need to figure this out and get it out of my system already.

the sofas.

gah.

are you sick of this topic yet? i am. i don't like being in an indecisive place. hate it. i like to be sure of what i want and then make it happen; wrenches are not welcome in my works.

i've mentioned before that the vision all along in my head for the house is white on white. white slipcovered sofas, white walls, feeding into the white walls of the dining room, which opens up onto the white walls and white cabinetry in the kitchen. with accents of olive (the island), brushed stainless (the island top), bluish-gray-black (the soapstone counters), warm wood floors, leftover soapstone or khaki-green glass subway tile on the fireplace surround ... just little touches of neutral in a sea of white.

open, airy, bright, white.

i've mentioned my obsession with white.

so why on earth would i let marc lead me off reservation and into the territory of something not white?

when we went back to restoration hardware on friday to once again sit on the sofas, we talked about it and decided that if we get these sofas, gray was the way to go. durable army duck, easy to clean, dark enough to hide spots and spills. see? gray would be pretty:

but would it look right with the idea in my head? with the pieces of inspiration i've been collecting? would it be as flexible as white??

so i got onto pinterest (do you pinterest?? if so, how awesome is it?? if not, why aren't you?!) and went through my pinboards to look at all the pretties i've collected to see if gray would be a good neutral for what i have in mind. granted, i love gray ... always have ... but a-nine-feet-long-sofa-or-two love gray? or a-little-goes-a-long-way love gray? and i discovered this:

gray is, indeed, a running theme in my world.

even if i choose to go with warmer colors in different accents and accessories, gray is still there.

seeing this makes me happy.

(behold, the power of pinterest.)

so now i'm thinking that if we go gray on the sofas, their darkness will be balanced by the dark of the countertops, the dark of the wood floors, but then i don't think i would want dark on the fireplace surround. and even the soft green is iffy. so ... what?

then last night i was watching a tivo'd candice tells all, and she did a room for a couple that was white with a charcoal gray accent wall and a lighter gray sofa, and the fireplace mantle and built-ins were white, and the surround was hexagon marble tile. like this:

it was very subtle, but very light, while still making sense of the gray.

i liked it.

on the other hand ... is it too formal? i'm not normally a candice olson fan. her rooms are too full and too sparkly and too "designed" for my taste. the sofas would already be formal enough on their own, and my personal taste trends toward simple with pops of whimsy and humor. but maybe with a soft rug ...

a little bit of blue on the windows to hint at what's in the tv room just off the great room ...

(quadrille fabrics cirebon reverse in aqua)

and lots of funky, colorful art and objects, i can pull off comfy/casual/open/arty yet grown up.

we need to decide in the next month what we're going to do. why the timeline? because the sofas are on sale until the end of april. we'd save a significant amount of money if this truly is the way we want to go, and that makes it worth doing sooner rather than later. the timing of custom ordering them and having them delivered should run right into when the house is finished ... which seems serendipitous to me and marc. while we're deciding, i also need to seriously keep in mind whether i would even want to mess with slipcovers and white. do i really want to be taking off and putting on and washing and spot-treating, blah blah blah ... ?

then again, the tv room will need a sofa ... maybe that's where i go white. and slipcovered. and cheap. to offset the gray. and upholstered. and not cheap.

 
what do you think?

Comments

[Cheryl Overton]

looooooooove that couch! I want it - and if I can't have it I want you to have it!

Check out this place - http://www.couchseattle.com/

I found it googling last year and saved it for when I have cash to get furniture.

[micheleomega]

ooh ... thats awesome! ill have to do some digging into their
info. i had no idea RH gets their stuff from china ... that totally
defeats the whole purpose of found items theyre pushing right
now. not to mention they claim to use mitchell gold furniture ...
who knows where that claim ends and china begins. so hard to know.

i havent paid attention lately ... are you still trying to sell?
did you opt to stay put? whats going on with that?

hope you and the boylies are all well! what are they up to these
days?

m.

[Anne Dolin]

Oh my. Decisions. I like the grey. Also, waiting on pininterest to approve
My ac count . Guess I'm not cool enough!

[Kimber-Leigh]

i like the grey couches.
and the white couch in the tv room.
:)
:)
:)
but i'm glad i'm not making the decision right now.

[MandyK]

Oooh thats a toughy I like both too. Good luck making the decision!

[Elisa Nishimura]

It is GORGEOUS! If you don't like it, send it to me!

Greay is pretty neutral, i think it would look great with your olive island.

[Christa P.]

I love me some gray! Especially when paired with the colors you have on your post. My all time favorite? Yellow and gray-love!!

[ArlaMo]

I'm going to say gray. Because I've done white and kids and it didn't take long for the white to end up gray anyway, lol. But mostly because the gray is just so gorgeous!

[carol in seattle :)]

I adore the gray! Save the white couch for the tv room. I love seeing your vision for the new house - definitely living vicariously through you!

[Cheryl Overton]

hey again :) We are currently not selling (but that could change in a heartbeat as, it seems, everything we own is always for sale :)
I don't really know much about the furniture business, but they seem to have good reviews (via their blog) and made in your own country is never a bad thing - oh, and better prices too!

[Kids fitness]

Nice views! i really love it..

[Emily Yost]

totally random, but do you know where to find that globe bowl that's in one of your gray pictures? i saw it on pinterest and LOVE it!

[Marian Cupp]

Great Choice. I personally love the color. Simple yet very elegant.

[michelle]

What paint company is this and what I are the names of the paint colors?