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by Ana McCreath
With many beautiful sofa choices available, how does one choose the 'perfect sofa'? Whilst many of its fundamental features can be cleverly obscured by seductive upholstery, captivating curves and billowy cushions, many fall in love at first sight, only to find out too late that all is not what it seems. Here I share with you my top tips to arm you with sofa-buying savoir-faire.
Let’s start with your room: decide on the sofa’s size, style and how it will be positioned. Think through some practical points such as who will use it and how – for example, for entertaining, or for every day. How will it be positioned in the room? With this in mind, it will be easier to choose a sofa for your room’s scheme. Let’s go shopping!
So, you’ve found one (or a few options) that you absolutely love. Let’s now see if it will deliver on quality. A look at its construction will help you gauge how long it will loyally serve your purposes. A good quality sofa is made with a kiln-dried timber frame. This ensures that the frame retains its shape and avoids cracking or splitting. Quality, traditional and bespoke frame-making methods also screw and glue joints and use dowels to hold components together. Manufacturers of commercially produced sofas may use other frame materials, such as metal or composites, so go ahead and ask.
Next your seating comfort is provided by the sofa’s interior suspension. This might be in the form of individually hand-sewn metal coils, or a box spring unit which sits inside the frame, or, depending on the sofa design, a suspended grid of serpentine steel wire frames could also be employed. In each of these cases, the sofa will receive you as you sink your weight on the seat cushion (as opposed to hitting a flat base under the seat pad which is uncomfortable). Getting the picture so far?
Nearly there. Now comes the skill of the upholsterer, because it is the upholstery that adds the body, shape and volume to a sofa. It comprises the webbings, paddings and filling sundries wrapped around and within the frame. This also includes the seats and cushions. For these, natural feathers give a more luxurious feel than fibre fillers and down feathers are obviously the choice for the ultra-luxurious sofa. People with allergies to feathers should flag this up with the supplier for decent non-feather alternatives.
Finally, the outer fabric and its embellishments finish the sofa and are usually what most people tend to focus on, more than the construction. Whilst on this point, the upholsterer’s expertise is very evident and is very important if you want to perfect the sofa's styling. Of course, a good sofa supplier, or your interior designer will guide you on the selection of fabric with the correct specifications, including flame retardancy which is regulated and governed by law. Other fabric specifications include rub tests (suitability), anti-stain resistance, or colour-fastness, which may be relevant for outdoor furniture. There are options too for loose covers, or washable fabrics if you are worried about young children and pets.
The ticket price of a sofa may provide an insight into its make-up. There is really no happy ending from a poorly made sofa, so why suffer? To ensure peace of mind, know what you are buying. The saying ‘buyer-beware’ definitely applies. Quality and bespoke manufacturers may also be able to adapt the designs to your requirements and this gives you a big advantage. You can truly have the sofa of your dreams! How about the right leg length and arm height for you so that it is totally ergonomic? Ta-daa!
Now that you are armed with inside-the-sofa know-how, go and explore the market. Sit, wiggle and compare. Sofas are an investment and you should get a good return in terms of years of it not just sitting pretty, but providing you with a reason to relax luxuriously in style. Perfect!
