The frustration of sofa buying

[Stephenite]

Ekornes or better known as Stressless.

The most comfortable sofas and chairs i have ever sat on. Amazing quality too with excellent German design.

Point of order..

Ekornes is Norwegian. Stressless is the name of one of their ranges. Maybe inspired by the setting for the factory, below:

 

[stephec]

[QUOTE 3406532, member: 45"]Yeah, don't get leather. Too cold.[/QUOTE]
And too sweaty and sticky in summer.

 

[derrick]

Don't know were you are, http://www.stanze.co.uk/leather_fabric_sofas_london.html

 

[Smurfy]

We are looking for a leather sofa, in the process I have become an expert on leather. However, finding one is another thing altogether without paying several thousand pounds, or discovering it was made in China or the frame is softwood or the leather is in fact bonded leather..........I could go on. Anyone had a similar experience? Any recommendations?

Secondhand Chesterfields have a bit of character.

 

[Hill Wimp]

Point of order..

Ekornes is Norwegian. Stressless is the name of one of their ranges. Maybe inspired by the setting for the factory, below:

Apologies, still the most comfortable furniture i have ever sat on.

 

[Stephenite]

Apologies, still the most comfortable furniture i have ever sat on.

I was going to say the rest of your statement is true.

The Ekornes factory is in the town of Sykkelven which 'sort of' translates to 'cycle friend'. Another good reason to plonk your weary bottom in it after a hard day in the saddle.

 

[CopperBrompton]

[QUOTE 3406868, member: 259"]We looked at Habitat the last time we wanted a sofa. It didn't look very well put together - you could see staples at the base of the back - and it was expensive for the quality of leather.[/QUOTE]
I have a Habitat leather sofabed in my office (which occasionally doubles as a spare room, hence the bed bit), and it's absolutely fantastic quality. Italian leather, really stylish, very comfy as both sofa and bed, super-smooth conversion from one to the other. Oh, and most definitely no visible staples!

 

[The Jogger]

We got ours from here, great quality and price. Currently thirteen years old........................

http://www.thomaslloyd.com/

 

[totallyfixed]

John Lewis Madison range. Over £1000 per sofa, but much cheaper than some.
The leather looks a little worn when it arrives - not actually 'distressed', but not far off. But that was what we wanted - didn't want a shiny looking thing in our living room!

(Why would it matter if the frame was softwood?)

Yes agree, we went to JL to check out that very sofa and were quite impressed, it is probably the front runner at present but we also want a "snuggler" as well so we need to check if they can order one of those. Softwood makes a difference simply because it does not have the inherent strength, important with a leather sofa.

These guys have some wonderful furniture depending on your budget

http://www.indigofurniture.co.uk

I don't get leather either, slippery, cold, cat would scratch it too

They do indeed but you need deep pockets it is however fantastic furniture and comes with either a 10 or even 15 year guarantee, no one else comes close. The best quality leather like aniline or semi aniline is not at all cold, in fact it is warm to the touch. We won't be getting a cat though!

 

[subaqua]

And too sweaty and sticky in summer.

probably not real leather then. or shiny horrible " chesterfield" leather. the DFS sofa we have is just perfect whatever the weather/temperature. I like gettng the saddle soap on it and cleaning/feeding it. due in the next week ready for Xmas

 

[Spinney]

Yes agree, we went to JL to check out that very sofa and were quite impressed, it is probably the front runner at present but we also want a "snuggler" as well so we need to check if they can order one of those. Softwood makes a difference simple;y because it does not have the inherent strength, important with a leather sofa.

They do snugglers - got one for the cottage - the normal sofas get delivered within a week or so because they have them in stock, the snuggler took several months because it had to be ordered specially - made somewhere in eastern Europe.

 

[vickster]

Yes agree, we went to JL to check out that very sofa and were quite impressed, it is probably the front runner at present but we also want a "snuggler" as well so we need to check if they can order one of those. Softwood makes a difference simple;y because it does not have the inherent strength, important with a leather sofa.

They do indeed but you need deep pockets it is however fantastic furniture and comes with either a 10 or even 15 year guarantee, no one else comes close. The best quality leather like aniline or semi aniline is not at all cold, in fact it is warm to the touch. We won't be getting a cat though!

Good quality furniture doesn't come cheap. If you are near Matlock, they have a showroom

 

[Cuchilo]

Softwood makes a difference simple;y because it does not have the inherent strength, important with a leather sofa.

Who told you that ? A sofa salesman My roof is made of softwood and it manages to take the loading of tiles plus any amount of snow loading since 1932 .
The wood they use in this mass produced furniture is off cuts they cant sell . They finger joint it , laminate it , do what ever they can to it so really , don't get to hung up on the frame of a sofa that will be made up of a pile of crap that no one wants . I burn better stuff than they use

 

[totallyfixed]

Who told you that ? A sofa salesman My roof is made of softwood and it manages to take the loading of tiles plus any amount of snow loading since 1932 .
The wood they use in this mass produced furniture is off cuts they cant sell . They finger joint it , laminate it , do what ever they can to it so really , don't get to hung up on the frame of a sofa that will be made up of a pile of crap that no one wants . I burn better stuff than they use

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.

 

[potsy]

especially with the average weight of an adult today

Has @dr_pink put her winter weight on then?