Finding the One: My New Sofa!

This post is in partnership with Article, who generously provided the featured furniture!

Remember how we all just lived through a pandemic that forced us to stay in our homes by ourselves all the time? What a time to be alive. For many people, this aspect of the pandemic was a waking nightmare or, at least, a big adjustment. For me, it wasn’t all that different from regular life—I’m usually either working from home or out at a job site; I’m used to spending a fair amount of time alone; and futzing with the house ad nauseam is standard fare. Work never really slowed down, so my Netflix well of entertainment never ran dry. For a couple months I even had Juliet as my life-wife/roommate, and we maintained a certain level of decorum.

Then Juliet went home to Brooklyn, and things may have gotten weird—like how, at a certain point, it occurred to me that I could dispense with my sweatpants by just wearing a women’s nightshirt around the house. It’s black and sort of stretchy and mostly just looks like a big t-shirt, but it’s decidedly a nightie. Paired with my favorite pandemic-era footwear—Birkenstocks n’ socks—it’s a perfect day-to-evening all-season look. I can say that because I’m the only person who ever saw it in action, and that was the whole point.

Fashion wasn’t the only thing that slipped. For me, the impending arrival of guests has always been my best motivation for cleaning up the house. But with dinner parties and weekend visitors cut out of the equation, I began to realize that—left up to my own devices—I’m sort of a slob. Gone was the pressure to move that pile of tools and supplies back down to the basement when I finished a given renovation-y task. Eliminated was any sense that I should wash dishes until I ran out of clean drinking glasses. Breaking down the rapidly accumulating pile of cardboard boxes from my newly-enhanced online shopping habit? Meh. Pass. Let em pile; see if I care. I’ll deal with it when they topple over. And so on.

As vaccines have rolled out and restrictions have eased, I—like you—am faced with the prospect of re-entering polite society. The time has come to pretend I didn’t get into the habit of shaving my facial hair into a truly awful divorced-dad-style goatee every couple of months just for the hell of it, because nobody could see it anyway. That I didn’t impulse-order colored contact lenses one night just so I could know what I’d look like with blue eyes. That I didn’t spend 2 months putting all of my childhood photos into albums—an activity that sounds nice on its face, but really means that you’re a single 31-year-old man, sitting alone in a lady’s nightgown, surrounded by dogs who are sick of your constant presence, watching a 15-year-old season of Survivor, while carefully placing photos from a 7th grade class trip onto sticky paper, thinking about how some of the kids in those photos now have their own kids and definitely aren’t filling their days with scrapbooking their memories while dressed in the saddest drag.

I digress. One thing this experience has taught me is that I really like having people in my house. I never really intended to live here alone to begin with, and it still feels kind of weird to have this big kooky house all to myself. I’ve always wanted this to be a place where people could gather from near and far, with a bunch of areas to hang out and crash at the end of the night. I have no interest in having rooms that don’t actually get used or furniture that’s better to admire from afar than it is to sit on.

If I were smarter or more hopeful that the pandemic would end sooner rather than later, I might have thought more about this during the isolation and made moves to prep the house for a refreshed and renewed return to normalcy. But I didn’t do that—instead, I waited until vaccines started rolling out to realize that I’d, someday, probably want to open my doors again to friends and loved ones, and it would be nice to do that without embarrassment.

Which leads me to my living room. Which is one of my favorite rooms in the house but, until recently, I barely ever spent time in. See the look on Mekko’s face? She’s mad because I messed up her bed. This is the clean and staged version I’d post for the Internet. But it never really looked like that, because it was too busy looking like this:

Or this:

My dogs are too insane to have free run of the house when I’m out, and they staged a full rebellion when I tried keeping them in the kitchen, so the living room has become something of a glorified kennel. I intend for this to be a temporary thing, but I also have no real exit strategy.

At the epicenter of this kennel is the sofa, which I’ve tried and failed to love for years now.

For starters, I should probably mention that I inherited the sofa when my grandparents passed away. Quite a few things in my house share this origin story—in this room alone we have the Eames lounge chair, the painting above the mantel and the enormous abstract painting behind the lounge chair. My relationship with inherited things is tricky…on one hand, I adored my grandparents and their home and style is probably why I got into any of this in the first place. Having pieces I remember from that house is really special to me, especially since the house, like my grandparents, is now also gone. Getting rid of these things feels wrong, I think in part because they never feel like they’re fully mine to begin with.

