The frustration of sofa buying

[totallyfixed]

You got a like because of the concept of couch gods, I expect they will be busy on Boxing Day.

 

[Over The Hill]

Multiyork make proper furniture. Got two sofas from them 10 years ago. All fine but now looking a bit tired so about to order two new covers for them. The whole cover zips and velcros on and so can be replaced any time you want for a change. I assume they will do the same for leather.

Frames and springing is all traditional. Not cheap but with re-cover option it must be good value overall.

Also - Don't buy it now - wait until January sale!!! Throw a bright cover over the old one for Christmas.

 

[totallyfixed]

Multiyork make proper furniture. Got two sofas from them 10 years ago. All fine but now looking a bit tired so about to order two new covers for them. The whole cover zips and velcros on and so can be replaced any time you want for a change. I assume they will do the same for leather.

Frames and springing is all traditional. Not cheap but with re-cover option it must be good value overall.

Also - Don't buy it now - wait until January sale!!! Throw a bright cover over the old one for Christmas.

Therein lies another sleight of hand that many retailers use, many leather sofas do not have removable cushions, this is because they are cheaper to make this way, uses less leather. The problem with that comes when for instance a cushion needs re-stuffing. You cannot tell from a picture online. The long and short of it is that if a sofa looks amazing value then it probably isn't. Sigh.

 

[Fnaar]

For some reason, people seem to give me perfectly good sofas they are getting rid of. I am in my 50s, and I have never ever bought a sofa.
I say that with a certain amount of pride, too

 

[ColinJ]

I'm going to take advantage of somebody's need to change their furniture every few months and buy their old sofa. My sister has a friend who buys new suite every couple of years and always has first dibs on the old suite.

I don't have anybody in mind, but I will ask around when the time comes. If that doesn't work, I will find a used furniture shop.

 

[summerdays]

Talking of fragile seating ...

A friend of mine left a deck chair round here in the summer so she could sit in my back yard in the sunshine while I plied her with coffee and cake. I walked out with the drinks one time and there was a loud ripping noise as the canvas suddenly gave way. She ended up wedged in the remains of the deck chair with her knees stuck in her chest!

I was laughing so much that I spilt half the coffee. I was going to get my camera to take pictures of her in her undignified predicament, but she made it clear that I had better help her up ASAP or there would be "consequences" ...

PS She is 5' 10" tall but only weighs about 10 stone so the collapse was not due to her vast bulk; more a case of her sitting down too quickly, I reckon.

The canvas on those chairs usually deteriorates over time - we have had several go like that - usually with me there to witness the sudden failure

 

[cisamcgu]

The mass produced stuff yes, however I went to a sofa place in Nottingham where I was able to see them being made on the premises and I was able to see and inspect the wood, look at finished frames and talk to the carpenter about the different properties of various timbers, something I know a fair bit about [job related]. I am going to have to disagree with you about using a roof as an analogy, the load per square foot is very light indeed even allowing for snow build up, in fact balsa wood could do the job, not quite the case with a sofa, especially with the average weight of an adult today.

Balsa is a hardwood - but I wouldn't make a couch out of it

 

[ColinJ]

Balsa is a hardwood - but I wouldn't make a couch out of it

That's interesting. I had never thought to read what the term means, but I always assumed that it was based on the actual hardness of the wood. Wrong!

You learn something every day!

 

[Cuchilo]

That's interesting. I had never thought to read what the term means, but I always assumed that it was based on the actual hardness of the wood. Wrong!

You learn something every day!

Its a common misconception along with the idea that hardwood is better than softwood regardless of the application .
A lot of Chippendale furniture has softwood in it as it was a better base for bonding the fancier finishing to .