Shopping For Our New Crate and Barrel Couch


Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Crate and Barrel. Thanks for supporting the brands that support this blog.

When you’re moving from one home to another (especially a condo to a large house), oftentimes the furniture doesn’t transition from one location to the next. So, when our neighbors asked if they could buy our large gray sectional from our condo, we immediately said “yes”! ย We knew it was far too large for our new living room and we wanted the chance to find a couch/sofa that would go with the design vibes of our new house.

Side Note: I know many of you use the word “couch” to describe this piece of furniture and others use the word “sofa”. ย I don’t necessarily have a favorite word, so I will use both “couch” and “sofa” in this post. ย Here’s another word for it — my grandma, Meme, calls it a “davenport”! ย That’s a word I don’t think I can get used to, so we’ll stick with “couch” and “sofa”! Two options are more than enough!

Finding our new Crate & Barrel couchI’ve always loved Crate and Barrel. It was founded here in Chicago and their products are high-quality, sustainably sourced, and on-trend, yet classic! Finn and I actually created our wedding registry at Crate and Barrel, so we’ve been to the Chicago store many times! A few friends of mine have purchased their sofas from Crate andย  Barrel and they’ve had nothing but amazing things to say about them. So I figured we would start our sofa hunt there and see what happened. Also, they’reย having a big custom upholstery sale now, through September 9th. The sale is 15-20% off, which is a ton of money when you’re buying a couch. Because I knew I wanted a light-colored couch that was super durable, I figured we would opt for a custom fabric. So definitely consider buying during the custom upholstery sale to save!

Prepping to Buy a Couch

There are a few things I did even before setting foot in Crate and Barrel. First, I headed to our new house and took some measurements. Back when I was first starting my couch search, the wall in the living room was still up. So, this made it a tad difficult to measure the space accurately.Living room at kenneth before renovationFiguring out a living room layout

At first, I thought I would be able to fit a sectional in there, but I quickly realized that it would be way too big and take over the entire living room. Instead, I could use a long and fairly deep couch. I actually used painter’s tape on the ground to visualize things and wrote down all of the measurements for my “dream couch.”

Then, I headed online to check out all of the couch options from Crate and Barrel. And, oh boy, I was instantly overwhelmed by all of the cool styles available. After lots of online stalking and review hunting, I narrowed it down to a few styles.

Shopping for a Couch

Once I had a better handle on the sizing and the available styles, Finn and I headed to the store to see all of the couches in person. There’s just something about touching, feeling, and SITTING on a couch that makes any couch shopping experience that much easier. We had a blast giving every couch the “butt test”, and we spent a couple of hours narrowing our selections down even further. Here are some of the couches we reaaaaallly loved in store.

Axis II SofaAxis II couch from crate and barrel

Axis II couch from Crate & Barrel

The Axis IIย was the first sofa we sat on and it was so super duper comfy, that we almost didn’t want to keep shopping! I love the clean lines of those arms and the deep seats. I liked the idea of usingย this smaller sectional with the chaise. It’s still large, but not so big that it would take over our room.

Aidan Sofa

Trying out the Aidan sofa at Crate and Barrel

Finn immediately gravitated towards the Aidan sofa which totally surprised me! It’s such a gorgeous tufted sofa and those buttons are pretty swoon-worthy! I think Finn was really attracted to the green velvet fabric…he kept saying that he felt like he was on the show Mad Men. Ha!

Velvet green fabric

In the end, we decided that the Aidan is too formal for our casual living room…but it might be fun to do a chair in this velvet green!

Peyton SofaPeyton sofa from crate and barrel

Peyton sofa from Crate & Barrel

I really liked the look of the Peyton sofa online and I was excited to give this one the “butt test.” It passed with flying colors. Man, this is one comfortable couch. I loved the modern style with the clean lines and low profile. But after doing some measuring, we found that the big one was too big for our space and the small one was too small for our space.

Lounge II SofaLounge II sofa

Lounge II sofa from Crate and Barrel

The Lounge II sofa is named accordingly…wow, you certainly want to lounge on this one! You sit down and immediately sink in and feel like you want to take a nap. We loved the feeling of this one, but it’s a deeeeep couch (46 inches)! Even though we’re both tall people, it felt a bit too deep for us. Finn likes to sit on the edge of his seat when he’s watching exciting games (that boy watches soooo many hours of sports), so this one just wasn’t going to work for our lifestyle.

