Chair shopping makes me blue

This corner looks sad and empty. And definitely not baby proof (easy access to a very breakable lamp). We've had a plan for it for quite a while now - a comfy chair, with a standing lamp behind it.

However, it turns out that's much easier said than done.

Usually I like a furniture challenge. The thrill of the hunt. But apparently that doesn't really apply to upholstered things. That's because 1) Used upholstered furniture can be risky, so that means no Craigslist or thrift stores and 2) Ikea doesn't make particularly comfy upholstered furniture, so my go-to store is not a good choice.

The quality of upholstered furniture also seems to actually be reflected in the price. Hardwood frames, durable fabrics, and sturdy springs and foam cost money. And even "cheap" chairs start at $200. So I started out with my usual non-Ikea standbys, Crate and Barrel (and CB2), West Elm, and Pottery Barn. West Elm had the best choices for our style and price range (they were in the $600-900 range instead of CB's and Pottery Barn's $1100-$1400).

We were particularly partial to Sloan

and Victor:

We went to a store to try them out. Because, you know, we are going to pay a lot and spend some quality time sitting in them. So we want to make sure they're comfortable.

One problem: not in stores. Or at least not in our nearest store (which isn't even all that near). And no one could tell us if they were in ANY stores. The customer service rep I talked to said there is no central tracking of merchandise. Spending that kind of money for something we can't try first seems...reckless.

But we kept considering it, since no other store had a design we liked (at any price tag, even). So I ordered some free swatches. We already knew that since our other seating is brown and gray, that we wanted something bolder, in the bright turquoise blue that is our living room accent color.

Here's what we got, set against a pillow we were hoping to closely match:

It doesn't come across as much as I like but trust me when I say all the colors are blah. The linen weave set of three is our favorite texture. But the rightmost of the 3 is too green and the leftmost is too gray/boring. The closest match is the middle on the bottom row, but that is a strange microfiber suede that neither of us like.

So we are faced with deciding whether to order a chair we can't test in a color we don't love - and since the colors are custom orders, there are no returns. And thus the chair hunt continues.

Funny enough, when I went to West Elm today to add the links to this post, I noticed they are advertising "new colors" - and sure enough, there are a few more blues. Swatches are on the way!