What to Consider When Buying a Sofa

How to buy a binge worthy couch

It’s where your family watches hours of Frozen, over and over.
It’s where you park yourself to binge watch your favorite episode of This is Us.
It’s where your dog lays to wait for you to come home.
It’s where you nap after a long week.
It’s where you watch the Patriots win the Super Bowl!
(You knew I HAD to put that in there, right?)
You’re going to spend so many hours on your sofa (or your couch, if that’s what you call it), you’re going to want it to be comfortable. You’re also going to want it to last, right?

I tell clients all the time that a quality custom sofa is not that much more money than one from a big box store.
And, if you buy a super cheap sofa and it falls apart and you have to replace it the next year, did you really save any money?
Why not invest in what you want?
Why not invest in what will last?
Here are a few things to consider when you’re buying your next sofa, or couch.

First you want to know what the frame is made of.
Quality sofas are made from kiln dried hardwood, usually maple or ash.
Kiln dried just means that it’s been dried to remove any moisture so that it resists warping or cracking.
I mean, do you want your sofa to crack a year after you buy it?
So called budget sofas can be made from plywood or a mix of woods, or even particle board or MDF (fiber board).
So, you can’t see inside of the sofa at the store, so how do you know what wood it is.
Simple. Ask.
You can also try picking up a corner of the sofa. It should be heavy.
The inexpensive sofa below weighs 101 lbs. and is $900.
The quality sofa above weighs 160 lbs. and runs around $1800, depending on the options you choose.

Second, you want to consider how that frame is put together.
Quality sofas are corner blocked, meaning that the corners are reinforced with triangular pieces of wood.
Cheaper sofas are not.
Quality sofas also have the back legs as one piece with the frame, with only the front legs being removable. This gives the sofa even more strength.
While we’re talking about legs, quality sofas will have solid wood legs as well.
I’ve actually seen hollow plastic legs on some budget sofas. They don’t last long.

Third, you’ll need to consider how the body of the sofa is made.
It’s the base for the cushions.
For a quality sofa you want to look for 8 way hand tied. That just refers to how the springs were tied together and to the frame. Ideally the springs will be individually wrapped to keep them in place as well.
A lesser sofa will have sinuous springs, which are S shaped springs to support the cushions.
And, a cheap sofa will have maybe some webbing.
The fourth thing to consider is the cushion.
This is the part you’ll actually feel the most.
I could actually do an entire blog just about cushions.
There are so many options.
One of the sofa companies that I sell a lot has the following options.

A good quality cushion will have wrapped high resiliency, high density foam.
They could be wrapped in down or batting.
But, they won’t break down or lose their shape.
Cheaper sofas could have as little as a piece of cheap foam in them.
They will not hold their shape and they will break down.

Lastly you want to consider the fabric.
Budget sofas often come in one or two fabric options.
A quality, custom sofa can come in 1000’s of fabrics and/or leathers.
You can even get a quality sofa in a performance fabric that resists wear and staining for under $2000 now.
Remember that one in the family room blog post?
You can read that one here if you missed it – DetailsFullServiceInteriors.com/interior-design-process-before-and-after

It was in a great performance fabric, perfect for dogs and kids.
You want to look at the rubs that a fabric has. The higher the rubs the longer it should last.
And, leather? I think next blog we’ll talk about leather vs. fabric for upholstered furniture.
You also want to look at whether the lines in the fabric are straight on the sofa and if the pattern is matched up properly.
Cheap sofas are notorious for having patterns that don’t match and seams that are wavy.
Take a close look. It can be a dead giveaway.

So, here’s the thing, in my opinion (that’s what you’re here for right?) spend a little more than you think you need to and get a quality sofa that is going to last.

The company that I sell the most upholstered pieces from has the following construction.

It’s not the highest end furniture that I sell. I sell higher end pieces. And I sell lower end pieces.
But this one? It’s my favorite and my client’s favorite.
It’s great quality. It lasts. The company stands behind it.
And, we get to choose the cushion, the fabric, the size, the wood finish, everything.
And, you know what? It isn’t much more than a cheap sofa from your local big box furniture store.

You know what they say.
Only rich people can afford to buy cheap furniture.

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