Help me NOT get a sofa.

[insahmniak]

We don't have a sofa. I don't want a sofa. In the name of all that is simple and easy please help me not get a sofa.

We live in a 900 sq ft house. Hard wood throughout. (Yay.) We cosleep on some floor mats in the living room. The mats (usually) get folded up and put away during the day. We've been living like this for quite a while.

But for some reason (arrival of colder weather on cold floors?) I've found myself wanting to curl up on something off the ground, and the only think I can really think of is a sofa. Blech. I've never owned one. Never had to move one. It just doesn't fit with my idea of a simple life.

Maybe I could compromise with a comfy chair? I'd like to be able to cuddle up with the fam. though. (Hubby and daughter.)

Any ideas? Something modular? Something I could build myself? Something that is multifunctional? Whatever it is should have some kind of redeeming factor like that.

Maybe I just need to light candles and wait out this desire. Anyone else live on the floor in a coolish climate? Help!

[Mom2Wilmo]

I have seen these beanbag chairs. They are made of nice comfortable fabric and can seat three adults I think. I believe I saw them at Sam's/Costco/BJs. I know that might not help much but they seemed pretty cool. Maybe someone else knows what they are called?

[rainyday]

What about a papasan chair (one of those big round ones)? That will work for at least two of the three of you. Or they make chair-and-a-half chairs. That's plenty of room for my dh and me, with ds on a lap, or maybe even squished between us. Or a futon with a frame? Those are often available second hand, really inexpensively. Ours has also come in handy for overnight guests at times.

Or would a nice, fluffy blanket help satisfy the urge? It's nice and warm and cozy to wrap around yourself, wherever you sit, but it's not so large as a sofa!

[fek&fuzz]

Get one. Sofas are yummy and cozy and comfy and nice. It's just like a mat on the floor, but it's a bit higher off the ground. It's a nice place to lie, and be warm. A sofa is not complicated, or un-simple, or bad. It just is. Don't attach judgment to it. Poor sofa, being judged, when it just wants to hold you.

[momto l&a]

Love seats are nice, smaller than a sofa. You can get them with 2 built in recliners

I would rather go with a loveseat than some 6 foot long sofa

[laurata]

Don't get one. They are nasty, germy, dust infested things that you can never get clean and will aggravate your allergies.

[insahmniak]

Originally Posted by laurata

Don't get one. They are nasty, germy, dust infested things that you can never get clean and will aggravate your allergies.

I've been scouting thrift stores, of course, and I've been wondering what kinds of chemicals they might have on them. Flea powder, for one. Isn't that neurotoxic? I wouldn't know. So. You have a point.

[Nature]

Originally Posted by fek&fuzz

Get one. Sofas are yummy and cozy and comfy and nice. It's just like a mat on the floor, but it's a bit higher off the ground. It's a nice place to lie, and be warm. A sofa is not complicated, or un-simple, or bad. It just is. Don't attach judgment to it. Poor sofa, being judged, when it just wants to hold you.

[libbylu]

get a hammock!

they are absolutely the best! so comfy, off the ground, there are really big ones that the whole family can snuggle in. can be hung from a stand or clipped to beams or you could install hooks in the wall. Either way, you can just fold it up into a little bundle and put it away.

I really want a Mayan-style one, which I think are the most comfy, and beautiful. I have seen directions for making the knotted rope kind that takes wooden crossbars, or a simple fabric one would be really easy to make.

[insahmniak]

Sorry, Poor Judged Sofa. You say you just wanna hold me, but quite honestly that's just no longer enough for me. I need more from a relationship than that. I need responsibility. I need mutual respect. And most of all, I really need to be able to respect myself in the morning.

So.

How about this...

Twin bed w/o frame - directly on floor - from thrift store , with nice cover and pillows, up against wall. Yes, still ew! factor but probably not flea powdered and has off-gassed already. Good recycle factor. Just re-donate when move. Sounds simple.

Or this:
Scavenge nearby woods for recently dead timber and make a peeled-log bench/sofa, with cushions and pillows. Like the scavenge part. Could be too long of a project to get done in reasonable time. But would be meaningful and useful. Kinda like the idea of making it swing, too! Wood swing inside would be really nice! Sounds overwhelming though. I have a three-year-old and my only "mother's helper" is my partner, who likes having breaks too.

