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SOFAS GENERAL ADVICE |
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> General Advice on Sofas |
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Buying A SOFA
No sofa is ever perfect. If it's comfortable, it's
only available in one colour or the colour you want will take 6 to 9 months
to deliver because they have to special order it (cut down the tree to make
the frame, create the fabric, etc.). If you like the way it looks, it will
be like sitting on a wooden bench, and if it both looks good and is
comfortable, it will cost an arm and a leg.
Colour
Like white cars, people must love white and brown sofas. Walk into any
furniture store and you'll notice that 90% of all sofas will be some shade
of light brown. Where are the black and gray ones; where are the burgundies
and reds? If they do have a coloured sofa on the floor, it's usually denim
blue or pea green. If you want something else, you'll just have to imagine what it might look like from a hand-sized colour swatch. You'd
think that given all the graphics power of today's computers, they could
have an in-store software program that could render the chosen sofa in any
colour to give you at least some idea what you will spend £1500 on.
Price
Sofa prices seem to run from anywhere around £300 to £3000 depending on the
store, but a higher price does not necessarily also equal a higher quality.
As diligent consumers, we tried to find some on-line guides to sofas, but
apparently there are more people willing to review a £20 CD player than
there are people willing to review thousand dollar sofas. We did find a few
guides (like this one or this one) that helped with the lingo
and provided some questions to ask the salesperson, but that's assuming you
can actually find a salesperson who knows something more than "that
microfiber is really a hot new cover fabric - it cleans up really well".
To make things more difficult, by the end of the day all sofas will start to
look alike. You won't remember what Store A had and you'll vaguely recall
liking some purple couch but you won't be able to remember if that was the
one that cost too much or the one that took too long to deliver.
When buying a new upholstery for your home
it is best to have a plan for where the new piece(s) are going to actually
fit into the room. Also, is the new upholstery going to be in a living room
or in the family room or in some other area of the house?
First thing to do is measure the usable
space in the room. Be sure to leave room for tables and other items. You
don't want the upholstery to overpower the room....it should be functional,
comfortable and easy to manoeuvre around. There is no set rule of thumb for
what you can use in your room for optimal function and comfort. Use your own
intuition and really try to visualize how you want the room to appear, to
you, and to others. Don't worry about colors right off the bat, once you've
decided on a style and exactly which pieces you want for the room it's time
to go shopping.
One of the common misconceptions amongst
furniture shoppers is the thought that all upholstery only comes in the
particular fabric that is on the showroom floor. This is not true in most
cases. Special ordering is a normal part of the furniture industry in most
stores. There are a few that are a little more "cookie-cutter" than others
in the sense that they buy the same products for each showroom and do not
encourage special ordering......These are not full-service furniture stores.
Most stores will offer a large selection of fabrics for special
ordering....usually at prices very near the showroom price.
The only real exception to this is when a
dealer gets a special deal on a particular fabric and they are buying the
piece at a discount. But, for the most part, special ordering only has one
downfall.....the fact that you'll have to wait a bit longer for your new
furniture. The plus side is that usually you don't have to pay for the
entire purchase up-front, so you do get more time to save for your purchase
and you get exactly what you want. NOTE: If financing your purchase, you
shouldn't have to actually start the financing until you receive
delivery....just a down payment and pre-qualification as determined by the
financiers.
What to look for:
There are many different brand names on
the market today and for the most part, all of them build quality products.
One of the best rules of thumb for finding quality Sofas and Loveseats is to
find out what they are actually constructed of, starting with the frame.
Solid wood is definitely the best product to use in frame construction, but
it is important to remember that no frame is good just because of the wood
used in its construction. It's good to find out whether the wood is kiln
dried and what country the wood originated from. Usually, Asian hardwoods
are not as good as American products for quality in the kiln and production
process.
Most Sofa/Loveseat frames are built of
some type of wood but, in the not to distant future, plastics will start to
be used as regular construction material in lots of frames. This is because
plastic is cheaper to produce and with new break-throughs in the development
process, plastics can now be glued, screwed, sanded and shaped just like
wood.....without the problems of humidity effecting them, like wood. Be sure
to make sure that you are not buying an "all wood" frame that is nothing
more than particle board and staples.
Ask if you can see how it's constructed
if possible. Although, bear in mind that most manufacturers use some sort of
dust cover under their products to keep them clean and protected, so seeing
the actual frame construction may be a bit tricky.
A good salesperson will be able to
explain how the frames are actually assembled. Fixed legs are usually more
stable and solid than the screw-on type, but the screw-on type come in an
array of sizes and shapes from thin to 6" wide bun shapes. Some are
definitely more stable, but they will all last just as long if you
occasionally make sure to tighten them and NEVER push a sofa to move it,
ALWAYS lift it with two people(if possible) or lift one end slightly and
pull it to where you want it. This will help to keep you from folding
screw-on legs under the frame. Obviously, if the leg is an actual piece of
the frame, it will be harder to hurt the leg when moving it, but it can
happen.....just never push it around the room, it will save your Sofa or
Loveseat and your back as well.
