I consider it somewhat pathetic that it took me until 43 years of age to graduate from Grandma’s old couch to one of my own choosing. Even more pathetic is my personal expectation that I should be able to buy furniture at a certain point in my life, and my envy of friends with different “furniture circumstances”.
But how I finally got the one pictured fits perfectly with Crystal’s own Frugal Friday post: Ask around before paying full price. 
At an upscale consignment store several months ago, we first found this lovely, pre-owned, custom-made sofa; for the reasonable price, I think, of somewhere around $675. Several months later, my daughter and I went back in for her approval. Now $495, we continued to wait.
A week or two ago, my hero and I popped in on his lunch hour. The price by now was down to $395. Now, I call him my hero for a reason … he asked the gentleman politely if he had any further flexibility on the price. We got it for $300!
I consider that pretty frugal. But I know from painful experience that even $300 can be too much for some. Fortunately for us, it was a lovely spring day, and fortunately for a couple who happened to be driving by and saw it out on the sidewalk for FREE, the old couch wasn’t all that terrible.
Picture us all snuggled together watching movies on the laptop.
That’s a great couch for a great price.
“Sidewalk Furnishing” might be a turnoff for some people, but it’s worked out well for me. My college roommates and I picked up a great armchair that other students have thrown out. My dad picked up my current armchair off someone’s sidewalk as well.
Sometimes people list free furniture on Craig’s List or college newspapers simply because it’s too much of a hassle to even move it out of the building. That’s how we got our college couch (separate from the armchair). It was really old and really heavy, a real beast to handle (we moved it out of a second-story apartment, with a narrow walkway, a pool below, and no elevator), but it was free and very comfortable.
Great Deal! Patience pays off.
That is a beautiful couch! It suits your family well. I can picture you all snuggled up on it. What joy!
And can you picture me stretched out on it asleep too? he hee.
After I posted this picture, I noticed that I didn’t like where the lamps were. Last night we moved them: the tall one is now in the corner behind the left end of the couch and the one with the floral shade is almost in the middle of the window. It looks much better.
What a beautiful Sofa! I think $300 for a custom made one is a great deal! Enjoy it!
The couch looks nice-it’s very you! Congrats!
Which is either a REALLY diplomatic way of saying you don’t really like it, but it appears to be a quality piece, or that it appears to blend well with the style of the rest of our furnishings. But knowing you, either way I know you mean it nice!
I love it! I can’t believe you paid so little for it – what an awesome deal!!
Your story gives me patience to wait for my first new piece of furniture. Our current couch is looking pretty shabby. However if you had patience for that long — I can surely have them a while longer myself!