a fiasco...and then some!

over the course of our relationship, gary and i have purchased various pieces of furniture. so much so that for this move, all we needed was a new couch. because of the space, we decided that we wanted to get a sectional sofa. after issues with our previous sectional, we didn't necessarily want the hassle of a sleeper sofa and we had to make sure all the pieces locked! no slipping sections on the hardwood floors!

about a month ago, we made the trek to the suburbs to go to darvin furniture. if you've never been there, this place is HUGE...seriously, a massive place. it makes ikea look like your neighborhood target. (check out this map if you don't believe me!) after searching the store for what seemed like an eternity, we were unable to find anything that we both really liked. as we followed the map towards the exit, we noticed one section that we hadn't seen. we made our way in and BAM! we found our couch. it was exactly what we wanted. within a few minutes, we were placing the order. it was going to take 2-3 week to be in stock which was perfect since our move date was still a few weeks away. coming in sooner than originally planned, we were able to set up the delivery date for a few days after our move! yay! i couldn't wait for friday to get here so i could sit on my new, comfy couch! the buzzer rang and gary went to meet the delivery guys. after a few moments, gary came upstairs with a look of frustration, anger (and many more looks that i can't begin to describe) and told me that the couch wouldn't fit up the front stairs. they went down the back stairs to attempt to bring it in that way. nope. i was distraught. (and i'm not being dramatic.) i felt like crying...like my baby had been ripped from my arms. (okay, a pinch of dramatics now.) there was nothing we could do, but have it taken back to the warehouse and begin the sofa hunt all over again. fuck.


victim #1. oh, what a beauty she was.


with gary's mom visiting, we made our way to a couple furniture stores. (i was too pissed to go back to darvin, considering their delivery guys wouldn't even try to move the couch up the back staircase.) we went to harlem furniture, the store where we purchased our bedroom furniture. we looked around and didn't find anything that stood out at us initially. we then found a section piece that was interchangeable. after configuring it for our place, we decided that we were going to go with this sectional. it was probably somewhat impulsive, but it fit our criteria as far as function and color. and heck, they were going to deliver it the following day! that evening, gary received a phone call from the store. when moving the pieces from the warehouse to the delivery truck, it was discovered that all but two of the sectional pieces were ruined. they would have to be reordered and would take two weeks to come in and a new delivery date could be set up at that point. really? again? it was becoming somewhat humorous at this point, yet neither of us were laughing.


#2 down. (perhaps a blessing in disguise)


so again, the next day, we made our way out to the suburbs to look at additional furniture stores. after doing some online research, we had a game plan for our search...kinda. we had to swing by ikea first to return an item and make a couple purchases. since it was early, the typical saturday ikea crowd had not made its full attack. we decided to look around for a few other things. i asked gary if he wanted to look at their couches, assuming that they wouldn't have items that fit our taste. after looking at various modern, trendy pieces, we made our way around the corner and saw a sectional that was exactly what we wanted! we plopped down on the couch to see how it felt! it was comfy! after measuring the couch, looking at its construction, etc. we decided to go for it! and after making our decision, we found out that it could be delivered the same day! bonus! later that night, it was delivered to us! we locked the pieces together, and put on the covers (it's on large, washable cover!). i never thought i would purchase a piece of furniture like that from ikea, but it's perfect!


#3, the newest member of our family!