I wanted to like it, but it just looks like "cartoon" furniture to me, and not in a good way. I agree completely with Maxwell's assessment.

Wasn't the couch in David and Im's place from this line? http://la.apartmenttherapy.com/la/small-cool-2006-entries/-16-david-and-ims-one-space-007171

I can't offhand find reference to it specifically, but I voted a yes above based on that couch.

Dear Todd O,

What happened to you? What happened to that young designer in the late 90s that had so much to give.

Now when i see you or hear your name, i think lazy boy and plastic sandwich bags.

why todd....i mean, sure you fell off the hip ban wagon ( ala issac, but to his defense, his lil target line is oddly amusing and is doing pretty well) and were MIA for a bit. but....lazyboy??

next your going to tell me you are going to host yet another reality design show.
*pout*

well i guess you have to make a living to .

i still think your great even though the couch looks like a grandma's failed attempt at trying to be " in the know"

thanks

-m

The stuff that gets the press is over the top, but if you go into the studio/store in SoHo, there are many more looks, much less cartoonish.

The proportions aren't right on everything, but there's more to like than the ads would otherwise lead you to believe.

Great accessories, too.

Hokey is the word that comes to my mind, too. I pass the store every day and want to like what I see, but I just don't. It's overly busy for my taste, with pieces that just don't seem to work together. I wonder who their clients are, especially with staggeringly high SoHo rents.

I think this has real potential. I love that it's a convertible couch, so you could have a left-arm chaise in your current apartment, and convert it to a right-arm in your next. Also, if this is the David and Im couch, then it just shows more versatility based on how they used it.

Still... I'd have to try it myself to see how comfortable it is and how hip it really looks in person.

Also - The La-Z-Boy site has LAZY design. Good god, it's barely useable.

100% cornball

Find me one person in this city who owns anything ANYTHING from there (other than Todd Oldham). You won't be able too. Oh wait I did, on Craigslist, of course
http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/fur/373188919.html

Good GOD have you ever seen anything more attrocious in your life. Thank god we live in a city where you have options a few doors down...I can imagine living in Bumblefuck USA and LA-Z-BOY is your only option for anything.

"Pee-Wee's Playhouse" furniture...unfortunately, it doesn't talk.

bean bag chair made out of grannies old bras and socks or a lazyboy chair...

*tick tock tick tock*

GRANDMA!!! where are your socks?

I've had the Dexter couch for 3 years now. We bought it right out of college, so Lazy Boy's financing and delivery was an attractive deal. Although I wouldn't buy this couch again (for aesthetic reasons), it's been a good couch. It's light and for the most part the pads are still firm. You have to adjust the placement of the seams on the back from time to time- they tend to get pulled down when you sit in it. The legs are removable, which helped on moving day when we discovered our hallway was only 27" wide!

http://www.la-z-boy.com/ourfurniture/customize.aspx?pid=125

Honestly, for the price, I would probably go with something like the sofa beds from Bo Concept. I regret that our couch doesn't fold down. My friends have this one and love it. Good luck!
http://www.boconcept.us/default.aspx?id=62437&ImageID=2098

I love my Snap Sofa -- it's virtually dog-proof (we have 7 of our own and 2 fosters) and so flexible. It's a great option for Midwesterners w/o access to lots of fantastic furniture... I think we paid $899.

Pictures of the sofa at:

http://homepage.mac.com/sarahtoledo/PhotoAlbum2.html

i bought a floor model of the flip sofa for 50% off and am less than thrilled with it. the fabric is not durable at all and when you sit on the edge of it and lean forward the whole sofa starts to flip forward. not good design.

It's so bizarre, after getting my first job outta college I bought the Dexter sofa, which i really like (although, like Melissa, I wouldn't buy it again because the seating is just not deep enought—worst make-out couch, ever). The sofa is cute and I wouldn't think it to be cornball. Perhaps it's a little playful in its shape, but it has a slight 60s vibe that I love.

Even more bizarre, I just acquired my brother's used couch, the $800 one from BoConcept. This couch is surprisingly comfortable to lay on, but not so nice to sit on for an extended period of time (think: watching a movie).

