WEST MELBOURNE, Fla. – Really, #TheCouch and its funky accessories could be anyone’s living room. That is, if you don’t mind the outdoor setting, the wintering Florida heat and the constant stream of cars that come with it.
Now the mysterious couch — which sits worn and weathered along a sidewalk on Palm Bay Road — has gotten a new life as a kitschy community centerpiece, according to News 6 partner Florida Today.
It’s even got its own social media page while someone crafted an ad selling the entire set.
“It’s actually pretty cool,” said Jennifer Koch, a West Melbourne resident who brought her 7- and 11-year-old daughters to the site, just a few yards from the entrance to Chick-fil A. “I actually heard about it and thought we’d come out for a little summertime adventure,” she said, adding that the response shows that the couch has captured the community’s imagination.
The couch actually sits on the West Melbourne side of the commercial roadway. It has been there for several weeks, according to witnesses.
Already, dozens of residents from Palm Bay and West Melbourne descended on the couch over the weekend, adorning it with matching curtains, a rug, even a houseplant and a table stacked with James Patterson hardcover thrillers. There’s even an old James Taylor 45 resting on a coffee table, not far from an air freshener someone left behind.
The couch began trending online after Palm Bay city council candidate Kenny Johnson filmed a sit-down, pun-filled interview with his campaign manager, Florida Today reports.
“We went out there and did a bunch of sofa jokes,” said Bobby Burns, Johnson’s campaign manager.
It was not immediately known how West Melbourne city officials planned to deal with the sofa and its growing accessories.
Johnson asked if people can bring canned goods if they were going to see the couch.