Shopping for furniture is usually fun… but I’m feeling somewhat impaired in the decision making department of late so not sure it’s a good idea to be choosing furniture given that you usually have to put up with it for several years. I’m having real difficulty here because I’ve had a particular itch for many years to invest in some really good quality Moran leather Hampshire (Chesterfield style) lounges. I’ve always loved the look of them – they have that old English library/study feel about them or perhaps it’s a cigars and brandy gentlemen’s club sort of thing. Either way I’ve been absolutely lusting after these sofas for well on a decade and a half now…
They are absolutely classic in design, well built and definitely the sort of item that you could pass to your grandkids one day, but they come with a couple of drawbacks: 1) they’re remarkably short in the back… which is totally not a problem for someone like me who barely makes 5’1" on a good day and… 2) they take about four or five years of ‘wearing in’ before they’re really comfortable. These couches are like buying a pair of Doc Martens – you know it’s going to take a while before they wear in and you’ll expect a few blisters here and there while they’re new but once you’re past that… they’ll be the most comfy boots you’ll ever own.
There’s a couple of other options of course. Moran make another leather sofa that I quite like, slightly more contemporary in styling but still has the hand studded finish that would match nicely with the antique red leather Romsey wingback that we already have. This one is called the Brando and it certainly doesn’ t feel like it would need ‘wearing in’. It’s pretty soft and comfy straight away
But it doesn’t have quite the same style about it and is far more contemporary in design. Not a classic but still pretty classy. So now I am having a decision making dilemma… do I go with the ones I have been coveting for half my life knowing full well they’ll take years to be truly comfortable and maybe even then only for short arses like me? Or do we bow to practicality and choose something that will likely feel less like breaking in new Doc Martens and more like pulling on an old pair of well loved ugg boots?!?!?
Or then of course we could branch out and do something totally out of character and opt for something completely different… and by ‘completely different’ I mean something that is actually considered current and fashionable… like this…
This sofa is much more chocolate brown and gold rather than burgundy in colour (dodgy advertising photographers…. I don’t know!) . It is rather tizzy (who said that? It couldn’t have been me!) and even though that’s a helluva lot of cushions that can be ‘out of place’ – it would suit our room and our purpose nonetheless. Decisions, decisions, decisions!!!