What also feels wrong? Having a really cool thing that you don’t love and you know is getting abused under your care. Or, more accurately, my dogs’ care, because they used this couch WAY more than I did. I even tried swapping in a different sofa for a while, hoping it would improve matters. It went like this:

Sometimes like this:

And also this:

So not only did it look a damn mess, but the fabric was the stuff of nightmares and it wasn’t really very comfortable and the cutest thing about it where the legs, which I bought online and hacked into place.

Eventually, I admitted defeat and sold it on Craigslist and put the old sofa back so we could resume normal life. Things did not radically improve:

Sometimes, I consider how nice it would be to have dogs that don’t jump on the furniture. Then I catch myself telling Bungee that if he doesn’t come cuddle with me in bed in the next 10 seconds I will take him to the pound. It’s just not going to happen, and I can’t exactly begrudge my precious angels for the wear and tear they cause my belongings as a result. But there are consequences—in this case, they are multi-fold:

  1. The couch has two long cushions—one for the seat and one across the back. They aren’t secured to the frame in any way, so the cushions spent more time on the floor than they spent on the couch. I tried various anti-slip solutions including industrial-grade Velcro, and I couldn’t get anything to make them stay put. I toggled between letting it drive me insane and just accepting that the sofa would forever be spread about the room in pieces.
  2. Black leather and dog hair. Not a cute combo. Add in mud and drool and you get the idea.
  3. This one time, well after it seemed like he was out of this phase, Bungee decided to chew on the leather of the seat cushion. Then he did it again. I attempted a very “wabi-sabi” repair to the rips, but it didn’t do anything to address the section that he turned into scraps and distributed all over the floor. I covered it with a throw pillow which, as one might predict, also ended up living primarily on the floor.
  4. That good old-fashioned Jewish guilt. My grandparents would be displeased by this state of affairs. They would also be genuinely confused about why I’d be living with this thing I don’t even love, and irritated that their memory is largely the reason I was doing it.

So the first stage here was acceptance: it may be cool; it may be inherited; but it is not a good fit for my life or my family and ultimately isn’t contributing to my happiness. If I’m being honest with myself and stripping away some of the emotional attachment, I know I wouldn’t pick it out and buy it for this room…or really any of my rooms. Which means I probably shouldn’t have it.

The second stage? The journey of figuring out what I did actually want. Because sofas are HARD! I knew I needed leather because of the aforementioned dogs. I also knew I needed cushions that are affixed to the frame in some way, or a couch that doesn’t have movable cushions at all. I flirted with a sectional. I considered a chesterfield and other very traditional shapes. Ultimately my favorite sofa on earth is the one in my TV room upstairs, which came to me secondhand from the Brinsons. There are a number of readily-available sofas out there that are very similar to it, but it just felt lame for both of the sofas in my house to be pretty much the same design. Then again, what are my other options? I feel like most sofas these days are either aggressively boxy and boring or something from the set of Mad Men—and you know I love my mid-century modern, but I’m not typically a fan of that repro “atomic-inspired” look, and they commonly sacrifice comfort for style because those sofas were more for offices than homes. I of course kept my eye out for something vintage, but it just never materialized.

I know. My life is very difficult. Pity me.

And then, there it was. At Article!

Do you know Article? If you don’t, you’re clearly not listening to enough podcasts. I got a couple little things from Article a few years ago to round out my TV room—which are great pieces that I still love and continue to use—but I’ve never bought a piece of furniture from them! Which isn’t saying a lot, because I can count the new pieces of furniture in this house on one hand. Anyway, I remember hearing a podcast ad years ago, pulling up the site, and being immediately impressed with the selection, designs, and prices. It quickly went on the shortlist of places I check first when I’m trying to source a piece for a client or a friend, and since I feel I was an ~early adopter~ (simply by virtue of knowing it existed), I’ve felt weirdly proud of watching the company grow and the selection expand. They haves so much good stuff. Their showroom-less model helps keep prices low, and shipping is fast and free on orders over $999.

Also, they are Canadian. I lived in Canada for a year so I, too, am Canadian (claims not verified by the nation of Canada).

This is the Texada Taos Tan Sofa and I’m in love with it. What style is it? I’m not really sure! I feel like it has a mid-century vibe but certainly doesn’t look like it leapt out of a time capsule to join us here in 2021. There’s something sort of 80s about it in the best way, but there’s a chesterfield-like quality about it too? As the name implies, it feels a little southwestern, but in a way I can’t totally pinpoint.

