Opinions on Sofas

[slicekw]

I bought a big leather sofa when I lived in my old house. It's in my much smaller apartment now. My sister think it fits. I like good-sized but not squishy. I also like modern and I'm considering a very modern ergonomic chair plus a modern loveseat. I love leather and my cats don't damage it. Plus, I can invite allergic friends over, move the filter nearby and wipe it down before they come over. So far, it's helped. Not an easy option with cloth.

[immoimeme]

I have never owned a sofa in my life. I always said, if you want to take a nap, lie down on the bed.

I prefer to have club type chairs with various thingies you can rest your feet on.

BUT... if I did ever get a sofa I would get one covered in a zebra print. It would never go out of style nor I would ever get tired of it. YMMV.

[jeffisjeff]

About 10 or so years ago, we bought our first sofa and love seat. We wanted something reasonably priced, so we went with FlexSteel. We still have them and they are in great shape. We use them as our every day couches and they've held up really well, despite our two kids and traveling back and forth across the Atlantic. The cushions are particularly amazing in terms of resiliency.

[mysticchic]

I've never liked leather. My cats would scratch the heck out of it. On a humid day your legs stick to the seat. But that's just my 2 cents.

[Prancer]

About 10 or so years ago, we bought our first sofa and love seat. We wanted something reasonably priced, so we went with FlexSteel. We still have them and they are in great shape. We use them as our every day couches and they've held up really well, despite our two kids and traveling back and forth across the Atlantic. The cushions are particularly amazing in terms of resiliency.

All of my upholstered furniture is Flexsteel. Two salesmen told me that I would hate it because young people like squashy furniture and only old people ever buy Flexsteel, but I hate squashy furniture and I figured I'd still have all of the furniture when I am old, so why wait?

We have replaced the cushions on the family room couch, but they held up a long time before we had to do that.

My grandma bought a sofa when I was about two. It sat in her living room until she died, and then it moved into my parents' family room. I was 18 then. When I got married, I inherited it, and it sat in my living room until we bought new furniture, at which point it went back to my mom's. My aunt reupholstered it for my mom, and it sat in her family room for years. When my mom died, no one wanted it and it didn't sell at a garage sale, so my husband decided to tear it up and throw it away. It took him and two other people, all armed with sledgehammers, three and a half hours to get that sofa apart. I wish I knew who made it, because that sofa could have survived a nuclear blast.

Never buy a sofa for the fabric. Always buy a sofa for the frame. Fabric is cheap; a good frame isn't.

[nubka]

After the expense of buying a new sofa every 3 -4 years (because of wear and tear to the fabric, the difficulty of keeping the fabric clean, etc.,) we finally bought a leather sectional two years ago. It has been the best money we have ever spent, and well worth every penny.

Even with grandkids and three dogs crawling all over it, it still looks as new now as the day we bought it. Spills and dirt wipe right off of it. There's no fabric to wear out/rip/stain, and with three dogs shedding, I can just wipe the hair right off. Also, the cushions are strong and don't get lumpy and/or squashed down over time. I luuuuv it !!

[Japanfan]

When you have pets a sofa can be a liability rather than an asset. I'd love a leather sofa but that wouldn't be a good idea with a cat.

So we've settled on a futon sofa and wash the cover regularly. The good things about futons is that they are relatively inexpensive and go with almost everything, depending on your choice of frame, pillows, and cover.

[MOIJTO]

In over 30 years of marriage my husband and I have owned many sofa's, chairs etc.

NOTHING I have bought has been comfortable or worth the money!

Good luck!

[GarrAarghHrumph]

As far as the matching sofas, love seat and chair.. maybe match was the wrong word. It would be nice if they at least looked like they went together. Like the colours and stuff. Right now it just looks like a bunch of random crap

My living room right now does at least look like things go together in terms of basic overall style and vibe, but my bedroom... not so much. Still converting over from the "using milk crates for furniture" design scheme that we've had for so long in our lives. My bedroom - I do have a real, adult bed, so that's a step up from the futon on the floor I used to have (and which now serves as a couch in my daughter's room - we bought a frame for it, so it at least looks like furniture if you also cover it with a cloth so you can't see the ugly 1980s torn print cover.) But what we're using for nightstands...

The thing I use is actually 1/3 of an old desk. My grandfather, for some reason, had cut it up into thirds back a million years ago, and I have one of those thirds, with drawers. It would look okay - it's quite ornate and antique looking - if only the sawed off part wasn't what you saw when you first walked into the room. My husband hates it. I just laugh, because...

My husband's night stand is a plant stand - yes, a plant stand - that we got for free. It's ugly as all get out, and thus the "free". I tried covering it with a cloth, but that actually, if you can believe it, made it look stupider, so we just go with it.

Eventually, we'll upgrade. I'm thinking by the time I'm 90, maybe.

[deltask8er]

In over 30 years of marriage my husband and I have owned many sofa's, chairs etc.

NOTHING I have bought has been comfortable or worth the money!

Good luck!

Does that mean you have no furniture in the living room now? You prefer to sit on the floor?

(That may explain a lot of your posts.)

[bobalina77]

My living room right now does at least look like things go together in terms of basic overall style and vibe, but my bedroom... not so much. Still converting over from the "using milk crates for furniture" design scheme that we've had for so long in our lives. My bedroom - I do have a real, adult bed, so that's a step up from the futon on the floor I used to have (and which now serves as a couch in my daughter's room - we bought a frame for it, so it at least looks like furniture if you also cover it with a cloth so you can't see the ugly 1980s torn print cover.) But what we're using for nightstands...

