Sofa Love

I rarely show photos of my living room sofa (above) and armchair (below) because I am not totally smitten with them any more.  I bought these two Natuzzi pieces in late 2004 for my rather contemporary condo.  I liked their Zen-like colour (I was into meditation and yoga then...) and plain styling.  I was on the right track, I think, but I had been out of the decorating world for years at that point, and just bought something I liked that I thought would not date too quickly.

I still love the colour and I always admire it. It is a lovely soft colour in most light, and it works beautifully with my preferred colour palette of creams and white, brown and blue.  But I don't care for the styling (large arms) and the faux suede drives me bonkers!  It constantly needs to be vacuumed, especially with a cat in the house:   

The chair is a recliner and is very comfortable with its high back.  I sit here often, reading big decor books.  The sofa also has a nice wide, comfortable seat.  On the sofa, I like the tight back and tight seat cushions, that look like individual, but are not.  This is a nice neat look, if it didn't need vacuumed every two days!  If I were blind, I would still love this furniture...

So I've decided to move these pieces to our family room (eventually) which needs serious TLC (think dark panelling, lots of bookshelves, and a dated fireplace).  Currently, that room has David's 20-year old furniture, which is comfortable but O L D...

  I have been collecting sofa ideas for the living room.  I will wait until I find what I love, but hate waiting to replace the family room furniture.  But I can't justify buying new pieces for both rooms, so will wait until I have new living room furniture to do over the family room.

Here are some sofa styles I love.  For the most part, they have a tight back and a bench seat (one cushion) in common.  I like traditional, with clean lines, and like a slightly curved (camel) back, and old-fashioned legs.

This is a favorite sofa, without the curved back:

Photo John Bessler

I love this French/Gustavian settee and chair.  I want both, but they don't look terribly comfortable:

Decor by Elizabeth Hague

We do a lot of reading and listening to music in the living room, so furniture has to be comfortable and approachable!  We also entertain a fair amount here, and I like comfortable conversation...

This sofa looks comfy and fits the bill, but is perhaps slightly too sleek.  I like the small arms that keep it from looking dated:

Photo Elle Decor

This is a favorite sofa.  I love the lines, the arms, the curved and curled back...if only it had a bench seat:

Photo Traditional Home

Another sofa I love, but I am not crazy about the slipcovered look:

Decor by William Hefner via Things That Inspire

I have found a few sofas I like from Lee Industries.  I am impressed by their committment to the environment, and that they make such great traditional-looking pieces.  This sofa is almost perfect, but a little too "lean":

I also love these tufted beauties with their old-fashioned turned legs:  

And this armchair would be perfect to go along with the sofa.  I love the colour:

I am also very fond of this loveseat and would like a sofa in this style:

This one is also close-to-perfect:

If you know of other manufacturers who make old-world sofas that are both comfortable and beautiful, and fit my criteria, please let me know!