You live, you learn: Couch Edition

By Carrie

Since moving out of my parents' house, there have been many lessons I've had to learn the hard way. These are all stories for a different time, but some of the lessons I've learned include:

1) Never obtain a moving company without a contract, so as to avoid being stood up the day of the move.
2) Always keep a hidden key to your apartment, so that you don't have to break in and spend $200 on a new window.
3) Grease cannot be washed down the drain; this will cause a build up resulting in a frantic call to maitenance when your sink fills to the top and won't drain.

And finally, the focus on this post-

4) When buying a couch, make sure you get a warrenty longer than 1 year on the springs and frame.

When I moved out of campus living, I had absolutely no furniture. The on campus apartments come completely furnished, which was awesome when I lived there, but not so awesome when I had to start from scratch on my own place. Having to buy ALL new furniture was daunting. I was blessed with some pieces being handed down from friends and family, craigslist helped as well, but for those items left over I went the cheapest-I-could-find route.

I bought couches from a discount warehouse, and was SO happy with the price. A couch and loveseat with recliners, both for about $800- PERFECT for my budget. I handed over the check, nodded through the warrenty speach, and trotted home. I wish I had listened more clearly to the warrenties. The couch and loveseat only had a one year warrenty. Of course about one month after the one year warrenty expired, two springs popped loose and one of the recliners no longer pops out. Needless to say, I was (am) pretty livid.




Underside of our broken couch - notice those two springs flying freely!


So now my fiance and I are in the market for a new couch. Our requirements are different than a year and a half ago when I was shopping by myself. We require a warrenty of 5 years, minimum, on both the springs and the frame. We will not be buying from a warehouse, nor will we buy a couch from a company we haven't heard of. We want a sturdy couch from a reputable company.

Wish us luck!