And I think ultimately that’s part of why I love it so much—it’s really refreshing to see a major furniture retailer produce something that feels boldly designed, totally unique, and doesn’t fit neatly into some trend. It’s just sort of effortlessly cool and a little weird and, because I picked it out, that means I am too.

I. Just. Love. This. Thing. And not only because it’s a near-perfect color-match to my gorgeous daughter. It’s also super comfy (I’m laying on it right now!), and the leather is like BUTTAH. That was my biggest concern, honestly—high-quality leather and affordable furniture don’t usually belong in the same sentence, and even though I don’t love my old couch I will say that the leather was incredibly nice. And now I can say that my Article leather piece? ALSO INCREDIBLY NICE. It’s the kind of leather that’ll get better with age and patina beautifully, and that’s exactly what I was hoping for. I also totally love the touch of wood at the base, and those chunky cylindrical legs are such a nice detail.

It was delivered in less than two weeks (!) and came fully assembled, which felt INCREDIBLY fancy. I don’t think I’ve ever bought a piece of new furniture that didn’t need to be assembled. This felt like some sort of adulting milestone.

Side note: The one major couch-based problem that this new sofa didn’t resolve is the fact that my dogs like to rough-house, and honestly I also like when they rough-house because I think everything they do together is super cute. When they do said rough-housing, they knock their big stupid bodies against the sofa and, consequently, it’s always sitting askew or pressed back against the wall, and I have to move it back into position constantly. I brainstormed solutions for years but none seemed particularly elegant so I continued to hem and haw and never did anything to improve the situation.

Then one night recently I had an epiphany: HORSESHOES. You don’t have to call me a genius because I’m already calling myself a genius. That’s some Mensa-level shit right there.

I ordered a set of horseshoes from everyone’s favorite frenemy Jeff Bezos, put the sofa right where I wanted it, traced around the back legs in pencil, and screwed those suckers right down into the floor. You’ll never see them and this part of the room is always gonna be covered in something, and besides it’s just two small holes…I do not have any qualms about this. As an added bonus, due to the shape of the horseshoes and the size of the legs, the legs nest in perfectly and the sofa can’t move back toward the wall or forward into the room. It has worked flawlessly and only took me a few years to think of.

The best part of having this sofa in my house is that I’m actually using my living room again! Alone, with friends, you name it! WHAT A CONCEPT. It really is sort of amazing what one design change will do to affect your behavior. This room has been through a ton of iterations and I can say with full confidence that I’ve never loved it more or been happier to spend time in it with guests. I’m toying with the idea of sticking a TV in the huge Dutch Kast, since I refuse to put one over the mantel and I deeply love TV. Those old seasons of Survivor aren’t going to watch themselves!

A huge thanks to Article for making this beautiful piece, and letting me have one in my very own home! I couldn’t be happier with it.

About Daniel Kanter

Hi, I'm Daniel, and I love houses! I'm a serial renovator, DIY-er, and dog-cuddler based in Kingston, New York. Follow along as I bring my 1865 Greek Revival back to life and tackle my 30s to varying degrees of success. Welcome!

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78 Comments

  1. 7.14.21
    Lynn R said:

    OMG horseshoes! Brilliant!

    Sofa looks great. Have you nap-tested yet?

    • 7.14.21

      Not yet, but the dogs have rave reviews! ;)

  2. 7.14.21
    Katrina said:

    Genius, hilarious, and a “dual-citizen?” Thanks for the laughs, the room/couch looks great!

    • 7.15.21
      Meredith said:

      It’s fabulous!

  3. 7.14.21
    Kelsie Redditt said:

    Omg, the horseshoes! You ARE a genius!! Love this room and the sofa.

    • 7.14.21
      Kelsie Redditt said:

      Also I’m Canadian and I can say (with absolutely no authority) that we welcome you as a dual citizen.

    • 7.14.21

      Thank you, Kelsie!! I’ll get the paperwork underway. ;)

    • 7.14.21
      Chelsea said:

      Thing 1- I AM LITERALLY wearing that black house dress thing as we speak. From the gap several years ago. Most comfy thing I own. But also the most shameful somehow?!?

      Thing 2 – horseshoes!! You truly are a Mensa-level genius. I will consider the same for our sofa.

      Overall – you’re aging like a fine wine. Smarter, saltier, and more honest about what is actually going on and what you need. That’s wine-ish, right?

