How the heck do you choose a sofa?
Arethosemyfeet
Shipmate, Heaven Host
in Heaven
Mrs Feet, Little Miss Feet and I have finally moved into our new house, and we have need of a new sofa. What I find, when looking online, is that even after excluding the ugly and the obviously unsuitable (spindly legs, no back support to speak of, made entirely of foam) there is still a bewildering array of styles and price points such that we have no damned clue what's good, what's bad, what's overpriced and what's cheap for a reason, and what's an outright scam. Short of visiting a physical shop and bouncing up and down on a specific sofa and loading it into a van there and then how does anyone figure out choosing a sofa?
Every time we've acquired one in the past it's been a used, £0-50, bring your own van situation.
Every time we've acquired one in the past it's been a used, £0-50, bring your own van situation.
Comments
Leather(care) or not.
Height/angle of back rest.
Seating cushions fixed or removable.
Arm supports rounded or flat for supporting plates/cups/phones/books.
Height from floor affects how you vacuum.
Colour coordination (I defer to LKKspouse)
PS. I have no real expertise in this.
Think about the other colours in the room and try to choose something that goes or picks out a colour from a pattern / picture there.
Also, lengthwise, think about if you would like to be able to lie full length on it.
Douglas Adams had a very amusing take on this in one of the Dirk Gently books.
True in our experience. Our current sofa is huge, leather, and a sickly yellow colour. I've never liked it but we bought it cheap years ago from someone we knew, when we had small pets that chewed things. My husband, who suffers with his back, hotly defends it as he finds it so comfortable and I have to admit that it is indeed far more comfortable than those at our daughter's house - new, more compact and in a tasteful grey material but even I find them impossible to be comfortable on.
I think we would be as bewildered as you if we had to choose one.
I'd like to replace it, preferably with a Comfy Chair (as in The Spanish Inquisition sketch), but getting it out of the Ark, and getting the Comfy Chair in, would be a major undertaking.
The prime consideration for @Arethosemyfeet ISTM is the size of the new sofa, and the space available. I acknowledge that going to a shop, and trying out various options, is difficult, but in the long run, it might be the only satisfactory solution.
I would prefer not to choose a sofa without visiting a showroom and bouncing up and down on it. Generally, one doesn't load the specific sofa in to a van and leave: one decides that this model is the right one, and arranges for the store to deliver a new one.
(Although our current sofa is the floor model of a sectional from Costco, so we did load the thing in to the back of a truck there and then.)
The first sofa Mrs C and I ever owned was a cheap two-seater that was almost free from a shop that was closing down. We walked about two miles or so carrying that sofa home to our tiny rented flat. Fortunately, every time we got a bit tired, we had a convenient seat to sit on.
We bought a new pleather sofa when we moved to our house 8 years ago for the casual living area. After 3 years of constant use, it was had it and not worth getting recovered. We weighed up the options between another cheapie or spending a fair chunk of cash to buy one that had a metal frame and very sturdy leather (we had been caught previously with a lovely soft thin leather not standing up to wear and tear).. We are 3 years in on the exy one, which we bought on sale and it is going well, other than a couple of cat scratches which are not too noticeable. In the good room I bought a 3 piece cream fabric suite with wooden arms and cane backs and sides for under aud100 because I bought it in January from the local auction house when everyone was on holidays and not following the auctions. We rarely have small children visit so the colour has not been a problem. When the kids were little I would not have purchased it.
So we have 2 totally different looks for the lounges, a brown one in the family room which light brown ceramic tiles but it's not dingy because the room has full length windows. In the good room we have a very traditional, almost antique look, and when I have friends over we sit there for cups of tea and chat.
I love that many major firms have websites, so some preliminary research can be done re pricing, sales and narrowing down to a top 3 or 4 and then an in person visit to decide which is the most comfortable and suitable for needs. Good luck @Arethosemyfeet, I hope you can find something that you are happy with.
My brother-in-law (who is Slovenian, but lives in France) is a present-day personification of M Hulot...the height, the stoop, the walk, etc. etc....
If I were going to replace it I would go to an out-of-town store to try them out, good quality but very pricey. Then look in the ‘ returns’ section for a bargain. Worth paying for delivery, especially if they will also remove the old one.