apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

You could recolor the couch... here's a link to a product

http://colorbondtuner.com

Nothing is going to change that couch, so you must first decide if you can truly live with a "scarey green" object dominating your room.

I say try dying it, or chuck it.

Just my 2 cents but if you think the couch is really ugly, why would you design your whole room around it? I think you might regret it. If it were me, I would sell it and put the money towards a couch I really loved.

If that couch is in a condition worth keeping, I would dye it bombast blue (available at the link in the previous comment) and paint the walls orange, with a black glass coffee table in the center. For the rug, I think the one in the picture looks nice.

I'm trying to as be as kind as possible, but as we all know, it's hard to gauge tone over the internet, so please know that what I'm about to say is not as snarky as it reads: That sofa does not work. And not just because of the green. I can't help thinking that no matter what color you get, it will always be an ugly couch because of the shape and slouchiness.

Please do not spend money trying to make the rest of your house work around something so hideous. If budget is an issue, find something chicer and low-priced for now and upgrade when you can. Or, just accept that for now, this is your couch. It is ugly, but it is comfortable, and it is yours. My fear is that you will spend money trying to make it attractive (impossible), or spend money trying to work the rest of the room around it (impractical). We've all had to live with ugly furniture at some point.

I'd say, if you can live with the color (which, from the photo, looks like a dark teal), it's not that bad. I'd go for maybe dark brown and/or lighter colors in the same color family for accents. And I'd keep your walls white.

You sound desperate and open to anything, including a mix of "scary" and "comfortable." Is this really about a green sofa?

If you really want to keep the couch, my advise is to stay away from throw pillows, blankets, plants, etc. Think about it as if it were a piece of sculpture. Frame it with a simple square (think FLOR tiles) area rug in a neutral color, preferably matching the wall color in tone. The coffee table should be simple as well, maybe a round cocktail ottoman, same tone as the area rug, itself another piece of sculpture in the frame. I'd stay away from matching anything to the green, in fact try to have nothing else green in the room, and I'd also stay away from the complimentary colors in this one.

Otherwise, I'd dye it brown :)

I've never dyed leather, but my wife dyed a leather purse and the color rubbed off on her clothes. I'd be kind of afraid of doing that.

It would definetely look better in black, which would be very easy to design around. That green, however, isn't something I'd want in my home. You've already done the right thing with complimentary colors (the pillows) and neutrals (the carpet), but it still doesnt look good to you. I'd get rid of it and get something that appeals to you.

Why do I think this might be a case of Marc's wife hating the thing (sofa is too kind a word) and he trying to find a way to defend it. The two loungers arguement cries former frat boy logic to me - speaking of which perhaps you could sell/give it to some college students who would soon put it out of its misery.

I have to say I think you'd be best off tossing it. Can I ask why are you so desparate to make it work? If it were me, I'd save up that couch-dyeing and new coffee-table money and buy a new sofa that suits your style better. You don't have to spend a fortune for a decent sofa. You can get a nice big, comfy sectional like this for about $1500.

http://www.citylivinghome.com/lvl4.asp?cat=livroo&cat2=sof&ID=600

Thanks to everyone for the initial comments. Maybe my question came off as a little too negative (and no I'm not a former frat boy). If anything, my wife is actually more into the couch than I am. That being said, the couch is kind of growing on us (it's not THAT ugly), and we would like to use it. With our new apartment purchase our budget is in the negatives, and it might be nice to have a leather couch to sit on. Again thanks for the comments- and keep 'em coming!!

Marc

Why would you keep something that you yourself are calling scary? And that you need people you don't even know to convince you about? Regardless of the fact that I and many posters think it's hideous, the REAL question is: Do you like it? If you can honestly say yes, then keep it. Otherwise, junk it or donate it. Once it's gone, you will never look back!

I'm with Sasha... if you keep it then embrace it's teal-iness with more updated pillows. Those rose colored pillows against the teal just scream 1980's to me and not in a good way. I would suggest maybe a pattern in blue/green/teal with just a touch of rich buttery gold in the pillows.

There are three paths awaiting you and your couch:

(1) You hate it but design the room around it. You will still be miserable, but in a color-coordinated way.