  4. 7.14.21
    Ellen said:

    Okay, the horseshoes. What?!? You need to patent that idea. So freaking smart!!! Love the couch and love the dogs even more.

    • 7.14.21

      Hahaha, I think I might be a couple hundred years late to the horseshoe patent!

  5. 7.14.21
    Kerrie said:

    Horseshoes! What a great idea!

    I can totally relate to this post. I’ve been eyeing a similar leather sofa for ages, but most of what was passed down to me is 19th century oak (by way of 80’s country chic). All of the pieces are beautiful and all are a similar shade. I’m having a hard time letting some go, even though it’s definitely time. I’ve seen a few too many matching pieces on reruns of Little House and the Honeymooners.

  6. 7.14.21
    Chris said:

    “you’re a single 31-year-old man, sitting alone in a lady’s nightgown, surrounded by dogs who are sick of your constant presence, watching a 15-year-old season of Survivor, while carefully placing photos from a 7th grade class trip onto sticky paper, thinking about how some of the kids in those photos now have their own kids and definitely aren’t filling their days with scrapbooking their memories while dressed in the saddest drag.”

    OUCH… I feel this. I see you, fam.
    Interested in the long-term results report for the horseshoes.

    • 7.14.21

      So far so good! They’ve been in place for a couple of weeks and it hasn’t moved even once. A massive improvement from multiple times a day!

  7. 7.14.21
    Lucia said:

    That sofa is beautiful! It gives me 70’s Mercedes car seat vibes in the best way! I love Article, but need to wait until they deliver to Europe.

  8. 7.14.21
    kelly said:

    The shoe horse idea is BRILLIANT! I was thinking of making some bumpers but couldn’t come up with an easy design. The couch looks great and your pups are adorable.

    • 7.14.21
      Ali said:

      Horseshoes! They look amazing as well as being an ingenious fix. I’m obsessed with this room!

  9. 7.14.21
    Jordan Fischer said:

    My husband owns a coffee shop in Atlanta, and they have that couch in the shop! It looks amazing, and we really want one for our house too. We’ve bought a lot of furniture from Article too recently, and it’s all super nice and most of it does come completely assembled, which I also described as weirdly luxe. We have an outdoor couch and coffee table coming today! And I’m thinking I’ll buy one of their armchairs for my birthday! I hope they keep sponsoring you so you can review more pieces that I want to buy…

    • 7.14.21

      Haha! They’re actually sending me some outdoor furniture as well, so stay tuned for that!

  10. 7.14.21
    Kit said:

    I feel you on the sad drag, my pandemic outfit is a set of ladies’ pyjamas from Old Navy ”“ a jersey camisole and high-waisted dolphin hem shorts that look sort of wrong on any human body ”“ and a pair of crocs. It’s very bad and if my sense of shame hadn’t atrophied I’m sure I’d be embarrassed about it.

    I love the new couch, it looks perfect with the rug and the room in all the ways the inherited couch didn’t. The chrome and black leather was more 80’s sexy modern, I think this room wants to be 70’s cozy modern.

    My next couch will also need cushions that don’t move. I have an Emil from Article that I love the look and comfort of, but the back cushions push the seat cushions out even without the help of rambunctious pit bulls.

    • 7.14.21

      Yes, totally! I was always fighting the 80s-ness of the black leather and chrome. This sofa just feels so much warmer and friendlier. 70s cozy modern is a vibe I can get behind!

  11. 7.14.21
    Brandy Taylor said:

    As a Canadian, I welcome you as an honourary citizen eh! As an Article sofa owner myself, I can’t rave enough about their products. Elegant, affordable and durable. And comfy! So glad you like them too.

  12. 7.14.21
    Kelly said:

    This was timely as I am looking to replace three sofas in my house. How is the cushioning? My last sofa purchase three years ago ended up being way to firm for our preferences.

    • 7.14.21

      That’s really hard to say since it’s such a matter of personal preference! I think it’s just right, personally, but I think it would lean toward the firm side according to most people. Firm enough to keep its shape but soft enough to be comfy, IMHO!

  13. 7.14.21
    Tammy said:

    I love Article sofas (and not just because I’m Canadian). I, too, have pets — a husky/lab/mystery mix named Gertie and an enormous orange tabby named Fox — who both insist on their right to live on the furniture and shed copiously. I also have kids and (when there isn’t a global pandemic) all their friends to wrangle. Caramel-coloured leather has been the answer.

