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(self-titled) semi-posting lurker
Minor Deity
Picture of ShiroKuro
posted
So the other thing I'm planning to do soon after we move is get Mr. SK a full-sized sofa. We have had only a love chair and accent chairs for the last 16 years, and he lays down on the love chair, but as you can imagine, it's less than ideal. The seller had two sofas and two accent chairs (and it didn't look crowded) so size won't be an issue.

Our current items (love chair, two fabric/plush accent chairs) were all purchased at Ashley Furniture, and to be honest, they are not great quality. One of the chairs actually needs to be repaired (it's still usable but...)

So I'm not keen to buy anything from Ashley. Today we went to two furniture stores and the sofas we liked the best were made by Jonathan Louis, Flexsteel, and Basset. The Basset ones were all over $5000, which I think is a bit much. The Flexsteel comes with a lifetime guarantee.

I have never heard of any of these brands, does anyone have any experience with them? A

Are there other brands we should consider?

What kind of sofa do you have? Where do you buy nice furniture without going overboard on price?

TIA!


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My piano recordings at Box.Net: https://app.box.com/s/j4rgyhn72uvluemg1m6u

 
Posts: 18501 | Location: not in Japan any more | Registered: 20 April 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Has Achieved Nirvana
Picture of wtg
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quote:
Where do you buy nice furniture without going overboard on price?


craigslist. Big Grin

We're Ekornes leather people (contemporary Scandinavian style stuff), but that's in the Bassett price range or even higher unless you can score something on CL, which we managed to do for our sofa and love seat. We also have several Ekornes Stressless recliners with ottomans that we paid full price for, but we got them 30 or 40 years ago and they're still going strong. Worth every penny. Each style of chair comes in multiple sizes, which is nice because you a tall person can get a chair that works for them and their smaller spouse can get the same style in a smaller size.

https://www.stressless.com/en?redir=1

I would recommend finding an Ekornes dealer in your area and test sit some of their stuff. You might get hooked. Or you might find that they sit a bit low.

Flexsteel makes great office furniture. My neighbor had a Flexsteel recliner and ottoman that I thought would be great but it was the most uncomfortable thing ever. I don't know how their sofas are.


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We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love… and then we return home. - Australian Aboriginal proverb

Bazootiehead-in-training



 
Posts: 37922 | Location: Somewhere in the middle | Registered: 19 January 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Minor Deity
Picture of Mary Anna
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I'm following this thread, because we'll be in the same boat this summer.

During the lockdown, we replaced my sofa, a Drexel that had held up really well but was at the end of its lifespan. Because we didn't want to go into stores, we ordered a modular one online that we could assemble ourselves.

In short...don't do that. It's not a sturdy piece of furniture and it's smaller than we pictured. It's the right length, but the height and everything else is proportionately small and skimpy-looking.

We're going to want to be able to go to a store and at least try out a floor model that's similar to anything we might order.


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Mary Anna Evans
http://www.maryannaevans.com
MaryAnna@ermosworld.com

 
Posts: 15513 | Location: Florida | Registered: 22 April 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Has Achieved Nirvana
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redditors talk sofas:

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyIt...fa_to_buy/?rdt=60401


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We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love… and then we return home. - Australian Aboriginal proverb

Bazootiehead-in-training



 
Posts: 37922 | Location: Somewhere in the middle | Registered: 19 January 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
(self-titled) semi-posting lurker
Minor Deity
Picture of ShiroKuro
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Thanks for the reddit link, I'll check that out.

quote:
craigslist.


There is no way Mr. SK would let me buy a used sofa. He's Americanized somewhat over the years, but not to that extent. Ole

Re Ekornes, I had not considered leather sofas. If they had this brand at either of the stores we visited today, I missed it because I was only looking at fabric styles. Maybe I'll check to see if they have that brand when we go back again, but I don't think I want a leather sofa. I don't think that fits our style very well. A chair might work though.

MA, we definitely don't want to purchase anything we can't sit on and try out first. Even in the same brand, whether we thought it was comfortable or not depended completely on the proportions, like the length of the seat cushions, the angle of the back cushions, all those little details.

Mr SK and I are both on the short side, and a lot of the sofas with larger (deeper) seat cushions were not comfortable to us.

So after our shopping trip today, it was really clear that there's no way we could order a sofa, or a side chair, online.


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My piano recordings at Box.Net: https://app.box.com/s/j4rgyhn72uvluemg1m6u

 
Posts: 18501 | Location: not in Japan any more | Registered: 20 April 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
(self-titled) semi-posting lurker
Minor Deity
Picture of ShiroKuro
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Let's see if this works.

