Living Room

The Murphy Sofa

Murphy Emerald Green Sofa from Room and Board

I spotted Room and Board’s new Murphy sofa online, and it was love at first site. (Get it? ‘Cause it was online? Never mind.) So I proceeded to have daydream fantasies of lounging on my lovely little velvet sofa, and I imagined how adorable it would look in my living room. I looked at the dimensions and saw that it was 5″ smaller than my current sofa, but what’s five inches?

I took my tiny design assistant with me to check it out in person.

Murphy Sofa

The sales associate said that they modeled the sofa on one of their chairs, Quinn. Cute. It also reminds me a little of these two.

Orla Kiely Heals Sofa
elle blomster

photos: 1, 2

Unfortunately, that 5″ difference matters. The sofa feels diminutive. It’s also not terribly comfortable. It isn’t uncomfortable, but the cushions are thin and firm (and easily misaligned, too). The other problem with using it in my home would be that it’s too similar to the other furniture in the living room. The arms on my crazy floral chair flare out the same way, and the lines on our Eames rocker echo the shape as well. They bring feminine curves and balance to our boxier pieces, and the Murphy sofa would weight the room too far toward the girly side.

Yet I still want to love it! Foolish heart.

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  • Heather | Vivid Hue Home
    January 17, 2013 at 4:56 pm

    i love it too! the color is beautiful and love that style!

  • Kristin
    January 17, 2013 at 5:03 pm

    I feel your pain. Nothing worse than finding out the truth in person – but at least you could take a look at it in person. My sister is always complaining about her geographical proximity to nothing – she has to cross her fingers and order online.

    I’ve had couches on the brain as well – finally, FINALLY replaced my thirteen year old, sad little couch this week. At least I purchased it – haven’t picked it up yet.

  • PAppel
    January 17, 2013 at 5:19 pm

    I want, want, want that yellow sofa in the 3rd picture down. Swoon.

  • Jessica
    January 17, 2013 at 5:20 pm

    I love it, but I feel like as we get older, comfort is imperative. Design is obviously important, but aesthetic doesn’t matter if you never want to sit in it!

    I have terribly uncomfortable Ikea couches and I cannot wait to replace them. The only thing that is keeping me from doing it now is we’re about to remodel the space and I want to be 100% sure of what I want in there!

  • Jules
    January 17, 2013 at 5:21 pm

    You could always get your current sofa restuffed and reupholstered in green velvet. Or, do something similar with something found on CL. Redoing your current piece would be cheaper, though.

    • Kathryn
      January 17, 2013 at 6:35 pm

      Room and Board does sell their fabric by the yard.

    • Making it Lovely
      January 17, 2013 at 9:05 pm

      I know. I’ve been considering reupholstering ours. I don’t think velvet is quite right for it though — I like it in a woven, slightly nubby fabric.

      • Kathryn
        January 17, 2013 at 9:13 pm

        I think you’re right on the velvet for the jasper. Ours are in a velvet microfiber (that we special ordered for stain resistence) and I’ve never liked the way it lays on the sofa.

  • Jillian
    January 17, 2013 at 5:28 pm

    Thanks for the review! It is a really cute sofa. Several years ago, I fell in love with a few of the stylish sofas at R&B. When I was on a trip to Chicago from Phoenix, I went to go see them in person hoping to find our new sofa. They were all so hard! I was really disappointed, but it taught me a valuable lesson about falling in love with upholstered furniture online.

  • judi
    January 17, 2013 at 5:28 pm

    The cushions that constantly shift would be a deal breaker for me. I’m OCD like that. I do like the style though.

    • Making it Lovely
      January 17, 2013 at 9:06 pm

      See how the bottom one, closest to the camera has shifted? They move around all too easily.

  • Katie
    January 17, 2013 at 5:46 pm

    It IS lovely! Such a shame it’s not quite right. I would very, very much like the yellow one in the last picture. So gorgeous!

  • Christina W.
    January 17, 2013 at 6:01 pm

    Have you ever tried out any of the (admittedly adorable) more modern C&B couches? It’s like sitting on a linen covered brick. A two thousand dollar linen covered brick.

  • Amber @ Wills Casa
    January 17, 2013 at 8:23 pm

    Good Lord that sofa is sexy. It’s okay to say that about a sofa right?

  • Kelley
    January 17, 2013 at 8:51 pm

    It IS a pretty sofa, but it makes Eleanor look huge! She honestly looks at least 6 years-old in that picture!