The more solid a sofa or loveseat frame
is, the more it usually weighs. Don't be afraid to pickup one end of the
piece you are looking at and see how it feels. If it is too light.....it's
probably not built too well. If it seems to flex in a twisting-like motion
when you pickup one end it's probably not too stable, NOTE: All frames will
have some sort of flex to them, this is to help with humidity and
temperature changes the frame may endure in it's life.....use your instinct
here, too much flex is not good, a couple of inches is normal and fine. I
know this sounds like a lot but you really should be able to find all of
this out in just a couple of minutes when actually shopping. Now, on to
cushions and springs...
Cushions and Springs:
All Sofas and Loveseats have some sort of
spring system under them as well as cushions to sit on. Some are designed to
utilize both these systems into one fixed cushion type of a seat. As you
shop you will here names like "No-Sag" "Drop-in Coil Spring" and "Eight-way
hand tied" when it comes to most spring systems. No-Sag springs are what you
find in most promotional to medium-end frames. These are springs that
actually span the seat base of the frame from front to back and are one
continual scrunched-up "S" that is bowed-up and supported from the sides to
keep them from moving and separating.
The downfall of "No-sags" is that
sometimes manufacturers use too few of these near the ends of the
piece.....and it causes the end to wear-out prematurely. This is because
people tend to lean on arms of Sofas and Loveseats when sitting on them and
this means that more springing is needed to keep the seat from sinking at
the end. Just be sure that their is sufficient springing throughout the
seating area of any upholstered piece. Drop-in coils are just that, an
actual coil-spring seating unit that is placed in each respective seating
area of a Sofa(3 units) or Loveseat(2 units). These are usually about 7-9"s
deep and are basically an all steel grid of coil-springs with a heavy border
around it for stability. They are mounted to the frame with screws and are
very durable and quite comfortable as well. Drop-in units are great as long
as they are wide enough for the actual seating area. If not, then you may
experience the same types of problems near the arms as you would with
too-few No-sag springs.
An offshoot of the Drop-in coil is the
Manufactured drop-in coils which are actually manufactured to the
specifications of the actual frame they are to be placed in. These type of
springs rarely have problems near the arms of the piece because there are
usually more than enough springs to cover the whole seating area. Eight-way
hand tied coils are just that....coil spring bases just like the Drop-ins
that are actually hand-tied instead of being held together with wire clips.
These are some of the most premium spring bases on the market today and are
usually found in more expensive frames.
Because of the human interaction with
tying the coils together, the flex of the springs can be manipulated to just
the right comfort level allowing you the maximum comfort from the frame. DO
NOT BE FOOLED by just sitting on a Sofa or Loveseat! Cushions can be very
deceiving......FIND OUT what type of springs you are actually sitting
on......Now, on to Cushions...
Cushions:
Cushions for upholstered furniture are
not all created equally! Many manufacturers cut corners when it comes to the
type of cushion-core they install in their products. But on the other hand
there are many manufacturers that utilize the best quality and highest
standards in the manufacturing of their upholstered furniture. What I'm
really getting at, once again, is: Make sure you know what you are
buying…this way you will have a better experience when buying your new
furniture.
The first thing you want to know about
the cushions in the furniture you are looking at is: What are the cushions
made of and how are they manufactured. The cheapest upholstered furniture
usually just simply has a cut chunk of foam in each cushion cover. These are
going to break down very quickly, no matter what density the foam is. Lots
of salespeople seem caught up on foam density (1.8(softer) or 2.25(firmer)
are the most common weights you hear thrown out by salespeople) 2.25 density
foam came about because of fire laws in California….but many lower-end
manufacturers feel that by changing their already totally adequate 1.8
density foam to 2.25 that they will get longer life out of the frames they
sell, thus saving them any future warranty work. Usually the core wears down
just as quickly with either density…..because that is all that is cushioning
you above the spring system. Remember that firmer cushions do not always
mean they are going to last longer.
Most medium priced upholstery cushions
are a combination of foam cores and dacron wrapping that is put around the
core to help it feel softer and to help it last longer. Many manufacturers
have also utilized two densities of foam that are sandwiched with the firmer
inside of two softer pieces, then dacron is wrapped around the core to help
with the softness. Once again it is a good idea to ask how the cushions are
manufactured before you buy the piece.
The better cushions have springs built
right into the core, with foam fit around it on the sides and then either
dacron or some other form of fiber wrapping is attatched to the core to make
it extra-plush! Many better cushions have down or silk wrapped into the
outer layer before it is put inside the cushion cover. You will pay more for
this type of cushion, but you will also, more than likely, have a piece of
very comfortable furniture that will last for years to come.
The last thing about cushions I want to touch on is warranty. Be sure to ask
how long the cushions are warranted against pre-mature breaking-down and how
the problem will be handled if you ever should need to use the warranty. The
more you now about these situations now, the easier it is for you to focus
on buying what you want for your home. |
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