(2) You secretly love its scariness but don't want to admit it. Embrace the green. Embrace the mod. Dump the high-contrast, cuddly pillows. Paint the walls an intense yellow-green. Accessorize with lucite and chrome and white plastic. Find the courage to live your inner 1970s futuristic mod pod-living diva selves. Buy a ficus. Buy two. Get big, abstract art with some hot red in it along with the greens. There is no way to underplay a puffy, green sectional.

(3) You hate it but feel guilty for not wanting it. Sell it on CL and replace it with something you like.

Toss it and start anew.

Just my two cents.

I don't believe in things like 'scary colors'. Any color--even teal--can look good in the right context. So the color isn't what I see as the problem here, it's the bulgy shape of this thing, which the ditsy accent pillows are doing nothing to hide. So take the color, darken it with a healthy dose of black & use the resulting new color on the wall behind it.

I'm not a fan of the 7Os supergraphics thing, but here it might work out to advantage, especially if you used the darker green as a broad horizontal band on the wall behind your sofa, which will disguise its bread-loaf top silhouette.

Then stay with the bold stroke approach and use equally strong back-up colors: clay, charcoal, leaf green, squash yellow, black. Just stay away from suburban ditsiness--i.e, meaningless T.J.Maxx-style pillows.

My eyes!

My eyes!

I'm kidding. You can try and slipcover it (roll up magazines and cram them in to anchor the slipcover). If that doesn't work...you can always return the slipcovers, dump it on Craigs for $250 and head out to the Macy's furniture outlet on Long Island.

My advice is to sell this mammoth for $200 and buy a $200 IKEA sofa until you can get exactly what you want. Even if you just use the IKEA sofa for a year it's worth the money. Plus, you might actually like the IKEA sofa and use it longer. There is one for $200 called the Lilberg that is a large and comfy 3 seater, but doesn't look overstuffed and frumpy. I've seen it in an apartment tour on this site and it was used quite nicely.

Please take no offense - but don't let yourself get used to this sofa. It is THAT ugly. Good luck.

I think the ugliness is in its form and style, not the color. If I saw a C&B Petrie sofa in this color, I would probably prefer it over the white one they sell. So replace it would be my answer.

If that paint posted in the first comment actually works, go for it! Try a more matted, lighter color, instead? I'd worry about it rubbing off, too, though.
I liked the comment someone made about it being treated as a sculpture. That made me wonder, does the sofa break apart, like into two parts? Wouldn't it be neat if you did that and put an accent table in between? I think that would make it look more artsy.

Dude...I had the same situation about 2 years ago. I had this "scary" blue leather couch and tried to design my whole living room around it. What a mistake! I spend more money trying to "redesign" the place around my couch when I could have just gone out and bought a nice and inexpensive modern couch with a better color.

I hated looking at my couch and the way I designed my living room. Even though the color coordinated, I was just not happy. Well, 6 months later and 2 coats of primer on the wall, I went with a more neutral color of gray and I couldn't be happier.

Trust me...save yourself the pain and weeks/months of denial. Just get a new couch.

I had a quick, reactionary repsonse to your question but I went to my happy place and invited jesus into my heart and I have calmed down. When it comes to my house I only furnish and design with things I LOVE! I would rather go without for awhile than put up with something 'scary' or half assed.

Sell the scary, green behemoth for whatever you can get for it or donate it and get a new sofa you LOVE. Don't settle because someone was nice and gave you something they didn't want anymore. Also in these instances you need to ask yourself how handy are you, can you dye a sofa, how much would it cost, how long would it take etc... When it comes to projects like this I always estimate the amount of time it would take, multiply it times my billable hourly rate and then decide.

Please get a new sofa.

I'm in the minority here, but i think it's a great couch. You just have to embrace it's best qualities, which are supergraphic, pop-art 70s/80s--but if that's not really your style to begin with, you might not be very happy. : )

1. dump the pillows
2. think supergraphic art (large, NOT small)
3. no rug if possible (bare floors like dark wood or pale wood)
4. get a really modern coffee table either minimal or sculptural
5. i'm seeing chrome accents to play up it's Baughman-ness.
6. Let the green dominate but warm greys and navys (maybe midnight blue) could possibly chic it up.
7. keep the other lines of the furniture of the room pretty clean-lined since it's so big and plump on its own. (i.e. any other upholstered furniture you add should be pretty sleek)

maybe i'm crazy. but I think in less than 2 years this kind of St. Elmo's Fire-era interior-design thing will be back in...and, frankly, it looks like a really comfy couch, which is most important.

