What you need to know prior purchasing a Sofa!

 

Buying a Sofa is one of the biggest furniture investments you will make.

In fact, do you know that Sofa typically takes up around 20% to 30% of the entire furnishing budget? 

 

Image from stri.ms

Hence, you should spend a bit more time to do some research and give some serious thoughts prior making a purchase!

Unlike most homeowners who decide on the renovation design theme first prior purchasing their Sofa and the rest of the furniture, I did the exact opposite. This is because my partner and myself spend a significant amount of our waking moments at the living room area; he would be tuning into the latest news while I would be busy working on my laptop. Sometimes, we would also take afternoon naps on the Sofa too. Furthermore, the need for a reliable, sturdy Sofa which provides excellent back support is compounded by the fact that my partner has a back problem….

Hence, practicability and functionality took precedence over the aesthetic and looks; it is meaningless if we have decided upon a design theme only to discover that we could not find a suitable matching Sofa. We figured that it would be much easier the other way round.

Fortunately, I stumbled across an extremely useful infographic from Roger and Chris for homeowners who intend to purchase a sofa. In additional, on top of the handy tips which these gentlemen have shared below, I would like to add on the following:

1. Check the Material!
Although soft wood (such as pine and spruce) is low-cost, it may warp after years of usage. Hardwood (such as kiln-dried oak, plywood and beech) is more durable and thus more expensive. Watch out for materials such as particleboard, plastic since they do not last and may warp and crack.

2. Watch out for Staples!
Good quality Sofa have joints that are double doweled and befitted with corner blocks which are glued and screwed into place. Staples or nails should only be used for extra reinforcement.

Sit down firmly at a corner or just outside edge of a sofa; squeaks and creaks are dead giveaways of incorrectly placed or poor quality springs.

4. Feel the Fillings!
The more durable, high-density type is harder and offer more support and thus, high-resilient foam is slightly more expensive and long-lasting. Goose and duck-feather fillings are very comfortable (and expensive) but will clump overtime, resulting in unsightly lumps.

5. Give a Leather Test!
If you are considering a real leather Sofa, remember the following: Genuine leather feels warm to the touch, artificial leather feels cooler. Real leather has better elasticity; pressing on it will create some small wrinkles which will disappear naturally. Genuine leather reacts to friction with nails; stabbing the real leather will leave a visible mark and not the artificial leather!

I have also included another infographic from Sofas and Sectionals at the end of this entry to give you a graphic illustration of the anatomy of a Sofa.

So please share if you find this post useful!

 Info-graphic from Sofas and Sectionals