Surviving the Dorm: Futon Shopping

One week to go before the last move in day.

After looking at many different dorms, I felt one of the necessary items to a successful and classic dorm experience would be to invest in a futon and so it was that today I had the pleasure of going with a dear friend futon shopping. A simple plan, go to the department store, select a nice futon, and return home. Little did I know about the acquired fine art that is furniture/futon shopping....

We began around 6 PM. After seeing a sale on furniture online at Shopko, I decided to have the search start there. I had pre-determined I wanted a wood futon with a earth tone color for the fabric, not to dark and not to light, leaving black and white out of the color scheme. Little did I also know the limited colors futons come in...

We began by testing out three futons, each was nice, but I had settled on a particular mattress that I felt most comfortable in while not being sucked down into, and a very nice wooden pieces for the armrests which included a small compartment for remotes, etc. Better yet, all the futons were half-off, making it only more appealing to get one sooner than later. It was especially distressing to know that the cushion/mattress, the armrests, and the frame all had to be purchased separately. Being the savvy consumer I am, I decided that we should maybe check out a few more stores that might have something better.... which began a long process of going store to store, just to be sure.... Now instead of going into great detail, as it's late and I am tired from such an adventure, the following is a summary...

Target - No suitable futons, only an ugly sleeper sofa.
Big Lots - No futons.
Kmart - One futon that only came in grey with black wood which looked old and worn out without even being used..., so no.
Sam's Club - Had a very nice all-wood frame with a nice earth-toned comfy cushion with accent pillows, but was a few hundred dollars over budget... so no.
Walmart - Only pictures of futons which lead me to suspicion, the cushions were also small and the whole thing looked structurally weaker from the photo.
Sears - No futons, but a lot of bedding (but we were not shopping for bedding, so fail).
Other Shopko - Same as first Shopko.

So it was at the second Shopko on the other side of Green Bay where I decided to take the plunge and purchase the futon which I had originally liked from the start with the mattress I had also enjoyed. Next question... color. The sample had half the cushion in chocolate brown and the other in a tan color to compare for shopping. The tan won as I felt it would not be so dirty looking and not so hard to be kept looking fresh and clean. So I took the tags for the three things, cushion, arms, and frame, and proceeded to the check out where I enjoyed the half-off sale and at which time we proceeded to wait, after having to run back having originally forgotten the frame ticket.

15 minutes passed..... then 30..... then at around 40 minutes later, after hearing apologizes for the wait and the state of their stock room, we saw a cart coming down the way. And then, to my horror, the cart person had brought out a cushion that was a display model featuring both colors as well as the wrong arms....

Back went the car with the two-toned cushion and incorrect arms. 15 minutes passed.... 25ish..... and finally, the cart returned with a few more assistants and we proceeded to the car. After rearranging the seats, leaving the back window open, stuffing a lot of futon into the back, the car was finally packed and full of futon.

And so it is that I am one step closer to being more prepared for the start of my highly anticipated project. I have something to sit on in the Sensenbrenner, while not as good as my couch back at the apartment, I feel this futon will do.

Days Until the Move: 7
Tomorrow's Project: Planning the move-in logistics.