buying sofas, opinions please

[whitehackle]

I am going to be buying some sofas for a new house, I don't mind spending money if what I am getting is quality, but don't want to get ripped off for rubbish.

 

What have you bought and how has it lasted?

 

Thanks

[woodcock11]

As a friend once said, I hope to live long enough to see the end of the DFS sale....

 

Bought a sofa from Homebase - £400 - it was fine for a while but we upgraded - sold it fro £150.

 

Habitat have some nice stuff - not too big - but it depends on your new house - sofaS seem to imply that size is not a problem

 

Danish furniture is timeless and does not lose value - it is like an investment. Skandium in London is a good starting point and they can deliver, but you may find somewhere closer.

 

All I will say is that you will get what you pay for - GOOD LUCK and welcome to your new home

[Kes]

We have had DFS leather - the electric recliners arent long lived. Leather is cold so I'd go for something with cloth. hope you enjoying your first/second third as much as I did.

[HDAV]

We bought ours from Harveys probably wouldn't again, SOfa sofa have a factory up the road so would have liked to have bought from them but they didn't make what we wanted, needed at the time.

[fenboy]

To be fair my last couple have come from DFS and have lasted well enough , my current ones are 6 years old and still look decent and they get a lot of use .

[jgguinness]

The wife (was fiancé at the time) and I went looking when we bought our first house.

 

Had a look at the usual suspects DFS, Barker & Stonehouse etc and tbh wasn't impressed. Went to House of Fraser, and we were very impressed. I'm sure they had a half price sale on, or certainly had a fair chunk of money off and I think we paid £2500 for a three seater and a two seater brown leather sofa. Hard wood frames, the leather quality is excellent and they have lasted very well indeed.

 

That was around 11 years ago (our 10th wedding anniversary coming up at the end of this month, so at least 10 years). They still look very good indeed, leather has lasted perfectly, the foam inside is still good etc. They have loads of life left in them. So yes the initial outlay was quite a bit, but well worth it.

 

Also I seem to remember you got some vouchers to spend in store and we got quite a few, enough to buy some Hugo Boss jeans and a top!

 

Infact I have just had a look on, and they are still selling our exact same one over 10 years on, can't believe it. With money off too, and it looks like the prices haven't gone up much in that time at all.

http://www.houseoffraser.co.uk/null+Idaho+Sofa+Range/IDAHO,default,pd.html

Edited March 2, 2014 by jgguinness

[bruno22rf]

We bought a leather 3 piece from DFS a few months back and I hate to admit it but they were faultless. You can buy leather suites now that are not cold nor do they stick to you if you are a little sweaty. About a week after we had it one of the seams started to come apart-phoned them at 9 in the morning and an upholster was here by 12--great service.

[njc110381]

I'll go all negative as I'm feeling in that sort of mood today. Generally my experience of the big "we've got a sale on" sorts is not great. The stuff they churn out is pretty hopeless and will not last. I think you have to try pretty hard to find good stuff of any kind these days! We're sold **** at what we are led to believe is a good price - and that counts for cars, houses, homeware... Pretty much any new item from anyone but a custom builder or high end producer is pants.

 

If it is any good, the chances are it won't be cheap. But then I've started to approach life with the outlook that cheap and value for money aren't the same thing. I can only wish you luck in finding what you're after. So far jg's comment is the one I'd tend to follow - but lets just hope that the producer is still the same and they're not cheaper stuff with the same look.

Edited March 2, 2014 by njc110381

[Sprackles]

Avoid ScS like the plague. ...a year old and the stuffing has seperated and cushions collapsed.

called them out and was told it was my fault for not plumping them correctly.

[jgguinness]

I've no idea if they are still using the same manufacturer, but as far as I can tell, looking at the pics, reading the blurb and with it still having the same product range name I would say it's still the same.

 

As you say, buy cheap, buy twice.

[Willxx]

I'd suggest it depends on if you are buying for life or for fashion.

Makeover programs and constant sales offering cheap prices have created a market where the assumption is that a suite will be changed within a few months/couple of years when you change the wallpaper! If this is the case pay what you can for fashion and expect it to last no longer than your colour scheme, if not pay as much as you can afford for quality.