With respect, that couch is not only ugly, but, as I like to say, FUGLY. So ugly that it deserves a censored, abbreviated profanity at the beginning of the word ugly. You should sell it - or at least try to...I won't lie to you - I see these on Craigslist now and again and when they do sell, it's not for very much. If you ask $1,000, you will be buried with this sofa. Try $200 and offer milk and cookies as inducements.

Take whitespike's advice for a temporary, or even long-term, IKEA solution.

If the couch is comfortable and you can live with it for now (even if you don't like the looks of it) then keep it... BUT decorate your room for the couch you might want eventually. You don't even have to have it picked out in your mind. Let's say you like the fact that it is leather and that the leather is kind of distressed but the colour is wrong. Plan on buying a leather couch of a different more neutral colour and then start a savings fund for that.

I could totally live with a couch that I didn't like the look of if I was working on saving up for a couch that I did.

Although it's not a couch I'd necessarily buy, I think you can make it work. Isn’t the whole point of design to come up with new interpretations of old pieces? It’s what makes decorating challenging and fun.

My recommendation would be to play up the couch’s strengths (big bold statement) and play down its negatives (lumpy form). In decorating the rest of the room, I’d limit the color palette, stay clear of other circular shapes, and limit busy patterns. Start by replacing those patterned pillow with some rectilinear white shag pillows (crate & barrel). That respects the period of the piece while adding a much needed lighter graphic element.

Jonathan Adler’s interiors might also inspire you. He’s not afraid to use a interesting pieces and bold colors:
http://www.jonathanadler.com/shop/id_otherprojects.php

Hmm, "lumpy form" is a much nicer way of saying what I always think when I see furniture from this period - "Hey, it's one of those couches that looks like it's made of giant butts!"

I do agree that embracing the era of the couch is your only chance to keep any friends who are decor snobs like ourselves from falling into shocked silence when they arrive at your home. Try looking at coffee table books and ads from this era to see how other people decorated around pieces like this.

I personally see a zebraprint rug and glass and chrome coffee table for a super-Scarface feel, but minimal use of pillows or throws. Try using a big piece of Marimekko fabric in a fun leafy pattern with greens and browns as an artwork over the sofa, along with a Arco-style floor lamp. And above all, PLEASE do not pair burgundy with this forest green or use any floral prints, as shown in the above pic.

Here's a link to the kind of fabric hangings I mentioned: http://store.txtlart.com/trflle.html

Dear God. My mother has this couch. She got it when my grandma died, who got it when my uncle got a divorce. Not only is it bad karma, it's the kind of "leather" that sticks to your legs, and the sectional pieces drift apart all the time.

I threaten to burnt it down on the regular.

There's just no way this can be worked with to look good. I agree with the Ikea plan above: sell this sofa and use the cash to buy a cheap and stylish sofa from Ikea. I used to have an ikea couch that was super comfortable, so don't ba scared.

Also, craigslist has so many people moving who need to get rid of great couches fast. Budget is not a concern when you have good resources.

If your budget is negative, I say keep the couch until you can afford to get a nice couch and decorate your apartment. I wouldn't recommend decorating around a (large) item you find "scary."

I would sell this bad boy via craigslist and apply the $$$ towards a new couch in a heartbeat!

It's an albatros! Planning a room around it would just result in an ugly room. Don't do it!

Keep it. Other people have much better ideas on how to make it work, but it has definite possibilities if you have an ironic sense of humor about it. The sculpture idea is a pretty good one. And in 10 years when everyone on AT is lusting after that couch the way we do MCM now, you can say you were there first.

keep it for now, replace it when you can afford to.

a quick google search reveals this site, which makes slipcovers for sectionals, but perhaps you would be happier saving the money and putting it toward a new sofa.

Wow...

People I have been there. You are tapped out and you have no cash to spend on anything that is not mortgage payment/rent or food- and yet you need a place to sit.

There is no choice for you but to wait this one out. Sit on the couch, nap on the couch, recline in the couch... Do not spend a penny on decorating anything that surrounds this couch - save your money!

When you have enough money buy the nicest most elegant and well designed couch you can afford and begin crafting a new vision of your space with that fine new piece of couch in mind!

