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Introducing: Our future Theater Room and new Charly Sectional!

March 25, 2020

Who's on the furniture-rearranging stage of sheltering in place? (*raises hand*)

On Friday, Chris and I moved our new "Charly" sectional from the office to the basement family room. We haven't shared our basement much since we moved in because it has been filled to the brim with boxes from the move. We were finally able to unpack all the boxes and moved a lot of the seasonal decor boxes into the garage for storage now that the major renovation is done. It feels so good and we have gained a whole new space! The basement is smaller, but has a bathroom with shower in it and a guest room as well.

But back to the sofa! The couch is a new arrival in our house — it only came a few weeks ago. And we had planned on putting it in the office (you might remember me choosing a fabric a few months ago), but once we got it in there, it felt kind of... big for the space. Also, it's incredibly comfortable, and we knew we wouldn't get as much work done with the lounge vibes the new couch brought to the space.

So we brought it downstairs (it disassembles into 3 pieces, but locks together once you have it where you want it) and started envisioning a family room/TV room/"home theater" space, where we could all hang out and snuggle. (But more on that in a minute.) It was like it was made for the basement all along!

For those of you who are new here (welcome!), three years ago, we launched a collection of sofas and chairs with Interior Define. We lovingly named the collection Charly, after our beloved Saint Pyrenees (who has since gone to heaven). We loved that Charly was also a unisex name, which matched the vibe of the furniture: masculine straight lines and feminine soft, rounded cushions. And we designed the whole collection using kid-friendly, pet-friendly fabrics.

Designing furniture was wild. We got to measure for seat height and arm height and cushion depth — prioritizing ultimate comfort. We're tall people, so we love a deep sofa. But we designed the Charly to come with lumbar pillows to put behind your back if you don't want to sit so far back. Since the launch, you can now choose a depth option: 37" and 43".

We also designed Charly with a bench seat so that our whole family could pile on, and no one would be stuck sitting on (in?) the crease.

Our first Charly sofa was in a beautiful cross weave fabric called "Rain." It was a gorgeous slate blue color that went with everything, and it held up beautifully to every spill, every dog nap, and every afternoon snack (cozy style). When we sold our house, the Charly sofa was the first piece of furniture that the buyer asked for us to include in the sale!

The new Charly sectional is a light tan/warm greige color called Vintage Plush Sisal. My greatest recommendation to you is to order the free swatches, and check them all out with your rugs, wall color, lighting, etc. My second greatest recommendation is that you choose a fabric that's not 100% solid. Some weaving and speckling will hide some wear, "go" better with any throw pillows you pile on top, and will actually look more attractive from across the room. My third recommendation — consider the sectional. It's a great way to achieve that oversized feel with a really tailored look.

We started dreaming more once the sectional was in place. We want this room to have darker paneled walls and a paneled ceiling, too. The paneling treating in this photo from The Fox Group is serving as major inspiration:

A big, handsome cozy ottoman, where will put trays with snacks. A sideboard with extra blankets and socks and slippers and maybe 3D glasses along with all of our electronics that are currently just hanging out in a pile in the corner :) A vintage-inspired rug... a nice big screen.

Couch (in Vintage Plush Sisal) | Ottoman (no longer available from Shoppe Amber Interiors, similar for less) | Rug (similar for less) | Media Console (similar for less) | TV

We'll take our time furnishing and outfitting this room over the course of the year. We have the "one piece" that inspired what this room will be, and for now, we're happy envisioning its potential. What about you? For which room are you in the dreaming stage? Have you started moving furniture around? :)

Right now, Interior Define is having a 15% off Living Room event, until 4/13. This sale only happens twice a year, so if now's a good time for you, start customizing! They even have a choose your fabric later option which is super helpful if you want to take advantage of the sale, but also want to order some free swatches! And if you're just dreaming for now, we'd feel pretty honored to make it onto one of your Pinboards :)

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  1. Hi CLJ! We took the plunge and bought a Charly sectional thanks to your recommendation and we love it. I could have sworn you had a video once where you demonstrated your maintenance routine for the couch (fluffing the cushions) - does that still exist (or did it ever? Perhaps I dreamt it!)

