Why It's OK to Hate Your New Custom Sofa

It took you days, weeks, even months (OK, years) to decide on your new sofa or chair. You took the fabric swatch home to make sure it worked. You carefully measured. Perhaps your interior designer approved your purchase. But when the delivery guys placed your new upholstered piece in the room, you wanted to cry. Scream. Throw a hissy fit.

Trust me, this is a totally normal reaction. A new shape, color, scale or footprint has quite literally landed in your home. But if you are mentally prepared for your negative response, it will be short-lived. And soon you will welcome your new piece with open arms. Here’s how the process works:

Even the puppy looks like he is not quite sure about this new piece. Sometimes the sectional you adored in the showroom — and waited weeks to receive — feels like an alien in your home. That’s because it is!

Change, no matter how positive, can be challenging, difficult, stretching. Give it time. Soon enough, that piece will feel like a long-lost friend.


The bolder the color of your new upholstery, the tougher your adjustment is likely to be.


Expect the intensity of your reaction to be in direct proportion to the intensity of the color. Although the new piece is undoubtedly perfect for your room (like this stunning chair), don’t expect to embrace the new palette instantly.


If the scale of your new upholstery is different from what you had before — especially if it is larger — that is also likely to trigger an anxiety attack.


A bold pattern is yet another reason to hyperventilate. If that pattern is married to bold colors, prepare to jump out of your skin.


When your new additions add a pattern to existing patterns, like these chairs added to this area rug, it will be a jolt. But soon the jolt will become a joy, not a pain.


If you are changing from multiple types of seating to a sectional, brace yourself. The different footprint will take some getting used to. That’s OK; just don’t panic.


Clients would often call me in dismay after their new sofa arrived. “The seat cushion fabric is all wrinkled!” they would say. “Well, yes,” I would reply. “Those are comfort indicators!”

When you stretch fabric over a somewhat squishy surface, you are going to get wrinkles. Even the tautest cushion is likely to wrinkle when someone sits on it. Expect wrinkles, and save yourself some trauma.


Funny but true: Taupe and brown fabrics are among the hardest to get used to in your home. Their color is deeply affected by your lighting and can change dramatically throughout the day as your light changes. Never — no matter how convincing the salesperson is — buy a piece of upholstery until you have seen the fabric in your home.


Don’t just bring that fabric home for five minutes. You need to see it over a 24-hour period.

Plus, you have to actually comfort-test the piece — as in, sit in it. And, of course, thoroughly measure the space where the furniture will go, realizing that a chair will look different under your 8-foot ceilings than it did under 20-foot ceilings at the store.

If you have followed these steps, don’t worry about that initial “OMG, what have I done?” reaction. It will pass. I promise.

Readers: Did you ever freak out after a new piece of furniture arrived at your home?

More: Bulletproof Decorating: Upholstery That Stands Up to Anything

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