Do you have enough room for a small white couch for you and an Eames lounge chair for him?

Perhaps a leather sofa - works best for spills, cleans up easier, and men (generally) seem to like the look and feel of leather.

I'd also suggest perhaps a lounge chair for your husband - something with an ottoman, perhaps a Poang-like chair on the low-end (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S09829137) or something similar if you have a larger budget? Great for watching the game, and he won't feel so out of it with the couch.

May I suggest: Can you get a nice looking couch that's slip covered in white? Then you can take the slip cover off and bleach the beer stains out to your heart's content! Also get a matching slip covered ottoman for your husband to feel like he can "recline".

I think the whole white slip cover thing is really one of the most practical options out there for light colored couch lovers. I don't have any personal experience though, so I'm just going on what I've read and heard.

Yeah, I used to HATE slip covers, but they've kind of grown on me and if I hadn't just bought a couch, I'd consider it.

I think the leather idea is a great one, and as someone who owns that Room and Board couch above, I'd say go with something stylish like that in a sectional (that one and lots of others at R&B can be sectionals) so that he can lounge on the chaise part.

I had similar concerns about a white sofa. This is what I bought, and I've been really happy with it:

http://www.chiasso.com/store/item.aspx?DepartmentId=36&ItemId=52990

Even though it's white, it's faux leather, so stains clean up really easily, and it's not at all difficult to maintain. Although it's not a big, plushy, overstuffed piece, your husband might appreciate that the back adjusts to various different positions (including all the way flat, so it's great for overnight guests!), so you can still slouch around on it comfortably.

Plus, through the end of March you get 20% off the price if you enter the code STYLECHI when checking out. I've gotten lots of compliments on it. Hope that helps.

Yeah, I was just going to say that a compromise with a great lounge chair would probably do the trick.

My boyfriend and I had a similar problem. We recently bought our second couch together since the first one fit in our apartment, but didn't fit in our 50's bungalow! The first couch was a very modern design upholstered in a tan coloured microsuede. It was very boxy and cool looking, but it wasn't practical for the cozy home feel we decided we wanted when we got our house.
Luckily we sold the first couch and spent 2 months with a barren living room waiting until we found the right couch that suited our aesthetic and also the required comfyness.

we went totally opposite from our first couch and bought a 3 seater sofa upholstered in a dark steel blue faux velvet (not shiny). It is soft and comfortable (perfect for videogaming/game watching), but it also looks great with my accent pillows and a bouquet of flowers on the coffee table. Best of both worlds!

It might take some time, but definitely communicate fully on this issue. You'll find your compromise eventually, it just might take some hunting around.

Is it too late for a new husband?

Congrats om the new house!

friends of mine just bought a tan microsuede sectional that instead of having a chaise lounge at the end, the two ends had recliners that didn't even look like recliners. they have a toddler so the wife wanted something that would hide stains and the husband got his recliner. I think they got it at Macy's. I'll check with them and post back.

Thanks all for the advice! I don't know if I could do a slipcover, but maybe a darker gray would be ok. I think getting a chair and ottoman would be great and I would definitely do that in a leather. Hopefully, with that purchase I'll be allowed my mid century awesome sofa. Any more recommendations for something stylish and comfy would be great!
thank you all!
Amanda

hi amanda~ i feel your pain! it is hard when a couple's design sensibilities are so different. i found that my husband was often put off my choices, which were more design-oriented, while he was just looking for comfort.

we eventually bought a sofa from crate & barrel in microsuade (the laguna, which isn't available anymore) that had the aesthetic i was looking for and is very comfortable & durable.

we also bought the flight recliner from dwr (yes, it cost MORE than the sofa), but it was one of only a few options that would fit in our living room and didn't make me want to cringe.

i found the process of buying furniture took a while, but we were both happy with our purchases.

Check out Pottery Barn's "PB Basic Sofa" - the design is neutral enough to blend in with a variety of styles, but without being boring. It has slip covers which you can take off and wash, or change when you want something new. But most importantly, it's *comfortable*.

try microfiber--it feels a little suede-y but you can spill red wine, tomato sauce, etc and it comes right up. good luck!

I second the slipcover idea. I have a white couch from Pottery Barn that has a fitted and tailored slipcover that doesn't look anything like a slipcover. The material is a heavy white canvas and it fits snugly on the couch with the aid of a single vertical zipper on the back.

The couch has had a whole glass of red wine spilled on it during a party. We just absorbed as best we could during the party and as soon as the people left, we stripped the slipcover off and put it in the wash with bleach. No more red wine!

Tailored slipcovers are a great way to have white furniture and keep it looking fresh.

What about this sofa from Ikea?

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S99846806

It's leather, so it should be easier to keep clean, and it reclines... but in my opinion doesn't look like a recliner and still looks rather clean and modern.

Has he actually tried sitting/reclining on some of the sofas you like? I found that my husband was resisting some of my choices because they looked uncomfortable, but once he tried them he actually liked them. We settled on the Rowe Berkeley in dark taupe cotton velvet. Great quality for the price, BTW. That was 7 years ago and the thing still looks like new!

I'd like to recomend the Tyler velvet-microfiber sofa from Macys. It's comfortable, durable, and not entirely un-modern looking for a reasonable price. I purchased one last summer and it's been great... even with my messy boyfriend lounging on it and eating chips. They have someother fabric choices & MANY colors too for an extra $50 which is totally worth it.

http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=252661&CategoryID=35377&LinkType=SiteAd&LinkLoc=29391&AdID=44066

Looked at the Tyler sofa at Macy's (on line) and it looks really good, I think. Why would they put a table in front of the couch they are selling?

about a week or so again people were asking couch questions and someone suggested the Corona collection from macys

http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=251414&CategoryID=35377&LinkType=EverGreen

i loved the look of it, and even my wife who isn't really into modern looking furniture, like it. so we went to macy's checked it out, pretty comfy, and not too expensive, one of the mail selling points for us. we just have to call them back up and actually place the order. A think next week they will be doing an additional 10% off of the sale prices. Our sales woman told us about it and said she would just put our order in then and save us some money.

The brown is really dark, just a heads up. under certain lights it will look black.

i just don't get that micro-suede stuff other people talk about, yeah it soft, but it almost always looks worn just because the fibers are pushed in opposite directions. there are always seems to be finger marks, butt marks, or something, and although the couch is clean and new, it just looks old and worn.

LauraE,

They put the table in front of it because the page is for the whole living room set. If you scroll down on the page, you can see a picture of just the couch.

We purchased a sofa from Nuovo Melodrom after we'd tried 100's of sofas in many stores we could think of in NYC. Because we were looking for both comfort and style (also affordable). It was during winter sale, they gave us wonderful discount. Sales person was very helpful.

http://www.nuovomelodrom.net/catalog/product.asp?pro=39

My sofa is white, but easy to clean since it's leather.