it! And it came early! SCOOOOOOOORRRRRREEEE!

I just want to reiterate that the style, size, and orientation were also perfect. Not just the price. The only thing that kept us from buying it in the first place was the inability to see it in person, since we live several hours away from the nearest Ikea. I strongly urge you NOT to buy something just because it has a nice price tag. Buy something because you love it or need it.

It took me about 3.5 hours or so to put it together. I took a couple of candy breaks in there too. Husband was under the weather that day and couldn't help. I, however, was uber-determined to have that thing done. I wanted our new couch already!

I used a dolley to bring everything in and Husband helped push our old couch to the side. A real plus to having such a large, open concept home is that there is always space to work on things!

I suppose I wasn't completely solo on this assembly. My furry little helper was always underfoot. He makes a good product tester as well.

Hurry up with the rest of those cushions, Mom. I'm ready for my nap.

Here he is, all assembled and in our living room!

Husband gave the aluminum legs the ok and I'm glad he did. I really like them and they add to that modern feel we want!

I will say I like the fabric and look of the couch. However. Yes there is a however. However, the cushions are a lot firmer than what we're used to. Our old sectional was cushier to start and has been broken in very well over the past 5 or so years. I'm used to sinking into a sofa, which I don't really do in this one. I'm hoping that we will be able to break it in a bit more over time. All in all though, I really like the couch. I can't wait to have friends over and have everyone fit in the living room at the same time! It will be EPIC I tell ya!

I get excited over the weirdest/lamest crap.

We also hung the gallery wall from the condo (seen here) above the couch and bought a large rug (that looks pretty much identical to the one from the condo) from Lowe's. The rug is 7x9 and it is from the Sophia line at Lowe's in the Ivory color. I don't see our exact one online but it was about $400. I know, that's a lot to pay for a white rug but OH WELL. It was what we liked and we saved a bundle on the couch. It is also super plush and soft.

We plan on adding some more colorful pillows and finding/building a console table to go along the back of the couch that faces the dining room. As always, I'll keep you posted!

Another before,

and another after,

and another shot of Ty!

Love those leg wrinkles!

PS - I'll have a separate post about how we hung the gallery wall. It was really frustrating at first but Husband and I came up with a method that worked perfect and made the entire process much faster and less headache-inducing!