Anyone got any advice on buying sofas?

MalMonroe

Lots of furniture places seem to be having sales right now. I've been looking at wardrobes. 

One of my friends got an absolute bargain of a beautiful hardly used sofa from British Heart Foundation. They have all their soft furniture deep cleaned by a specialist firm before it goes on sale. And they do often have some good things for sale. I'm thinking of trying them when lockdown's over. 

People sometimes criticise M&S but 14 years ago I bought a two seater and a three seater sofa from them and they are still going strong. Because there was a sale on when I bought them they threw in a footstool for some reason. Still comfortable to this very day. 

Comfort is essential. Obviously!

[Deleted User]

Mickey666 said:

My only advice would be to buy the best you can afford as you’ll likely spend a fair amount of time sitting on it (‘in’ it if it’s good quality).  Same with bed mattresses.  I’ve never understood people skimping on something they’ll be using for around 1/3rd of their lives.

This is a reason not to get a comfy sofa, its not good to spend that amount of time sitting. We already spend a third of our lives in bed, and unless we do manual work, a lot of time sitiing at work and cars etc..
OP, get a treadmill instead!

Mickey666

MrCheeseman said:

I knew someone who recovered sofas and chairs. After doing a couple of DFS ones, they refused any more since the build quality was awful, frames had split inside etc.

Tempted by SofaSofa, though the 8 week lead time is a pain. If I buy a second hand instead or as well as, what should I be looking for to make sure it's got decent build quality?

Weight.  I'm often amazed at how lightweight many modern sofas can be.  Cheap softwood and not much of it is not a good recipe for longevity.  If you can't easily lift it then it's probably going to last!

Grenage

We bought a two and three seater second hand for a couple of hundred (immaculate and only six months old), and an Ikea two seater for £100 (equally immaculate).  The Ikea sofa is probably the one of the comfiest I've used.

Ganga

Deleted_User said:

Mickey666 said:

My only advice would be to buy the best you can afford as you’ll likely spend a fair amount of time sitting on it (‘in’ it if it’s good quality).  Same with bed mattresses.  I’ve never understood people skimping on something they’ll be using for around 1/3rd of their lives.

This is a reason not to get a comfy sofa, its not good to spend that amount of time sitting. We already spend a third of our lives in bed, and unless we do manual work, a lot of time sitiing at work and cars etc..
OP, get a treadmill instead!

When you are retired and the weather is pants and covid stops you going out to the gym the comfy sofa and a good program on the tv is a blessing 

Mutton_Geoff

I've got a full set. Cheap sofas (Sofa Sofa), an expensive one (Michael Tyler) and a treadmill. All get used almost every day!

My "Michael Tyler" sofa was originally bought from John Lewis (don't think they sell MT products anymore). The only reason I sold it was 10 years later, the fabric style had gone seriously out of date and a new one wasn't much more than the cost of recovering the old. I sold the old one on Gumtree for peanuts but it had years of life left in it. And would make a perfect sofa if you liked orange or had some large throws!

Search out Michael Tyler sofas on Gumtree, I can recommend them as keepers.