Best of the high street sofa brands
Discussion
Looking for a new Sofa, so did the usual industrial estate tour, SCS, DFS, Herveys, Sofology etc etc. One we saw we liked was £1000, no extra special million pound discount on this one, simply £1000. We didn't buy it due to not wanting to see it down to £500 in a one time deal next weekend!
Are all the usual suspects the same quality? Is buying from one going to give us peace of mind over another retailer it might last a few years. We went into one last shop on the same estate, and the sofas went from £6000 upwards! Are they 6 times better?!
We still have yet to buy a sofa!!!!
Are all the usual suspects the same quality? Is buying from one going to give us peace of mind over another retailer it might last a few years. We went into one last shop on the same estate, and the sofas went from £6000 upwards! Are they 6 times better?!
We still have yet to buy a sofa!!!!
There are 2 trains of thoughts with sofa's. A decent sofa will last you decades and well worth the money whereas DFS etc will probably last 4-5 years.
I've done both routes and actually prefer getting a top end DFS style sofa with a couple of decent wingback chairs as they are well made and a reasonable price so when you come to redecorate you can get a new one and change style rather than shoehorning in something that refuses to die
I've done both routes and actually prefer getting a top end DFS style sofa with a couple of decent wingback chairs as they are well made and a reasonable price so when you come to redecorate you can get a new one and change style rather than shoehorning in something that refuses to die
IME better quality sofas are more expensive but do last a lot longer.
The only challenge with that is if you want to change your decor and sofas regularly. In which case there's little point buying something with longevity.
In used to have some upper end Multiyork sofas (bought around 1999). They wouldn't fit neatly in my current house (bought 2011) so were gifted to a mate and are still going strong (despite several moves in and out of storage etc).
Currently have a Duresta sofa. That's 7yrs old and wearing well (I believe Duresta now do lower end sofas too, possibly through one of the outlets you noted...no idea if these are as good). It now has to contend with 2 young boys hammering the life out of it
We have a sofa bed in the house from DFS or similar. It's in a room that is seldom used. It's fine for the money paid, but there's no way it would take the abuse my other sofas do.
The only challenge with that is if you want to change your decor and sofas regularly. In which case there's little point buying something with longevity.
In used to have some upper end Multiyork sofas (bought around 1999). They wouldn't fit neatly in my current house (bought 2011) so were gifted to a mate and are still going strong (despite several moves in and out of storage etc).
Currently have a Duresta sofa. That's 7yrs old and wearing well (I believe Duresta now do lower end sofas too, possibly through one of the outlets you noted...no idea if these are as good). It now has to contend with 2 young boys hammering the life out of it
We have a sofa bed in the house from DFS or similar. It's in a room that is seldom used. It's fine for the money paid, but there's no way it would take the abuse my other sofas do.
I fairly recently bought a sofa from Loaf - it seems to be very good quality and I have no doubts about it lasting for years. It replaced a £300 IKEA Ektorp sofa which had been our main sofa since we bought it in about 2004 - that was sold on to someone else who is presumably going to use it for another few years! (the Loaf sofa is somewhat more comfortable than the IKEA one...)
We also have a chair from Made.com, and that seems to be good quality too, and cheaper.
We also have a chair from Made.com, and that seems to be good quality too, and cheaper.
Ive got a DFS, it was £1200with a chair and a pof
Had it 6 years, it is a bit "worn" but in that time weve had:
2 cats
2 dogs
2 babys, one now a toddler who enjoys eating her dinner on it (as much as we try and stop her)
2 teenagers, who have lost any muscle control and just slump down on it
Ive slept on it many times when thrown in the doghouse
Its lasted well and is still the most comfy sofa we know
In some ways £1200 was a bit over priced, but it has lasted well, even though its cheaply built it has lasted and not fallen apart
Id buy another but I'd negotiate harder next time and not take out the interest free credit which I didnt really need but took anyway
This is the one I have: https://www.dfs.co.uk/abigail/abg24eecp#igKfUGL9zg...
Had it 6 years, it is a bit "worn" but in that time weve had:
2 cats
2 dogs
2 babys, one now a toddler who enjoys eating her dinner on it (as much as we try and stop her)
2 teenagers, who have lost any muscle control and just slump down on it
Ive slept on it many times when thrown in the doghouse
Its lasted well and is still the most comfy sofa we know
In some ways £1200 was a bit over priced, but it has lasted well, even though its cheaply built it has lasted and not fallen apart
Id buy another but I'd negotiate harder next time and not take out the interest free credit which I didnt really need but took anyway
This is the one I have: https://www.dfs.co.uk/abigail/abg24eecp#igKfUGL9zg...
