SNAFU

We just saw the sofa, imagined its deep, chocolate leather against our antique-white wall, contrasting with the natural oak floor and complementing the dark-brown wall on the opposite side of our family room, and we wanted it.

When we started our home renovations, we decided that it was time to retire the two sofas in our family room. One went to the curb; the other went to our basement, where I suspect it will stay for the rest of our lives.

We decided to stay with leather for our large sofa: Edwin, our black cat, seems to hold no interest in leather, neither to sleep upon nor to use as a scratching post. Because our budget doesn't allow us to buy a new sofa, we've been scouring Kijiji, looking for a great deal. We knew the colour that we wanted, and our style preferences are basically similar. I need a sofa I can sleep on, so the arm rests can't be too high. Neither of us likes cushions that are baggy, nor do we like buttons or studs as accents. We like clean lines and smooth surfaces.

After a month of searching, we found a sofa that met our criteria. After some negotiating, we settled on a price and made plans to pick it up. I enlisted the help of my father and his Yukon, and we brought it home on an evening when the rain wouldn't spoil the like-new fabric.

The sofa was heavy and took nearly all of our energy to carry it around to the back door, from where it could go straight into its new location. Only, when we got it to the sliding doors, we discovered that it was a tight fit and wouldn't go through, as it was. With the last of our energy, my father and I walked it back to the front of the house and stored the sofa in the garage. With some preliminary measurements, we figured that we would have to remove the feet on the sofa and dismantle parts of the back door so that we could either remove the sliding door or remove the handles so that it could open wider.

Again, we had to wait until the autumn rain subsided.

Last night was that night.

I measured the sofa twice: at its narrowest, with its feet removed, it is just over 34 inches. The door, I figured, was just under 36 inches.

Somewhere in my calculations, my measurement of the door was off.

After an hour or so of messing with the door so that it could be at its widest opening, we took one last measurement and discovered that the opening was only 33.5 inches. That sofa was not coming into the house.

We should have measured the door before we started shopping.

Currently, we're seeking other ideas and trying to figure if the stationary panel for our sliding doors can be safely removed.

If not, I have a beautiful sofa to sell.