I like the hammock idea. I made one once from canvas remnants, 2x2s and rope. Got a TON of use and was so fun, but is long gone I think. Anyway would be hard for 3 year old to use. ANd there's the neck-breaking factor.

Had a papasan once. Was taken over by chocolate lab, who would bound up into it and nearly tip it over. I liked to cuddle up in the chair, but I don't like the "stuck" factor. (I feel trapped in them sometimes.)

Beanbag: same "stuck" factor.

Loveseat comes really close, as does the chair and a half. Using twin bed mattresses would be my "low impact" alternative.

Any more thoughts?

[sphinxie]

We have a single bed sized futon, on a simple wood platform, with cushions. I really like it. Only it's not so good for real lounging because if you lean against the wall the wood frame scoots out, and there's nowhere to stretch your legs. So if everything in your house is on the floor already anyway, I'd get one to put it on the floor. You can still use it mostly just for seating and naps, but it won't scoot out and your legs can stretch out over the floor itself. Another nice choice is to get a futon that is thinner than what is commonly sold in the West, if possible, or make your own with batting--I wouldn't know how but I'm sure it's possible.

[sphinxie]

Also... I would love to have a sofa, but paying for it, moving it, caring for it, and eventually moving it again are so not worth it. Plus it's not as practical to have guests sleep on a sofa as on a little futon that doesn't even need to be opened up

[Ravin]

I'm trying to think of a tactful way to suggest to DH that we get rid of the large sectional sofa in our front living room. I want to do childcare after I graduate, and it would be good to have that space for a kid-friendly zone (toys, some bean bag chairs, etc.) We also have a fold-out couch in the other living room. I'm all for getting rid of the fold out and putting the sectional in there. The sectional makes a perfectly good crash pad!

[Ruthla]

Maybe get a fuzzy wool rug or blanket to put on the floor so it doesn't feel so cold when you snuggle up on it?

If you're really set on something "off the ground" I'd suggest a hammock- either hooked into the wall, or with a modular frame that's fairly easy to disassemble when you don't want it out (or when you're moving.)

[AprilDaisy]

Sleeping bags? Even a couple of crochet blankets on the floor would help buffer the cold. Both can be rolled up and put away.

[MamaRabbit]

I live in Asia. So many people just don't have sofas. The most popular is a rug/mat/thin mattress with pillows. BIG pillows. We have just a loveseat that takes up very little room. When we have people over, no big deal, it's that or the floor.

ETA: Our apartment is 650 sq. ft., so I feel your pain!

[sapphire_chan]

kotatsu

[accountclosed3]

why not just leav eyour bed on the floor and put a different blanket on it (make your bed during the day or whatever rather than putting it away) so that you have a place to 'cuddle up?"

or what about a sheep skin rug? they're hypoallergenic.

[MamaRabbit]

There was a really neat ship in port the other day and I met an American woman who lives on it. She took me down to her cabin. 250sq ft for their family of 3. I was sitting on her bed and didn't know it. She said she has a really nice cover that goes over the bed to make it look like a sofa since she doesn't want anyone sitting on her sheets! Their bed was a double that folds up into a sofa. The mattress goes from L to __ (folded upright to flat if that makes sense.)

[celestialdreamer]

Originally Posted by ohmtaretu

Twin bed w/o frame - directly on floor - from thrift store , with nice cover and pillows, up against wall. Yes, still ew! factor but probably not flea powdered and has off-gassed already. Good recycle factor. Just re-donate when move. Sounds simple.

What would be the difference in finding a used futon mattress and frame, that you could re-donate if you move? You could either use it upright like a sofa or laying down like a bed. That way you would be off the floor but its not so much a "sofa". We have a used futon mattress on dd's bedroom floor as a bed (mostly its just a place she plays), but the frame that it came with is very minimalistic looking and we really like it.

Or what about just leaving your sleeping mats out but folding up any blankets that you have out to make it neater. It seems pointless IMO to put away the sleeping mats and sit on a different type of mat/pad,etc instead during the day.

Maybe I'm just not at that point in my simplicity journey yet. I guess I don't quite understand. FWIW, I really like my sofa its a great place to curl up with my family, but if I were to move and not be able to take it that's fine with me too.