  2. Which cushion filling option did you choose? I'm trying to decide between the double down blend or the down alternative. I want to be able to flip the cushions and something comfy for snuggling with the kids. I love the bench seat!

  3. Looks great!! We’re looking at a charly sectional and trying to decide on cushion fill. What cushion fill did you go with for this sectional and was it the same that you used with the sofa you had in rain?

  4. There are a few different cushion options. Which one did you go with? I’m thinking about one of the two upgraded options but worry about all the fluffing it says the one might need.

  5. Looking at ordering the Charly. What seat fill did you go with?

    Double down or the standard down/foam? Have you sat on both? Would love to hear your opinions on them!

  6. What are the dimensions from the wall with the tv on it to the parallel wall behind the couch? Thank you.

  7. Wow! This looks like the dream couch. My dream is to have a sectional big enough and cozy enough for me, my two dogs, my cat, and maybe my boyfriend. Can't wait to see what you do with the rest of the space. And love that pic of Chris and Faye.

  8. The Charly is beautiful. Do you have any recommendations for sofas that you can sit in and be able to lean the back of your head against the back of the sofa. My sofa is too low to do this.

    1. Wow! That sounds like a dream! No high-back sofas come to mind immediately, but I'll think on it... If you find a good one, please share here!

  9. So pretty! We've been eyeing up a sectional from Interior Define and are ready to take the plunge while the sale is happening. Is your sectional the extra deep or did you choose the original depth?

    1. We chose the original depth since this was the size we originally customized. Ours is the 110" long corner sectional.

    1. You're so sweet to remember! We're (attempting) to take the week off, which is why you may not have seen us on Stories as much. We did have some content planned for this week, however. And we're missing you!

  10. Love the fabric on the new Charly! Which depth did you choose for this one? We bought an extra deep couch and it's too deep to just sit normally, despite me being 5'10" and hubby 6'.

  11. I’m currently in the process of painting our loft white - inspired by #cljcabin #rip When you guys pulled the trigger on changing the cabin walls it gave me the encouragement to just go for it and paint the wood white to make it what I wanted it to be! #loveyourhome That’s my current dream space that I’m designing! Thanks for being a constant source of inspiration! Hope you’re all staying happy, safe and healthy through this time.

  12. What a comfy looking sectional! I would love to know the size of your media room and what size supports a floating sectional like that (and what would you put behind it) versus pushing it to the wall. Am also always curious about where you would put lamps (any non-overhead lighting) with a sectional. Many thanks!

  13. Julia can I ask you which sofa you think is the most comfortable? The Arhaus one in your living room or the Charlie in your basement? Thanks!

    1. They're neck and neck — equally comfortable. Though, the Interior Define couch is much more lounge-y. We could lay around for a whole movie marathon on this. The Arhaus sofa was chosen for hanging out, but maybe not for hours? We've all taken naps on it, however!

  14. Thank you for supporting sectionals! I feel like a lot of designers don’t like them, but I think they can’t be beat for family snuggling time. We have a similar one in my living room and it’s definitey family headquarters! And personally I think it looks great. Yours does too! Can’t wait to see that paneling!

  15. So exciting! And I can’t wait to see the Loloi rug in your space! Just yesterday, I looked at the exact same rug and fell in love with it for our living room. And on a different note: I’m also planning to do a dark panelling in another room just like you mentioned it here. Would love to see a tutorial on that! Love, your design twin from Seattle❤️

  16. Can I ask why you didn't continue the wood flooring down there? Do you prefer carpet in these rooms? Currently debating :)

    1. We had wall-to-wall carpeting in our last basement family room, and it was so cozy and soft — we decided to keep it going!

  17. As a kid, my sister and I would fight over who got to sit in "the crack." We loved the ever-widening space between the two cushions of mom's couch. Now as an adult with my own kids, I always look for bench seat couches for this reason. Love the Charly because of that!

  18. Looks cozy already! What are the dimensions of your sectional? We need a large sectional for our living room, but even taping it out on the floor, I'm having a hard time picturing how it will fill the space and fit our family.

  19. It helps to know that even design pros sometimes get sizes wrong. Well, wrong for the office but so right for a theater room where sprawling and feet up is encouraged. I can see dark walls and ceiing really working for you.

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