    Pretty much every other piece of furniture in my house is used, vintage, or just plain old, and I love how these sofas somehow manage to fit in without screaming “I’M NEW!” I bought my first Article sofa five years ago, and it’s held up extremely well.

    Pic of Gertie in typical afternoon siesta mode in our living room:
    https://www.flickr.com/photos/doppelganger33/51312020539/in/dateposted-public/

    • 7.14.21

      Yes! Considering it’s literally the ONLY new piece of furniture in my entire house, I love how it fits right in. The biggest giveaway is that it still smells faintly like a new car! (which I am 100% into, haha)

      Random weird thing: my ex had two dogs. One was Gertie. The other was Fox. WHAT ARE THE CHANCES!

    • 7.14.21
      Tammy said:

      “Random weird thing: my ex had two dogs. One was Gertie. The other was Fox. WHAT ARE THE CHANCES!”

      Whaaaaat?!? I’m actually kind of blown away by this.

  14. 7.14.21
    D said:

    Your living room is gorgeous!!! I just have to say. We bought Sven lounge chair in charme tan & are VERY unhappy with the way it wears. The back pillow does not hold it’s shape/the leather scratched easily/the leather does not wear wel but the website says “this piece will grow old with you — it gets even better looking with age”
    It stains from any dark fabric that you wear/it stains from pretty much lots of things & you cannot clean it off??? It was an expensive chair & we did not get it for free like MANY influencers do”¦ so I just wanted to tell regular folks the real deal. We contacted Article & all we rec”d was $50.00 & the advice to re stuff the back pillow & fluff it more????

    • 7.14.21

      I’m sorry you’ve had that experience! Like I said in the post, I’ve never owned an Article piece so I can really only speak to this particular one. I can see the leather being unappealing to some people…I think of it kinda like a marble countertop—it goes through an awkward teenage phase and eventually everything evens out and the patina is nice, but that also means it doesn’t look brand new for long (in my house, about an hour haha). I haven’t had any issue with color transfer from clothing, but it’s only been here a few weeks.

    • 7.14.21
      Tammy said:

      I’ve had the Sven sectional in my TV room for about five years. I agree with Daniel that leather goes through a bit of an awkward phase as it ages. I like the patina, but it’s not for everyone.

      One tip about the back pillow: it’s down-filled, which is why (1) it’s so soft, but (2) it can’t hold its shape over time. But you can fix that by inserting a bed pillow, which will give it some structure. I did that for mine, and it worked like a charm.

    • 7.15.21
      Dani said:

      Love my Article Sven leather sectional too. When my back pillows started to deflate, I added bed pillows to fluff them right back up as well and it’s back to looking brand new and refreshed! I’ve not had any color transfer issues (curious if a magic eraser would gently remove color while protecting the leather?) and have loved the way it’s aged.

    • 7.17.21
      Margaret said:

      A tip for buffing out scratches or dents in leather….
      Use a hair dryer to warm up the leather and buff the marks with your thumb.
      Leather also gets softer and conditioned by the oil from your skin, so the more love the better.

  15. 7.14.21
    Lena said:

    May I ask Since when do you have the serge mouille lamp in the living room? And where did you buy it from?

    • 7.14.21

      I installed it back in November, I think! It’s kind of my secret shame…I actually bought it YEARS ago when I lived in Brooklyn because there was some weird knock-off site selling them for like $250, and at the time it seemed worth a gamble because I love it and will never afford the real thing…and it’s actually super nice IMO. I have never bought a knock-off that wasn’t secondhand before or since, and felt kinda gross doing it. Unfortunately my friend bought one at the exact same time, and they just took her money, never sent the light, and then the site shut down. Soooooooooooooooooo…that’s the story with that, haha.

  16. 7.14.21
    Nicole said:

    Love the new sofa. Style and color. I would die if my dogs did that lol but we love our fur babies. Our honey is 17 1/2

  17. 7.14.21
    Jeff Lawrentz said:

    The sofa’s an exciting find! The Leather part reminds me of Art Deco merged with an 80’s base. Very cool! (I feel your pain about parting with things from family). I’ve missed your blogs-great to hear from you again.

    • 7.14.21

      I can see that, totally! (and thank you, it’s nice to be here when I get the chance! Life has been insane for a whileeeeee now.)