Lounge II PetiteLounge II Petite Crate and Barrel couch

We loved just about everything about the Lounge II sofa except for the depth, so we were soooo happy to check out the Lounge II Petite Sofa! It’s 41 inches deep, so there is plenty of space but not it’s not so deep that your feet come off the ground. Enjoying the Crate and Barrel couch

Finn was immediately smitten with this one and looked right at home on it! Even though it’s called “petite”, it’s actually still a large couch.

Choosing a Crate and Barrel Couch

I’m really excited that we chose the Lounge II Petite sofa! It’s the most comfortable couch ever and I cannot wait to take lots of naps on it. We chose the 105″ sofa, so it will be extra long and we even got this matching ottoman so we can create our own chaise when we want it. I like to lay down on a couch when watching TV, whereas Finn is more of a sitter. With the ottoman, I can lay down during our Netflix marathons, and then just tuck it in the corner when not in use! It’s the best of both worlds.Choosing a crate and barrel couch

I shared our couch choice on Instagram this summer and I heard from so many of you guys who also have the couch and are in love with it! It was awesome to hear such rave reviews about the durability and comfort level. That made me feel that much more confident in our selection!Visiting the design center at Crate and barrel

Once we had the couch configuration figured out, it was time for the hard part…narrowing down the hundreds of fabric options!

Custom Fabric Options

I went into the fabric selection process knowing two things. 1. I wanted a beige and linen colored fabric. 2. The fabric needed to be SUPER durable and forgiving. We plan to have kids and a dog someday, so we need a couch that can stand up to lots of everyday wear and tear (not to mention spills!).

Would it be possible to do both of these things? We worked with Brandon in the Crate Design Studio and he put our minds at ease about finding a fabric that was light in color, yet durable. Choosing a neutral fabric from Crate & Barrel

After looking at sooooo many samples in the store (I highly recommend this or order some samples online!), we decided to go with the fabric “Winward” in the color “Sand.” Here are all of the characteristics of this fabric that put my mind at ease…

  • Family-Friendly: Heck yes! This was a must.
  • Linen-Look: It has the coastal and casual look I wanted to go with our modern organic design vibes.
  • Woven in the USA: It doesn’t get any better than that!
  • Easy-Care: Another must for us.
  • Stain-Resistant & Highly Durable: Bring on that housewarming party, without fear!
  • UV Resistant: Our old couch had some major fading after a few years, so I was happy to read that this sofa would be okay even in our new light-filled living room.

Choosing winward sand fabric from Crate and Barrel

Custom options do take seven to nine weeks for delivery, but that actually worked out perfectly for us with our renovation. We placed the order in June, so it would be ready by August! If you’re not going the custom route, most furniture can be delivered in about two weeks, which is super speedy for furniture!

Couch Shopping – Video

We actually filmed an entire video of our shopping experience at Crate & Barrel and it was an absolute blast. Finn and I had so much fun trying out all of the couches and narrowing it down to the winner! Be sure to check out this hilarious video. (Note: We shot the video vertically so it’s best for IGTV. The best way to watch would be on your phone vertically through this link on youtube or over on Instagram!)

My Favorite Parts of the Video

  • :55 – I totally won this sword fight!
  • 1:32 – Finn does look straight out of Mad Men
  • 2:23 – Def felt silly snuggling up on a couch in the middle of the showroom, but it was hilarious (and they do have real books in store!)
  • 4:00 – I think we may need to start a band…
  • 4:53 – As you can see, Finn was reaaaaally excited about our shopping adventure!
  • 5:06 – FAIL

Crate and Barrel Upholstery SaleCrate and barrel upholstery sale

If you’re shopping for a new couch, now is the time to buy from Crate and Barrel. They’re having a huuuuuuge custom upholstery sale now, through September 9th (15-20% off). It’s so easy to customize your purchase to fit YOUR home and YOUR style, with over 100 furniture collections to choose from and all of the size and fabric options available.ย Head here for all of the details on the sale. ย 

Stay TunedFinding our new Crate & Barrel couch

Our couch is being delivered on Friday and I cannot wait to show it to you in our new living room. Our contractor is still finishing up the first floor of our home, so I hope to show you the finished space (well, maybe not totally 100% done!) in September. It’s going to be so pretty and our new Crate and Barrel couch will be the ultimate focal point!

Casey


The Year of Casey

Hey there!

Iโ€™m Casey Finn, the voice behind The DIY Playbook. I’m a Chicago gal teaching you how to design, DIY, and maintain your home…by yourself! Learn more about me right here.