Then donate that big green behemoth to some poor people who need a place to sit that is off the floor!

Then go home and sit on your fine and quality new couch and bask in the good karma of having gifted the "green giant" back to the world!

What's scary is not the sofa or rather sofa color, but that your wife and you are allowing your friends to talk you out of a sofa the two of you find comfortable. Keep the sofa, get rid of those friends. You'll never please them, and honestly, are they worth pleasing?

O.K., so I'm in a bad mood. Keep the sofa. The pillows, if you have any, should reflect the style/period of the sofa -- bold and solid. I'd go for a contrasting texture as well as slightly oversized. I'd keep the coffee table really simple and functional, but you will need some size to balance the sofa. The option of breaking up the pieces and making two sofas (or four) is a good one, since it might simplify the table choice.

I'm not a fan of supergraphics either, but I do have to acknowledge it's a good idea. What I would do is hit flea markets and barn sales, looking for something large and weird to hang over the sofa. I once saw a seven-foot slide rule (used for teaching) which I always thought would make a great statement for someone, though not mathematically challenged me. Something like that would be perfect.

Okay, I think by now the consensus is to not keep something that you don't at least LIKE. I made the mistake one time of buying a futon because I thought it was a cheap, practical solution for my budget... turned out I wrong on so many levels. I finally gave it away and went down to the thrift store and bought an awesome sofa for 20 bucks. I still have this sofa and love it. You should always surround yourself at home with things that inspire you, or at the very least-reflect your personality. If you don't like the couch on its own, then no amount of decorating around it will help. Life is too short to try to make something work when it just doesn't. :)

if it has good bones(structure) and is real leather you can change the shape and appearance like a hollywood plastic surgeon.

question is, do you have more time or more money?

if the answer is, neither.

contact the nearest design school, inquire about students with similar asperations and *donate conditionally* the bones of the idea, you may have to help fund the project along the timeline but it will be an experiance that you may conceive on or with.

i think you could make this totally cool but first you need to get rid of the plant and the pillows. the couch is the sculpture and the focal point in the room and everything around it needs to be simple and unfussy and sculptural. i think you have one of two ways to go in terms of color scheme. either the white/chrome route where the couch pops out (sculptural & simple but high design white chairs/white rug/white sheepskin pillloows/super white walls, cool light fixture, etc.) or the opposite way -- using analagous colors --so lots of blues & greens -- tap into your inner austin powers. whatever you do, please please please pull the couch away from the wall. pushing it in the corner feels sheepish to me. embrace it!

Um, why is no one screaming about animal rights here?

Exactly how many teal cows had to die to make this thing?!?!?

;)

alt.
you could always tear away the carpet, load in dirt to replace the carpet, tear/cry//tare out the window, plant butterfly seed garden mixes and sit back and read 'alice in wonderland' by the light of fireflys as the leather couch grows around you

-or- you could just kick it to the curb and let someone else tare at it.

let go, and move on until you find a comfortable sofa theat you both like to look at. it will be worth it.
this sofa is a poor design and you can tap dance around it, but it won't change that sofa.

I think you could get some mileage out of the vintage quirkiness of this piece in a media room or den, but this kind of sofa never read "living room" to me.

because I thought trained teals were exclusively in circuses.

You said that you want to keep the sofa - so do so! It wasn't all that long ago that mid-century modern was described in the same tones that 1980's design is - not to mention design from the 70's.

Strike a balance between integrating the sofa into the room and designing the room to match it. After all, if you buy interesting pieces, they'll go with many colors.

I'd troll eBay for textured geometric fabric to turn into throw pillows. Just stay away from anything that screams "1980's color scheme" unless you really love it on its own.

For the rug, I'd either look for an inexpensive flatweave that has some green in it - it would NOT need to match - or something in varying shades of off-white.

Maybe a throw over the center - oatmeal or a paisley

For art, pick something big and bold - but NOT a supergraphic, which would make the sofa look too dated. Maybe something Mexican, because they use vibrant colors.

Here are some sites on eBay that might be worth checking out - strive for a harmonious style and ignore the current fashion, which will soon be as outdated as your sofa now is!