    • Making it Lovely
      January 17, 2013 at 8:52 pm

      I know — because it’s a tiny sofa!

  • Jennifer M
    January 17, 2013 at 9:19 pm

    But it’s so pretty!!! Isn’t it the worst when you keep dreaming about something, and see it in person and it just isn’t meant to be?! I agree that 5″ in a sofa actually is a bigger difference than it seems. Our old house had a long skinny living room and we bought a gargantuan sofa. New house has a small, square living room, 5″ sawed off the end of the sofa monster would be great!

  • Susan Telfer
    January 17, 2013 at 9:45 pm

    I love any green velvet sofa. I understand your temptation. My solution was to cover our old one in green velvet, but I have teenagers, not tiny kids.

  • corrin
    January 18, 2013 at 6:51 am

    Urgh. Love that green.

    My mom made the mistake of buying “doll furniture” once. The whole family suffered for two years before she got over it and ordered a giant comfy couch.

    • Making it Lovely
      January 18, 2013 at 10:08 am

      I like that term, “doll furniture.” Sounds about right.

  • jbhat
    January 18, 2013 at 11:21 am

    Shoot, I hope your sofa doesn’t know you are checking out others….its gorgeous heart would break.

    jbhat

  • Catherine
    January 18, 2013 at 11:35 am

    Ooh, it is so lovely and feminine. Is it small enough to work somewhere without lots of traffic, like your office or upstairs area? The color is gorgeous.

    • Making it Lovely
      January 18, 2013 at 11:42 am

      There is a smaller loveseat version. I’m not usually a fan, but in this case I really like it.

  • Amy
    January 18, 2013 at 1:22 pm

    I bought R&B’s Reese sofa about 3 years ago and unfortunately did not have the option of trying it out in person. While it looks nice, it is sooo hard and uncomfortable! I gave up after about a year and ended up getting another sofa. It has been sitting in the basement collecting dust ever since. I kind of wonder if all of R&B’s sofas are super stiff.

    • Making it Lovely
      January 20, 2013 at 2:37 pm

      Our current sofa is from them, and it’s comfortable.

  • Jay V.
    January 18, 2013 at 2:54 pm

    Nicole- I love that orange (yellow?) sofa that you posted- it is fab! I tried to find it on the link and am getting nowhere- do you know who makes that sofa or who sells it?

    • Making it Lovely
      January 20, 2013 at 2:38 pm

      No, all I have is the link to the photographer (above), but no information on the furniture. I’m sure it’s vintage, and likely from a European manufacturer.

  • Rebecca
    January 19, 2013 at 1:13 am

    I saw it in person and fell in love, too. I want the turquoise color! Who makes the sofa you have now? It’s lovely, too.

    • Making it Lovely
      January 20, 2013 at 2:39 pm

      The one we have now is by Room and Board too — Jasper.

  • eskimo*rose
    January 19, 2013 at 4:43 pm

    Oh yes! I think I could live with slightly uncomfortable! … and in that jade green – stunning …
    … I bet they don’t deliver to the UK, that’s the problem with me following lots of gorgie US blogs, I keep seeing amazing furniture, but I can never get any of it, oh well at least I’m not over spending!
    xx

  • Wiggs
    January 20, 2013 at 2:34 pm

    Room and Board sofas have always been a disappointment to me. I got burned by one before – it looked so sweet in the store but within a year and a half the cushions were misshapen and the fabric was pilling in a serious way. We moved and I put it in our master bedroom and covered it with pillows. It’s fine for a spot that doesn’t get a ton of use, but I won’t buy a R&B sofa again. Which is sad, because their sofas are cute! And the price is hard to beat…but I suppose you get what you pay for.

    So even though that green couch is cute, you dodged a bullet!

    • Making it Lovely
      January 20, 2013 at 2:40 pm

      I suppose I was looking at it from the other angle. We’ve been so happy with our Room and Board sofa (Jasper), that I was sad to see that this one wasn’t as great.

  • Julie
    January 21, 2013 at 9:41 am

    Love the shape of that Murphy! Wow, I think I must just like firm sofas, I have a RnB sofa and I think it’s really comfy! It’s about seven years old and has held up really well to 2 young kids (it’s our main, TV room, couch), and never had a stain I couldn’t remove from it. It’s so great compared to my DWR sofa which stains if you get *water* on it. (Their bantam sofa! Avoid!)

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