Sofa, so good.

 Today, we got up and went shopping for a sofa. We knew we wanted something to coordinate with the loveseat. That's it. The bar was set pretty low there and we figured we would be done with it and on our way home in no time. 

We walked into the first store. A helpful woman rushed up to ask us what we were looking for. 

"A sofa," we answered. 

She began to ask questions about the style. "Right now, we're just browsing to see what you have. We'll know if you've got what we want as soon as we see it."

She laughed and said, "Let me know if you have any questions." 

We walked through the displays and we both stopped dead in our tracks. As I live and breathe, there was our sofa. It was offered in the same color as the loveseat. It had the same cushions. We sat down on it and it was comfortable. We both looked at each other and said, "This will work." 

Tim wanted to look around though  Our ever over-helpful woman came right back up to us to tell us that they had a special credit offer going on, 12 months, no interest. We thanked her and told her that we don't do credit. 

About that time, Tim found a couch that he really, really liked. It had power recliners. "Sit on this," he said. It was very comfortable. Being the practical one, I pointed out that it didn't at all match what we had. 

"So?" he asked. I pointed out to him that really I had a 'thing' about matching furniture. He got up and walked around it. "I like it," he said. 

*Sigh* 

I walked away from him for a minute. I saw an evidently high position employee walk out of the office and make a hand motion to the ever over-helpful woman, indicating my husband and directing her that way. 

Things like that annoy me. We were browsing. We always shop around. We made that clear during the first conversation and I hate feeling pressured. I walked out to the car. 

Eventually, Tim realized I wasn't there and he came out too. We discussed it in the car on the way to the next store. Tim is very concerned about taxes this year. We are retired now and we don't know how that is all going to shake out. We discussed whether we should be spending a big chunk of money right now. 

At the next store, we did find a nice set that I thought was very comfortable. So did Tim. It was also being closed out and so it was a very good deal. We could get both the couch and loveseat at those prices. We debated on the color, but as it turned out, they only had the loveseat in one color, the couch in another. They did not match.

We had a bite to eat while we pondered the whole thing. 

After lunch, we had one more store to go to. Raymour and Flannigan was priced way out of our league. As Tim said, "They've got comparable furniture at the first store, and we can get it there at half the price." 

"Well," I said, "sounds like we know which store we're buying from." 

We sat in the car and discussed it for a while. I said, "I guess my take on it is that I know you really loved the other couch. If you get that, know we'll have a second expenditure in a couple months, because I'm going to really want something that matches: either a couple reliners, or a loveseat. I also know you're worried about taxes." 

Tim said, "Well, two recliners would be a lot pricier than the loveseat."

I said, "I'd be happy with a loveseat. But I like my furniture to match. Or...we could just get the first sofa we looked at. It will match with what we've already got. We won't have to worry about replacing the loveseat any time soon, and if we do decide to go in and replace the whole outfit with your dream outfit, we can do that next year."

He thought about it. "The first couch does tick all the boxes, doesn't it?" 

"Will you be disappointed if you don't get the other couch?" 

"No," he said. "The first couch is a good price, it's comfortable, and I like the idea of being able to hold off on replacing the loveseat. It's the practical thing." 

I said it again. "We can revisit the idea of switching out to the set you like next year without feeling like we're breaking the bank." 

I could tell that he liked that idea. I think he was also getting tired of looking at furniture. 

When we walked back in the door, the ever over-helpful woman rushed up to us and we told her what we'd decided. 

"You decided not to get the power recliner?" she said in a disappointed way. 

Late Edit: I did not realize that the term 'loveseat' would be an unfamiliar word. It simply means a smaller couch that is meant to seat two.