We went with Sofology in the end. No real reason but was not doing another tour.
Something a tad suspect is their the reviews...a lot of happy customers, one every 5 or so minutes, all with 1 or 2 reviews to their name all in business working hours!
https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/sofology.co.uk
Something a tad suspect is their the reviews...a lot of happy customers, one every 5 or so minutes, all with 1 or 2 reviews to their name all in business working hours!
https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/sofology.co.uk
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.
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.
I was in a DFS today trying to buy a chair for my Mum.
She found one she liked at a reasonable price but the salesman put her off buying it.
He actually lost a sale due to spouting a load of Cheeseman-Esque claptrap.
The problem is she really likes the chair but can’t bring herself to hand money over to this monster!
She found one she liked at a reasonable price but the salesman put her off buying it.
He actually lost a sale due to spouting a load of Cheeseman-Esque claptrap.
The problem is she really likes the chair but can’t bring herself to hand money over to this monster!
DJFish said:
I was in a DFS today trying to buy a chair for my Mum.
She found one she liked at a reasonable price but the salesman put her off buying it.
He actually lost a sale due to spouting a load of Cheeseman-Esque claptrap.
The problem is she really likes the chair but can’t bring herself to hand money over to this monster!
Try another branch or a different day. Or say 'Excuse me but I find you objectionable so if you want me to buy this from you I'll need another 5% off'...!She found one she liked at a reasonable price but the salesman put her off buying it.
He actually lost a sale due to spouting a load of Cheeseman-Esque claptrap.
The problem is she really likes the chair but can’t bring herself to hand money over to this monster!
We tend to keep our furniture a long time
We had a DFS three seater and two chairs for 14 years. The only problem we had was a dicky switch on one of the electric recliners.
It looked almost as good on the last day as the first but we have no pets or children and the room is not used every day.
Despite it holding up very well it always felt a bit flimsy and of marginal quality..... but it did last.
It’s been replaced with a leather Himolla suite.....superb quality but at three times the price. I hope it’s money well spent.....and in 14 years I’ll be 77 so I might not need to worry!
We had a DFS three seater and two chairs for 14 years. The only problem we had was a dicky switch on one of the electric recliners.
It looked almost as good on the last day as the first but we have no pets or children and the room is not used every day.
Despite it holding up very well it always felt a bit flimsy and of marginal quality..... but it did last.
It’s been replaced with a leather Himolla suite.....superb quality but at three times the price. I hope it’s money well spent.....and in 14 years I’ll be 77 so I might not need to worry!
Hrmmm, hrmm. I must admit, I am THE PERSON that bough a DFS sofa (chair, three seater settee, two seater sette) on the day there was no sale.
£2,200 in 1997.
Leather, 20 years old now, seen three moggies, much sitting, lots of spilt wine and some milk, some rumpy and 15 child-person years of abuse and looks pretty good still. Same cannot be said of either of the original purchasees!
However, we did buy it on the basis of the leather, a non DFS friend had told us that a batch of these had made it to the UK and DFS probably hadn't realised quite what a good spec it was, think 2.4 mm hide was quoted whereas usual DFS stuff would be 1.2 - 1.8?
£2,200 in 1997.
Leather, 20 years old now, seen three moggies, much sitting, lots of spilt wine and some milk, some rumpy and 15 child-person years of abuse and looks pretty good still. Same cannot be said of either of the original purchasees!
However, we did buy it on the basis of the leather, a non DFS friend had told us that a batch of these had made it to the UK and DFS probably hadn't realised quite what a good spec it was, think 2.4 mm hide was quoted whereas usual DFS stuff would be 1.2 - 1.8?
largespiced said:
We went with Sofology in the end. No real reason but was not doing another tour.
Something a tad suspect is their the reviews...a lot of happy customers, one every 5 or so minutes, all with 1 or 2 reviews to their name all in business working hours!
https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/sofology.co.uk
We have bought a three seater and a two seater from Sofology and will be having it delivered late October hopefully.Something a tad suspect is their the reviews...a lot of happy customers, one every 5 or so minutes, all with 1 or 2 reviews to their name all in business working hours!
https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/sofology.co.uk
They wanted to deliver it this week but we told them that due to being flooded out we would not be ready till late October so after a few words from my wife they backed down.
I did go to the store three times to try the sofa out for at least half an hour each time and I found it comfortable each time, I have a very bad back.
Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff