What to Look for in a Quality Sofa

Buying a sofa is a purchase that you will want to consider very carefully. Not only do you want a sofa that is attractive and comfortable, but you also need one that is going to last you a long time, is easy  to keep clean, and will suit the room that you choose it for. The choice in home furnishings today is bewildering, so choosing the right one may take a little time!

What do you look for when you want a quality sofa? There are many factors to consider, and we’ve put together some tips that should help you. We’ll start with the factors to consider before you decide on the sofa you buy, these being the practical ones!

Set Your Budget

The starting point when looking at buying a sofa should involve having a look at what is available and how much it costs. You will have some idea of what you want to buy – in terms of style and size – so concentrate on this area of the market.

What you will find is that prices vary greatly. Don’t be fooled into thinking that high prices mean better quality. As with many household products, this is not always the case. You can buy very good quality sofas for sensible prices, so take care to read the specifications and get all the facts.

Once you know how much you need to spend you can start looking in earnest, so what are the markers of a quality sofa?

Choose Your Material

The choice of material for your sofa is one that will involve personal taste, but we want to put a few ideas out there for you that are a little unusual. When we began looking, we found some very impressive and attractive options we had not heard of before, and thought you should get to know about them too.

To begin with, let’s talk about leather, one of the most popular choices for sofas and lounge furniture. Leather can be very beautiful as a sofa covering. It is also hard-wearing and looks luxurious. You may find that leather is your preferred option, and that’s great, but there are other options. Also, leather is also quite expensive and, although usually used on quality items, what you see on the surface may not reflect the quality underneath!

Fabric-covered sofas are by far the most popular, and you will find the choice of styles to be unbelievably vast! The colour choices are also wide and varied, and there will be a sofa of this type for everyone, and for every budget. The best quality sofas are those that are hand-made, often to tailored dimensions, and that’s why we want to tell you about something that is not widely considered.

Eco-Friendly Furniture

We’re talking about the eco friendly sofa and it’s a category you may not have heard of! What is an eco-friendly sofa? Quite simply, it is one that is made from natural materials, using none of the chemicals that are usually used in furniture manufacture. They are also usually hand-made, often use recycled and reclaimed wood, and you will find manufacturers who will happily build to your specifications.

This may not be the cheapest way to get the sofa of your dreams, but rest assured it will be exactly that, and you won’t find much better quality in home furnishings. We recommend you check them out right away, and see what they offer. You’ll find a wide variety of eco-friendly furniture available, so it’s certainly worth investigating.

Also, with this method, you can be sure that you are getting a sofa that uses locally-sourced materials, and one that may be the most efficient and effective fit for the space you have available.

Quality of Build

The quality of the materials used is one of the most important factor in finding a quality sofa, as well as in all other quality household furniture. Another is the quality of the craftsmanship. If you want true, top quality sofas, you need to look at hand-built models, as described above.

The advantages of this method are many, and include durability, quality finish, and ease of use and maintenance. There is something about buying hand-made furniture that makes a great difference, and you will be surprised how much pleasure you get from knowing an expert craftsman built your sofa!

Check with the manufacturer website as to where the materials are sourced, and where the sofa is made. Look for locally-made models for better quality, preferably made with natural and local materials, and you will be getting a better quality sofa than you would from a mass-produced source.

If this is not within your price range – although we recommend you investigate the option of tailor made sofas before dismissing it, as you may find it to be excellent value for money – there are many factory manufactured sofas that are of a very good quality.

Ask around your friends and family for recommendations, read as many website catalogues as you can, and you will soon start to create a short-list of potential candidates for quality sofas.

Ease of Maintenance

Another sign of a quality sofa is that it will come with clear and simple instructions as to maintenance and cleaning. A good quality sofa will have covers that are removable for washing. Usually this is done by way of zips of Velcro. This allows you to take the entire cover off, wash and dry – look for machine-washable – and put back on. This option will not, of course, be available for leather sofas, but that material is relatively easy to clean.

To sum up, then, if you are looking for a quality sofa, remember that cost is not always an indicator of quality. If you want the very best sofa you should look for a hand-made, perhaps individually-tailored one from an eco-friendly manufacturer, and leather – while very beautiful and versatile – is also not necessarily an indication of quality. We hope we have given you some inspiration and ideas, so happy hunting for your new sofa!