Best of the high street sofa brands

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

Arranguez said:

Musing a Sofa Workshop Caruso splurge later in the year. I thought Collins and Hayes were THE sofas to buy, but the manager in SW said some of theirs are Collins & H leading me to wonder if SW just resell rather than manufacture?

Collins & Hayes now manufactured by Parker Knoll. I think most of the retailers buy from manufacturers. Collins & Hayes are tiny volume.

[troika]

We bought 2 sofa workshop Caruso 4 seat sofas in 2001. Still look great and ever so comfy. No idea if quality has gone down since then, had no need to find out! Can’t remember the price but whatever it was, they must represent very good value.

[SAB888]

I have a Natuzzi leather suite which is about 20 years old and is still extremely comfortable and looks great. On the strength of that, I bought another Natuzzi leather sofa about four years ago for another room. Both are extremely well built and are very heavy units.

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

troika said:

We bought 2 sofa workshop Caruso 4 seat sofas in 2001. Still look great and ever so comfy. No idea if quality has gone down since then, had no need to find out! Can’t remember the price but whatever it was, they must represent very good value.

I'll tell Mrs 2Smokin, she will be chuffed. (She was a director of SW at that time)

[troika]

2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:

troika said:

We bought 2 sofa workshop Caruso 4 seat sofas in 2001. Still look great and ever so comfy. No idea if quality has gone down since then, had no need to find out! Can’t remember the price but whatever it was, they must represent very good value.

I'll tell Mrs 2Smokin, she will be chuffed. (She was a director of SW at that time)

Tell her thanks from me. Quality is remembered long after price is forgotten.

[alorotom]

We have a 4 seater, 3 seater and feature chair being delivered on Thursday this week. They’re Parker Knoll via The Lounge Co.

They don’t have stores as such, but concessions in deptartment stores (notably Fenwicks)

£3.5k for the set, 10yr guarantee that actually looks like it means something

[Toltec]

Does anyone else do the corner lift test? Lift one corner and see how high it gets before the perpendicular ones start to come off the ground?

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

alorotom said:

We have a 4 seater, 3 seater and feature chair being delivered on Thursday this week. They’re Parker Knoll via The Lounge Co.

Ooky spooky next post. I was a director of the company that's now called Parker Knoll. (although I'm more lardy than powerfully built )

[guindilias]

Wacky Racer said:

I know DFS get a bum rap on here, but we've had two three piece suites which have been fine.


The current one started "pilling" after several months, they picked it up without argument, recovered it and returned it within a week, first class service.



Be quick though, sale ends Sunday 5pm.

Yeah, by Monday morning it goes back to just being a "Special offer!"

I have bought DFS leather and found the best way to do it is
1) Blind them with science. Read up on the different types of leather, and keep throwing questions about the leather at them until they are completely out of their depth and can't give you an answer.

2) Just be honest - tell the guy that you know the sofa is cheap trash, he knows it's cheap trash, and if he denies it then say you aren't going to buy from a salesman who blatantly lies to your face.
Then ask him what exactly he is going to do to make that "Special offer" a bit more special. "I'm buying a sofa today, somewhere - why DFS and not the next big cheap sofa shop?"

They all want to meet their targets and get that bonus.

[Ace-T]

Apparently the East Midlands is the upholstery centre of the country with over 200 factories in the area making sofas for all the big names.

There are several factory outlet type places that do sofas around the area, a colleague recommended one the other day so will ask about it and post.

However we have just discovered a family firm that will make you a bespoke sofa for about the same amount as Next/Laura Ashley etc that you can specify style, size, material, shape etc. No chipboard, all beech and birch frame, all handmade at the back of the shop.

We have just got one of their sale sofas. A 2m*1m teal velvet Chesterfield for £500 delivered and cushions altered to our taste (they were too squishy). Originally 1500 quid. It's really comfortable and really suits the room.



https://www.martinandparker.co.uk/

Edited by Ace-T on Tuesday 25th September 23:10

[Ace-T]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I am a sucker for a bit of velvet upholstery We have an antique green velvet chaise in the library (Yes, we have a library, a long held ambition fulfilled!) and I was dubious about it's longevity as we have 5 furry idiots with sharp claws. It has stood up to their tender ministrations remarkably well so far. Hopefully the teal one is similarly robust. Seems to be doing a good job.

Library


Study

Edited by Ace-T on Tuesday 25th September 22:55

[Ace-T]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Infamy, infamy, they've all got it Infamy!

[alorotom]

2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:

alorotom said:

We have a 4 seater, 3 seater and feature chair being delivered on Thursday this week. They’re Parker Knoll via The Lounge Co.

Ooky spooky next post. I was a director of the company that's now called Parker Knoll. (although I'm more lardy than powerfully built )

Shame you couldn’t have got me a discount haha

[ghost83]

I got mine from csl (now sofology) had it 8yrs and still looks good although we are getting a new one next year

[Murph7355]

Ace-T said:

Apparently the East Midlands is the upholstery centre of the country with over 200 factories in the area making sofas for all the big names. ...

Interior designer mate of ours said the same when we were looking.

Duresta have a place there.

We looked at a few others, the most notable being these - http://www.artisticupholstery.co.uk

We didn't buy from them in the end as the Duresta we bought suited our needs better. But when the kids are a bit older we'll buy a Chesterfield from Artistic. Great little factory and a lot of pride in their products.

[Dolf Stoppard]

John Lewis are worth a look. Their special buys are very often the same as more expensive ranges but with different fabrics and a much lower price.

[BlueHave]

Bought a leather sofa about 15 years ago. Was about £5k then but it looked a quality piece despite it's plain, modernist style with no pattern or tacky detail you see with DFS etc.

Still in the living room and looks great with no sagging you get with the cheap ones. Just condition it every few months.

The cheap ones will last a few years then either wear or sag like a bag of ste because they're cheap bonded leather.

Edited by BlueHave on Thursday 27th September 02:13

[LotusMartin]

Bought a nice leather 3.5 seater and a suite from The English Sofa company. Not highstreet but highly recommend. British handmade to order with multiple options like fill hardness, feet style etc. They'll send you fabric/leather samples if you want.

Comparative prices to the highstreet.

[George Smiley]

megaphone said:

My DFS sofa is 10 years old or more, still going strong. Should be back in fashion in a few years.

Mines 15 and the only issue is the cushions now need a bit of a refresh and the leather cleaned up but it’s been 15 years with kids and two big dogs

Fantastic quality for the price. It’s now at the end of its life regarding our style so want something new but it feels like we are about to throw out something good

[Dan_1981]

Bump.

Any new views on the high street?

Furniture village / DFS / sofology

All the same?

How much further haggling can you do on the ticket price?