The thing I use is actually 1/3 of an old desk. My grandfather, for some reason, had cut it up into thirds back a million years ago, and I have one of those thirds, with drawers. It would look okay - it's quite ornate and antique looking - if only the sawed off part wasn't what you saw when you first walked into the room. My husband hates it. I just laugh, because...

My husband's night stand is a plant stand - yes, a plant stand - that we got for free. It's ugly as all get out, and thus the "free". I tried covering it with a cloth, but that actually, if you can believe it, made it look stupider, so we just go with it.

Eventually, we'll upgrade. I'm thinking by the time I'm 90, maybe.

I have the nightstand and matching dresser that I've had since I was a kid. I used to have the matching bed too but it started falling apart when I moved it to my apartment two years ago so I bought a new one. The whole set used to be my mom's and I painted it cream with chocolate brown trim and replaced the knobs and it looks really good. Boyfriend has some plastic black stand as a nightstand that is tolerable.. I guess

The bedroom is actually decent.. we bought a bookstand (dark wood of course) and everything kinda goes. The livingroom is a mess though and unfortunately that's what people see

[bobalina77]

When you have pets a sofa can be a liability rather than an asset. I'd love a leather sofa but that wouldn't be a good idea with a cat.

So we've settled on a futon sofa and wash the cover regularly. The good things about futons is that they are relatively inexpensive and go with almost everything, depending on your choice of frame, pillows, and cover.

My parents have leather furniture and they have a cat. He lays on it but he's never scratched it.

[GarrAarghHrumph]

I have the nightstand and matching dresser that I've had since I was a kid.

I still have my bureau from when I was little. For my husband, I found a bureau on the street (my old town had the BEST trash, I swear) and that's what he uses. It's an older, masculine looking piece, very nice, and I have no idea why whoever was throwing it away.

Of course, I get it home, and I'm cleaning it and what do I find inside? A bong and hash pipe. Which I wrap up in a plastic bag, and return to the porch of the house from which I got the bureau.

[bobalina77]

lmao!

My boyfriend's dresser is actually pretty nice. It has a marble top which is something I've never seen before on a dresser. I like the bedroom.. especially the huge walk in closet

[Rob]

Would you need to use the sofa as a pull out bed? If so, consider this brand:

http://www.americanleather.com/Sofas...s/Sleeper.aspx
http://www.healthyback.com/products/...an-leather/705

Not on the cheap end, but it has no bars so it is more comfortable to sleep and sit on than normal pull outs. My husband has a big family so invariably if we invite 2 of them, 10 show up and we need extra sleeping room.

[Ania]

I'd love a leather sofa but that wouldn't be a good idea with a cat.

.

It depends on the kind of the sofa. We have 2 leather sofas and 2 leather love seats; all of them have no single mark on them from our cat. Our leather bar stools and dining chairs, on the other hand, are completely ruined (can you tell that we really love leather ).
My theory is that it has to do with how tight the leather is: it's very tight on the bar stools and more squishy on the sofas. I got the sofas for pretty cheap at Value City (around $800; Value City was all I could afford at the time) and they look like new 4 years later (with a cat and a toddler in the house).

Since we are on the topic of furniture - does anyone have recommendations for a patio table? I've been searching for several days and can't find what I'm looking for. Part of the problem is that we need a medium-sized table and all websites I found seem to have small (~ 40" by 40"), large (over 70" long), and very large (over 90"). I need something that's approximately 60" by 40" (preferably oval and/or expandable, made of wicker or wood; but size is still the main factor). Any ideas for places i should look at? I noticed Hardware Restoration recommendation upthread and checked out their outdoor tables - gorgeous but humongous

[mysticchic]

My Mom always says that you should pick furnature that will last a life time. She has a lot of pieces that she has owned for 52 years. A lot are antiques. But her dinning room set is dark work and classic. She has changed the chairs and cushions over the years. She took upholstry classes back in the 60's (it's really not that hard. Cushions are the hardest things), and over the past 50 years the sofa and chairs have changed colors and prints. But she still has the same ones. They just look new.
I love micro suede. Cleans up well. I've spilled stuff on this couch and it comes right up. Since mine is a very light beige, I switch out throw pillows to create new looks. Right now I have brown and red to match my curtains.
I have a really cool dinning room table. It's like a bar height and has a green glass top. It seats 8.

[immoimeme]

Craiglist.

I lurve the patio stuff my aunt left me even tho I have no patio on which to use them. But sell them? NEVER.

http://www.woodard-furniture.com/cat...003/1/page:all

They don't even sell what I have any more, only the barrel dining chairs and the high back rockers come close. I have 4 chairs, a matching umbrella table, 3 side tables, and two rocking chairs. The chairs are ultra comfy, even without cushions. I keep trying to figure out how to use them all in the house, but alas, this 50's house is too small. In my old 60's house they would fit!

I don't see what's so wrong about using a plant stand as a night table. I am using a wicker one. It's all that would fit-the queen size bed takes up most of the bedroom

[immoimeme]

I discovered I have this bookmarked re: sofas

http://www.homereserve.com/index.cfm

I think I bookmarked it because it said "pet proof" and it has built-in storage in the base.

But I don't think I would actually buy any. For a sofa, I want a more elegant design. Elegant as in one I can't afford

[Aimless]

I have a houseful of This End Up. I bought my sofa frame and cushions in 1983. I've been through one set of cushions and am on my third set of cushion covers. The advantage is you just order up the replacement pieces you want and when they arrive you put them to use. No troubling with reupholstery,getting a sofa off to the shop, and being without furniture. It isn't a staggering expense either, although it isn't exactly cheap. They may not be the cushiest seating but I like the way they look, they take a beating, and they last. There's a lot of choice in fabrics or you can supply your own. http://www.thisendup.com/