Has anyone seen the emerald ottoman form Oldham? This I'm not sure about. Is it fun and interesting or borderline retarded? I sorta want one.

http://www.la-z-boy.com/ourfurniture/product.aspx?pid=2116

I heart TO for LB (so much so I'm willing to invent and acronym). The stuff is modern and fun, with a dash of kitsch. I've had my Snap sofa (the one pictured, but in a fierce magenta) since they first came out. It's held up quite well. My only gripe is that it's now so pricey. But I actually find the store incredibly drool worthy, especially his latest turn with organic modern bamboo and the like.

Yeah, I have to echo Valerie's sentiments about the price of the TO for LB stuff. I actually like the storage "Kate" ottomans quite a bit, but not for three hundred (EFFING!) dollars.

I thought it was cool four of five years ago, I didn't even know it was still being sold. Too bad, Todd has such talent.

I have to admit I was enamored with Dexter's pop art kitsch three years ago when I bought my first condo and the slim profile fit well in my 800 sq ft space. But about two years in the stitches were coming apart around the cushions and the springs were starting to poke out of the undercarriage. Twenty four hundred dollars was a freaking rip for a shoddily-made small sofa and two equally crappy chairs.

I'd advise to only buy if you plan on having it for a year and you have money to burn.

The entire series suffers from really cheap looking legs.

Same can be said for most of the boys in Chelsea.

I think a lot of the 'over-the-top/cornball' comments have more to do with the fabric colors/patterns moreso than the form factor of the line. The products come in a wide range of fabrics, and Todd always tends to pick the crazy stuff anyways.

Form-factor wise, I really like a lot of the line. We'd really like to get the Valerie sectional. Clean form, and has an outside-corner component...something that we haven't seen and would fit our space perfectly. The catch? It appears that it's impossible to see any of the Todd Oldham line in person outside of NYC:

http://mnteractive.com/archive/the-woeful-state-of-furniture-retailing-in-the-twin-cities-and-la-z-boy-sucks/

Has anyone sat on the Valerie? What did you think?

I have the Kate Sectional - squared corner, not angled. I have a 1950's cape cod, with a very awkward LR, and the need for a lot of seating. The Kate really fits my house and my space very well - and it looks perfect (fabric is a camel tweed/barkcloth). I've had it for 6 months, and so far, the quality is there - all of the pieces are finished on all sides (unlike MOST sectionals), and that makes it very flexible in configuration. I was also very interested in the Valerie, and none of the LB's in Columbus, OH carried it on their floors... but I am so happy with what I have, I have no regrets.

I agree that some of the sofas are oddly scaled and the fabric selection was a killer - as I was looking for something very textural and truly mid-century - not semi-contemporary in a difficult palette.

Anyway - I couldn't be happier - and it's not because I don't have good furniture options out here in the midwest - I had a lot of options. But, for my space, and my budget, the Kate was perfect. And, it wasn't cheap!

Thanks for that info, Twixlen!

As luck would have it, our local independent La-Z-Boy store recalled that they had sold the Valerie to a car dealership. So, we're 'car shopping' this weekend to try out the Valerie. We figure a sofa sitting in a car dealership should be 'well used' to judge quality.

Here's some news: Apparently the entire Todd Oldham collection is being terminated by January 1.

I wonder why? Could it possibly be because La-Z-Boy hasn't actually put any of these pieces on a show room floor anywhere? It seems like the line was set up for failure by La-Z-Boy themselves.

Hey Incubus ---

It's interesting that the Valerie is at a car dealership --- the closest I could find here was in Cincinatti, and was part of a museum installation. Go figure.

Sadly, I can believe that the Todd Oldham line isn't doing well @ LaZboy. None of the stores in Columbus were showcasing the line in any way (and this is early this year!), and the stuff they had on the floor seemed to have really strange fabric choices, and wasn't displayed with the same care shown to the rest of the LB line.

I think in the beginning, LB was really pushing and advertising the TO line, but I am just realizing that I haven't seen any of those commercials in some time.

I think the IDEA behind the line was fantastic, and there are some great pieces (I LOVE my sectional - sitting on it right now!), but the execution wasn't great. They needed to do more to bridge the gap between the average LB customer looking for baked potato sofas and those of us looking for something with a little more style. And, the TO stuff is much more expensive than the LB stuff... and they aren't giving folks a reason why.

Anyway... thus ends my dissertation.