My husband and I needed to replace our old couch. It was already a hand-me-down when we bought it from a co-worker of mine about three years ago. The upholstery had been clawed to death by our cats, the stuffing was falling out of it, and our daughter was beginning to try to eat it. When the kids try to eat the furniture, it’s pretty much time for new stuff. We were about to get our tax refund back, so we figured that would be a good time.
We had a definite budget in mind. We didn’t want to spend more than $800 as an initial start because we knew that we would have to pay tax and delivery fees. We were not even thinking about the possibility of a warranty at this point. We had a specific place from where we wanted to buy the furniture (Store A) because my family had bought what they had wanted from this store for a decent price. We were looking for something very specific — a sofa with either a sleeper or a recliner on each end. We also wanted the fabric to be microfiber because it is soft and is easy to clean. We all know how important that is when you have a toddler! We really wanted a sectional, but there was no way that we could fit one in our apartment living room. It probably did not help that we were under a time constraint due to the fact that the day when his parents were coming to visit was steadily approaching. This meant that we would need quick delivery.
So we began Store A. We had looked online and had a couple of ideas in mind. We couldn’t find anything with all of the specifics that we wanted for a reasonable price. That was not going to happen unless we were prepared to spend at least $900, and to me that is not a decent price for one piece of furniture — even with the recliners. So from there, we tried three other places (Stores B-D). They were all more expensive and had basically the same furniture. In fact, I remember seeing the exact same couch at Store B for almost $200 more than Store A. We decided that we would have to settle for some of the factors that we wanted instead of all if we were going to stay within our budget.
We ended up going back to Store A’s website. We looked again at their selections and decided on a sofa and loveseat set in a camel color. It was not exactly what we wanted, but at least we had sat on it in the store and knew it was comfortable. Plus, it would be a lot easier to sleep if we had two pieces (we were going to be sleeping in the living room while my in-laws were going to sleep in our bed). So I went back to the store the next day to purchase the set.
What happened when I got there? Find out in the captivating Part II!