The story of an armchair and sofa

The first armchair and sofa I bought, for my first apartment, took me six months to pick out, and then an astonishing six months to arrive. In the interim, the store where I bought them filed for bankruptcy (and eventually went out of business). In fact I was already in my second apartment when they were finally delivered.

My armchair and lamp
My old armchair looking swank in my Carrboro apartment

Two years later I loaded the armchair and sofa into a trailer for my move to California. They arrived almost unscathed—except for the hole that my bike pedal tore through the upholstery in the back of the sofa (thankfully out of sight when set against a wall). A little over a year later, Stephanie and I moved to San Francisco together, and of course my armchair and sofa came with.

My couch with new national park prints
My old sofa in our Pine Street apartment in San Francisco

We decided to sell most of our furniture before heading out on our big adventure, but it seemed that nobody wanted my armchair and sofa. It wasn’t until the day before we were set to leave San Francisco, that someone expressed genuine interest. I think at this point I’d dropped the price to $400, so low it pained me. This guy and his four roommates came by and bitched among themselves that the set wasn’t “mid-century modern enough”. In the end they offered $120. I said $200. They said $180. Sold. When they finally drove off, Stephanie snapped a celebratory photo from our window to mark the occasion.

My couch departing on the roof of a car on Pine Street
My old sofa departing on the roof of a station wagon

That’s where the story ends. Or should. We’re in the market for a sofa again, and knowing how long it took me to find the last one, we’re already looking. A few days ago I stumbled upon the site Retro Renovation, which linked to Younger Furniture. As I was scrolling through their many offerings (some of which are quite handsome), I discovered MY OLD SOFA!!!

Younger Furniture's 865 sofa
My old sofa lives on as Younger Furniture’s “865 Sofa”

This whole time I thought my armchair and sofa were unique to the store where I bought them, which went out of business years ago. It never occurred to me that the manufacturer might still be making them. In a way it’s comforting to know that if I wanted an exact replacement, I could have it. But in all honesty I think I’m ready for something new. Perhaps one of Younger’s other styles—several of which are sold by the rad A&G MERCH on Market.

A&G MERCH's Brooklyn Heights Apartment Sofa (made by Younger Furniture)
Brooklyn Heights Sofa from A&G MERCH (made by Younger)

5 Comments

Anna Marie

Hey Justin, I just got my custom sofa from http://www.furnitureenvy.net on Saturday and am really happy with it. They can replicate pretty much any design with the dimensions & fabric you want, and it only takes 2 weeks! :-)

IMHO: the style of the “old” is far nicer than the “new” which looks very retro (in a bad way), especially with those reverse pyramid legs. Except for the single cushion and the color, I prefer the “old” sofa. :)

Anna Marie, we’re planning to head up to Furniture Envy later this week/weekend to check out their stuff. I have to admit, I really like their Anders sofa, not to mention having the ability to customize the size and cushion firmness (can’t do that at Room and Board). What model did you end up with?

Nate, ha! Thanks for the feedback. I agree, the Brooklyn Heights Sofa is pretty chunky, and probably looks even more slab-like next to our curvaceous old sofa. Couches are tricky—you can see why it took me so long to pick out the last one ;)

Anna Marie

I had them do a version of the Reese from Room and Board, except with dimensions that fit through my quirky door ways. It’s essentially the Anders with piping and buttons on the seats instead of the back. http://www.roomandboard.com/rnb/product/detail.do?productGroup=3002

Anna Marie, cool. The Reese was our top choice before stumbling upon A&G MERCH and Furniture Envy. Sounds like we may end up with vary similar couches ;)

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