[owo1-man]

In the process of changing everything you can sit on and DFS have got my money, good quality, service and price, if you want something different that will not leave you with cushions on the floor in the morning look at the SHOUT range.

[fruity]

As for the manufacturer go for a G Plan imho by far the best sofa I have bought , ok you pay a bit more but ours is 2 year old now and still perfect and also made in the UK

[Reeceknight]

Chesterfield. End of

[Nikk]

Look for somewhere that is closing down. That's what I did and got two excellent quality sofas half price

[Imperfection]

When i was after a new leather 3 piece suite i went round the usual suspects,but only DFS had what i wanted and it was at real good price too.I cannot fault DFS as they did everything correct and never had a fault with the suite.Its still looks great 10 years later.

[henry d]

I just bought mine at Stirling, but I`m sure they don`t have them near you.

 

Buy cheap buy twice...yeah, have to agree.

[88b]

We had to buy three new sofas on the quick after winning a court case against a local shop who claimed their quality furniture was made in their own factory in the UK. It came covered in made in China stickers. So we ended up in Harvey's as they were the only ones who could deliver in two weeks and we were sitting on garden chairs. Harvey's was my second furniture mistake.

[ack-ack]

Never disregard second hand. I found a wonderful retro sofa in a layby. Once i'd removed the plasterboard and old paint cans i could see it had massive potential. Drew pritchard bangs out worse for thousands i thought, so it came home. It smelt of ammonia and is was a tad soiled but that didnt put me off. Soon it had pride of place in the lounge. It took a while to dry off and i couldnt get all the stains off but i still rate it as my best find.

 

 

Ps- there was £1.26 down the back!!!! Winning!!!!!

[Mentalmac]

Honest best way of getting a sofa for the BEST price would be:

Speak to one of the manufacturers near you. They are in dire shape at the moment due to the economy, and their largest annual trade show (Where they would usually go to make its of orders with retailers) has gone kaput and downsized into London rather than the NEC (big tragedy), a lot of them if you ask will do you a one off for cash in their pocket. Google some and phone them and discuss.

Or speak to Heartlands (Birmingham) - Saleem is the guy to talk to. They import container loads by the minute from China and they will sell private as well as trade (you just have to pay VAT) but you are cutting out the 'middle man' retailer. I can tell you the retailer sale or no sale makes a large mark up, hence the constant DFS sale. They aren't doing it for nothing.

I used to be in the trade and know how the game works.

[delburt0]

Bought a 3 seater recliner sofa and electric chair from dfs 11 yrs ago and still looks like new , conditioned twice a year from new, they did have cheaper leather ones but this is allegedly grade 1 Italian leather You don't sweat and it doesn't stick to you as a good grade leather is more porous and not like your cheaper part of the cow (PVC affect if you like)

The chair was £1900 and the sofa £1300.

I don't regret paying this as the quality is still showing.

Edited March 4, 2014 by delburt0

[Cottonseed]

When we downsized last year we had three sofas made by the company Tetrad in Preston--which are sold in many furniture shops--which were too big for the new place. I thought we might get about £200 for them as they were 8 years old. But my wife put them on Ebay and made a couple of thousand. One couple came from Dorset to North Lancs with a trailer to pick one up. So I recommend Tetrad--if only for resale value...

[Mentalmac]

 

When we downsized last year we had three sofas made by the company Tetrad in Preston--which are sold in many furniture shops--which were too big for the new place. I thought we might get about £200 for them as they were 8 years old. But my wife put them on Ebay and made a couple of thousand. One couple came from Dorset to North Lancs with a trailer to pick one up. So I recommend Tetrad--if only for resale value...[/quote

Tetrad are good! My other half wants a duresta sofa! :-(

[flynny]

Google" Multiyork" hand made hardwood frames, and they keep the templates to the cushions etc so you can change to a different material years down the line. Not cheap but good quality craftsmanship ,

 

Atb

 

Flynny

[norfolk dumpling]

We are on our 2nd set of 3pc from DFS in 20 years and no complaints. First lot (2 x 2 skaters) went to daughters hard up buddies and did at least another 10 years before moving on again