This was the sofa we liked the best (comfort-wise). You can choose different colors and fabrics. It was listed at $2200, they're 20% off right now, so that would be $1760 (plus $100 for delivery and set up)


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My piano recordings at Box.Net: https://app.box.com/s/j4rgyhn72uvluemg1m6u

 
Posts: 18501 | Location: not in Japan any more | Registered: 20 April 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
(self-titled) semi-posting lurker
Minor Deity
Picture of ShiroKuro
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It's maybe kinda boring visually... WhoMe


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My piano recordings at Box.Net: https://app.box.com/s/j4rgyhn72uvluemg1m6u

 
Posts: 18501 | Location: not in Japan any more | Registered: 20 April 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Has Achieved Nirvana
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Some info about buying leather furniture: a lot of it is junk these days, not really leather.


http://www.barbsleatherservice...g-splitting-problems


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We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love… and then we return home. - Australian Aboriginal proverb

Bazootiehead-in-training



 
Posts: 37922 | Location: Somewhere in the middle | Registered: 19 January 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
(self-titled) semi-posting lurker
Minor Deity
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The other one we liked I can't find a photo of, because the photos online are all sectionals.

Anyway, more so than the design, I guess I'm wondering about how to choose, the quality...

I'll google around about Flexsteel, but I was kind of impressed with the sales pitch -- he showed us the bottom and explained how it's made and all of that. At the other store, the salesman talked about the different kinds of foam that are used across different brands.

The cushion on my Ashley chair isn't the problem, it's the inside, the springs and the frame...


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My piano recordings at Box.Net: https://app.box.com/s/j4rgyhn72uvluemg1m6u

 
Posts: 18501 | Location: not in Japan any more | Registered: 20 April 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Minor Deity
Picture of Mary Anna
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quote:
Originally posted by ShiroKuro:
It's maybe kinda boring visually... WhoMe


No, I think it's very pretty. It has classic lines.

If there's a way to check the sturdiness of those wooden legs, that would be a good thing.

Quirt and I got a pretty cheap sofa--I mean maybe a third of the price of this one--to have at the new house over Christmas when we had as many as twenty people at the house at times and we just had to have a place to sit. I think it will go up to his office when we move in, although we're still figuring that out. And also, there were serious sturdiness problems with the way the legs screwed into the sofa.

I've never asked a store to flip a sofa on its side and let me examine the bottom, but after that experience, I might try it.


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Mary Anna Evans
http://www.maryannaevans.com
MaryAnna@ermosworld.com

 
Posts: 15513 | Location: Florida | Registered: 22 April 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
(self-titled) semi-posting lurker
Minor Deity
Picture of ShiroKuro
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WTG,
quote:
Some info about buying leather furniture: a lot of it is junk these days, not really leather.


That's awful. I bet that's why so many people on PW complain about their piano benches.

When I ordered my piano bench, I didn't get the leather option. It's a vinyl (?) top, but looks good and is holding up quite well so far...


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My piano recordings at Box.Net: https://app.box.com/s/j4rgyhn72uvluemg1m6u

 
Posts: 18501 | Location: not in Japan any more | Registered: 20 April 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Minor Deity
Picture of Mary Anna
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I really like leather furniture, because I'm messy and leather wipes clean. Also, we have a dog and two cats. They absolutely shred fabric furniture, but I have two leather recliners that are maybe fifteen years old that still look pretty good.

I may replace the leather recliners when we move with something more up-to-date, but not because these are in bad shape.


--------------------------------
Mary Anna Evans
http://www.maryannaevans.com
MaryAnna@ermosworld.com

 
Posts: 15513 | Location: Florida | Registered: 22 April 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
(self-titled) semi-posting lurker
Minor Deity
Picture of ShiroKuro
posted Hide Post
quote:
No, I think it's very pretty. It has classic lines.

Thank you! I want "simple" in the sofa. We can brighten it up with cushions and a chair with flashy fabric.

quote:
If there's a way to check the sturdiness of those wooden legs, that would be a good thing.


Ooh, good point, I didn't think of that.

So, I guess this one (the Flexsteel) and the Jonathan Louis one are in the $2000 range (for standard three-cushion sofa, I don't know about the sectionals)....

Does that seem like a reasonable amount that should get us a good quality item?


--------------------------------
My piano recordings at Box.Net: https://app.box.com/s/j4rgyhn72uvluemg1m6u

 
Posts: 18501 | Location: not in Japan any more | Registered: 20 April 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
(self-titled) semi-posting lurker
Minor Deity
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posted Hide Post
Re leather, I hadn't thought about the wipe-ability. That's definitely a plus.


--------------------------------
My piano recordings at Box.Net: https://app.box.com/s/j4rgyhn72uvluemg1m6u

 
Posts: 18501 | Location: not in Japan any more | Registered: 20 April 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Has Achieved Nirvana
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Ekornes has a limited number of dealers, so just google for Ekornes and your city.

There are some classic sofas that are built like tanks that just need new upholstery and foam. You’re buying it for the frame, built back when there were real furniture makers….


--------------------------------
We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love… and then we return home. - Australian Aboriginal proverb

Bazootiehead-in-training



 
Posts: 37922 | Location: Somewhere in the middle | Registered: 19 January 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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