Old Turkish kilmn pillows - lots of geometrics that have colors which could work http://cgi.ebay.com/TURKISH-HANDWOVEN-KILIM-RUG-CUSHION-PILLOW-COVER-20_W0QQitemZ200108265251QQihZ010QQcategoryZ37979QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Affordable handloomed Indian shawls could make throws - http://stores.ebay.com/Heritage-Trading_W0QQssPageNameZstrkQ3amefsQ3amesstQQtZkm

nip, tuck and lift.

remove the fluffy stuffing, tuck in some regimental square shaped cushions, stitch it and lift it on some chrome legs.

-oar-

if you keep it i think wende, edgertor especially, abby and maganaverde are the voices of reason or chic solution here.
their color recs and overally bold simplicity...
and no scraggly plants or pillow muck!
if your wife likes it and you do secretly...why not give it a try for a while?
please get the arco style lamp and a pompassan chair to go with it...
looks like at least 6 could sit most comfortably and spill freely, or many happy naps could occur on it.

over all, that is (on this computer when i preview, the comments don't always post).
yes, a band of lime or squash yellow, teal and navy super stripes on the walls above and that room could really work!

You have two choices:

Only have items in your home that you love (and do without somewhere to sit until you can afford it)

Use what you have (but run the risk that having this comfy sofa might prevent you ever buying a better one)

I frequently can't decide which way I'm more comfortable - I'd rather have beautiful things in my home that I love but I also hate the thought of not having the major elements of a home - could you cope without a sofa? - do you have other seating such as round a table?

It is not the prettiest sofa in the world but you could make it work but do it without too much fuss or expense - do NOT try to dye it - home leather dyeing never works - your guests will all have the dye rub off on their bottoms (well on their clothes that they are wearing ont ehir bottoms - I'm not suggesting they'll all sit around naked on this sofa - unless thats your thing - in which case go for it)

I say go with simple accessories and any large items bought new should be things you love anyway - I'm picturing a very bare room with a dark wood coffee table and some big strong art on the walls - I've got quite a few items of clothes in this colour and I've found that the best complimentary colour to go with it is actually lime green - a very yellowy lime green - some big cushions in that colour would make it really zing and be very minimal expenditure

Oy. Adding lime green to this is like adding another luggage car to a trainwreck.

The burgundy/pink pillows should be the first to go - and then the plants, which just emphasize the teal-ness.

I'd do bold graphic black/white and solid black, white, grey, beige pillows. Let the teal be the "accent" color - don't try to compete. Everything else nearby should be neutral woods and black/white, and definitely get some GREAT BIG art or sculpture on that wall above it -- all just in efforts to to let the teal "recede."

I totally understand the need to "make do" with a big piece like this for a while - but agree with others that you shouldn't work so hard to accommodate the sofa that you end up with MORE pieces you don't like/won't want when you are able to replace the sofa someday.

Swimming against the stream here, I think there's something lovable in the ugliness of this badly maligned sofa. I would gently emphasize its--er--qualities by getting rid of the entirely-wrong-for-it pillows and setting it against walls in the chartreuse/apple green/moss family--but muted, not blaring. I wish we knew what other furniture you have. It would be nice to keep the other pieces very simple and clean--and no curves, very rectiliniar. Light metal and glass would be one way to go, or even somewhat more orate pieces in shades of white. This would also look great against the wall colors. I think this attack would enhance and dignify the sofa.

But then again, what do I know?

ditch the pillows...like NOW.

i mean..the couch is ugly..BUT..maybe you can make it work. have it as an installation art piece, your shrine to bad 80s design.

in anycase, you can make it work....somewhat. until you save for a new couch.
keep it away from, brass lamps, plants, pillows with lil ornaments attached, geometric rugs, what else am i missing..hmmmm

maybe dont have it against the wall..bring it out into the room more...a color on the wall will minimize the "oh wow is that your couch" factor.

those are my 2 1/2 cents...

It's HIDEOUS!

Dump it and get an Ikea couch or two (off Craigslist if you're broke) and check out the many slipcover choices here:

http://www.bemz.com/products/2/

ptoo i am removing my earrings

Coming to this late, but honestly, I think there is no hope for this monstrosity. That said, if you like it (and I think you really do, despite the protests), then keep it. However, if you want honest opinions, everything about this couch is hideous. I'm sorry.

Keep it until you can afford something better, or sell it and buy an Ikea sofa in the meantime.

(Most) of you will be happy to know that we've decided to dump it. We've opted to sit indian style instead.

Marc