Sofa-ing

I spent today looking at furniture, as I continue my long-running, almost Homeric quest for a new couch. Sadly, it's been very difficult for me to communicate my needs to the staff in the furniture stores. Most of my attempts went something like this:


Saleslady: Hello, are you looking for anything in particular?

Me: Um... I'm looking for a couch.

Saleslady: Well, we have a very large range. Do you have any ideas about what sort of couch you'd like?

Me: I want a three to four seater, with an upholstered back rather than loose cushions, and an upholstered sprung seat rather than separate foam-filled pads, and not too deep, minimal but not too blocky, in black leather, preferably quilted, along the lines of the Danish Modern movement of the 1960s, sort of like a minimalist anorexic chesterfield, with a matching bench similar to Mies van der Rohe's seminal 1930 daybed, only without the pillow and with the strapping integrated into the upholstery.

Saleslady: ...

Me: ...

Saleslady (pointing): This is a nice couch. It's red.


I did, eventually, find a couch I liked - Charles Wilson's sensuous Boulder, upholstered in a rich, dark leather. It was lovely. It was also $9,850.


I believe I may have left scorch marks on the showroom model at LivingEdge Design, after I read the pricetag then leapt off it and raced out of the store, lest I discover that there was a $100 surcharge just for sitting on it.