    • 7.14.21
      Sez said:

      I think it has an Art Deco vibe too. It also has a beautiful organic (it is leather) natural vibe. It goes so well with the wooden floor and pottery in the house and with Daniel’s beautiful dog daughter’s fur. This sofa solves the problem of runaway cushions and runaway skidding sofa (with horseshoes). Well done.

  18. 7.14.21
    Emme said:

    Sofas ARE hard. I spent $900 on a vintage Kroehler and sold it when I was quoted $2,000 to redo it.

    I rolled the dice big time with Article and I can not BELIEVE the quality for the money. I thought worst case scenario I get a good frame for 1000 bucks and I can have new cushions made, but I love it as is. I use my living room a lot more, too because I can sit down and not sink to the floor onto 56 year old dust.

  19. 7.14.21
    Ann said:

    Love the sofa. How is the lumbar support? Can you sit comfortably w/o extra pillows stuffed behind your back? Seat not too deep? Finding a comfy sofa that has proper support is so very difficult.

    • 7.14.21

      I think it’s very comfy without pillows, yes! Of course that’s all personal preference but I find it totally comfortable for sitting or laying down!

  20. 7.14.21
    Susie said:

    I love the sofa, and the horseshoes are perfect! Before I even got to the horseshoe part of the blog, I was thinking there was something kind of horsey about the sofa. The look of the leather makes me think of saddles. The sofa would be at home in a (very luxe) tack room. It also reminds me of a pommel horse. It looks great in your living room!

  21. 7.14.21
    Kat said:

    Oh man, your day-to-evening ensemble and pile of cardboard boxes is MY LIFE right now. What, so the pandemic is (kinda, not really) over? Pssssh. I don’t even recognize myself anymore and I’m okay with that???? Anyway, love the couch, need one immediately, love the blog and thanks for making me laugh.

  22. 7.14.21
    Rachel said:

    OMG you always make me laugh so hard. Also, fellow dog owner here and big fan of my leather Article sofa (we have the Timber- our 95 lb guy isn’t allowed on non-bed furniture and our 45 lber doesn’t throw cushions to the floor so it works out, haha).

  23. 7.14.21
    Anne said:

    Brilliant post, Daniel. Relate totally to the late night impulse buy of coloured lenses – the weird stuff I bought during lockdown which I now have to rehome.

    Your dogs have a fabulous life!

  24. 7.14.21
    Janelle said:

    If you put a good rug pad under the rug that wont slip about when your dogs play either.

  25. 7.14.21
    Marci Circa1972 said:

    OH GREAT DANIEL! Now I have to start a new band just to name it “In Sad Drag”. Thank you! Anyone with a nine year old and two dogs will also be delighted by your horseshoe hand grenade! Youareagenius! ✨

  26. 7.14.21
    nancy50 said:

    If Article is reading – can you please make this sofa in a love seat?

    Thx!

  27. 7.14.21
    Sara L. said:

    As always, your writing makes me laugh so much! That beautiful sentence about your “saddest drag” was a complete and hilarious story. And aren’t we all a little unfit for company at this point?

    Love that the featured company is Canadian! And that is a gorgeous sofa, looks right at home with all of your stuff. I was never a fan of the black one, it always looked a little uncomfortable, like a guy in a tux at a house party. Hope the dogs love it, but not toooo much, and the horseshoes were brilliant.

  28. 7.14.21
    Elizabeth said:

    I feel like you can now officially call yourself a farrier? One branding strategy would be Daniel Kanter: Canadian Farrier, sad drag, also does house stuff.

    This post made me very much lol <3

  29. 7.14.21
    belle said:

    That last photo is such a keeper. The drama!

    • 7.14.21
      belle said:

      Its like a Bergman film still…with dogs

  30. 7.14.21
    Chris Uebbing said:

    So timely. I am looking @ my soon-to-be discarded beloved estate sale bargain couch/chair as I type this. SOOOOO sad to let it go as from a distance it is still exactly to my taste. Close-up; repaired in black duct tape because it ALSO has been beat up by two fractious pitbulls who ALSO push it all over the floor. The horseshoe solution easy to implement as I can simply borrow a pair from my other even more costly rescue animal!!! Your posts are always worth the wait. Article, here I come.

  31. 7.14.21
    Diane Bockelman said:

    Couch looks great! You are a genius!

  32. 7.14.21
    Susan said:

    Love the couch, it looks something like a hamburger bun, but in a good way.

  33. 7.15.21
    Cara said:

    I found you during covid, and I am so glad I did. Your ideas got me excited about home rehabbing again! The horseshoes? Genius! Love it! Your home looks a lot like ours, in that I mean, the pup rules the house and we just live here with him. LOL, but what would our lives be without them? Truly boring in my opinion! We have a devious stinker living in our midst. I am really liking this couch and plan to take a further look at it since we really need a new one and we need something that will hold up under one pup’s shenanigans. Thank you for sharing!

  34. 7.15.21
    Liza Vandermeer said:

    No wonder I love you! I detected a semi-Canadian vibe. Speaking on behalf of the entire country, you’d be very welcome to become a Canadian, or any degree of Canadian that you would like. Enjoy your sofa.

  35. 7.15.21
    M said:

    You are hilarious and also genius. The horseshoe solution has blown my mind. Love this. (And the sofa is gorgeous – very vintage car upholstery vibes – I hope it wears well.)

  36. 7.15.21

    Literally making a note about horseshoes – and yes, mensa-level genius shit here. Also, the sofa looks amazing. Same issue with our Labrador and cushions, though it’s a cheap Ikea couch we’re not losing sleep over, but it would be nice to have something where the hair is easily vacuumed up. Am I asking for too much?

  37. 7.15.21
    Kim said:

    I LOVE the new sofa! It looks comfy without being sloppy and I agree, it doesn’t have any one ‘trendy’ look to it, so it fits right in. And the horseshoes? GENIUS

  38. 7.15.21
    Mom said:

    You are laugh out loud funny. I just wish there wasn’t that part of me that also worried about you, like nearly all the time. Just spent all the time all over the article site. Did you know they have covers for outdoor furniture? But, what I really want to know is whether the Terrazo “stools” would work as end tables with our outdoor furniture and be longer lasting than whatever I bought without your consultation?

  39. 7.15.21
    Kat said:

    The room looks great! Can I ask where the carpet is from/ what brand it is? Thanks so much!

    • 7.16.21

      Sorry, it’s vintage! Got it at auction a few years ago. :)

  40. 7.16.21
    Emily said:

    I’m Canadian (in Ottawa- on Algonquin land) and you said Chesterfield which is one of the only* questions on the citizenship test, so yes, I dub you Canadian. (The other is understanding “yea, no, for sure”)

  41. 7.19.21
    Linda said:

    It looks wonderful!

  42. 7.19.21
    Yelle said:

    The horseshoes – GENIUS. I myself have an Article couch too and the leather is so so soft. I love it! Glad you (and your pups) are loving it too.

  43. 7.19.21
    Ange said:

    Omg, those dogs on sofa photos! Lol! Also, perfectly matching your leather to your pup: genius.

  44. 7.20.21
    Rachelle Connor said:

    LOVE it. so good to have you back Daniel.

  45. 7.27.21
    Lindsay said:

    Everything about this post is delightful, and that horseshoe idea, WOW I will be thinking of that for a while. Thanks for always keeping it real.

  46. 8.10.21
    Janis McCormick said:

    Wow never heard of article before and just looked. I’m about to order a dining room table, six chairs, and very possibly a bed from them. Thank you for the heads up

  47. 8.15.21
    Leslie Sykes said:

    Your new sofa looks amazing and the horseshoe idea is very clever”¦ BUT I have secretly loved/lusted after your old black sofa for years. Please tell me you want to send it to a new home, namely mine (holes and all)?

    • 8.25.21

      if you’re serious, let’s talk! i think i do need to part with it!

    • 8.26.21
      Leslie said:

      I might be serious about taking it off your hands! I have a real thing for special furniture. Let me know!

    • 8.29.21
      Leslie said:

      Yes, interested in it really!

  48. 8.18.21

    OH MY GOD THIS QUOTE: “My grandparents would be displeased by this state of affairs. They would also be genuinely confused about why I’d be living with this thing I don’t even love, and irritated that their memory is largely the reason I was doing it.” That exactly. Legacy should not be a millstone.

  49. 8.24.21
    Eve said:

    Love the sofa!! It’s so hard to find a sofa that looks good with vintage style and is comfortable.

  50. 9.11.21
    Julie said:

    I enjoy reading your blog! You are a really good writer.

  51. 1.10.22
    Andrea said:

    happy 2022, Daniel. hope that you are well and thriving and haven’t entirely abandoned the blog!