How To Buy The Perfect Sofa

There are many things to consider when buying the perfect sofa for your home. Most consumers, who are in the market to purchase furniture for either a new home or just to spruce up an existing one, find that shopping for upholstering can be an overwhelming experience.  Buying a new sofa can be challenging but we’re here to help with some easy buying tips. The reason behind the anxiety is that the three things a consumer needs to know about purchasing a new sofa, are the three things they can not see, which are as follows:

1. What is the frame?

2. What is the support system?

3. What is the cushion core?

For most consumers, they find themselves at the mercy of the sales person. Depending on how knowledgeable this person is can either decrease or increase your stress level. In most cases, after spending 20 minutes of your time with this individual, you realize that he or she knows as much about upholstered furniture as you do.  It’s no wonder consumers walk into furniture stores with their hands up and an eyebrows raised and tell the person greeting them that, “We are just looking.”  As animated as the story just told, the reality, however, holds true for most consumers. How does one then overcome or avoid this type of experience?

1- Overall Look At Buying The Perfect Sofa Frame

Do your homework before leaving to go furniture shopping. Know that most quality upholstery is going to be hand made by skilled Artisans, who generally use hard rock maple for the frame. The frame is skillfully hand crafted using Mortise and Tenon and Dowel Construction to add strength and durability. Today it is easy to Google and watch videos of how this is done in order to better understand the process in building this type of frame. It’s very similar to that of building a house. Very few consumers, who have ever built a house, would rush their contractor through the framing process of their home. In keeping that mindset, neither should someone rush the process for a handcrafted piece of furniture,  prepare and accept the fact that you may have to wait 8-16 weeks for delivery.

2- Choosing The Perfect Support System In Your New Sofa

The Support System that fits inside the frame is as important as the frame itself. In hand made upholstery, the best support system is an 8-Way-Hand-Tie. Each coil or spring has eight hand tied knots that is connected to the next coil beside it. The process is repeated until reaching the outside of the frame where it is then nailed down. The advantage to this type of construction, especially in a sofa, is that when the person sits on the furniture, his or her weight is supported and distributed across the entire frame. It is highly recommended that a person over 225 pounds, who is frequently using a piece of upholstery, should highly consider going with an 8-Way-Hand Tied Support System.

3- What To Know And Why Cushions Are Important For Your New Sofa

The Cushion Core is the third concern to have when looking at overall construction. If you are buying a hand made sofa, most cushion cores will be spring down, which are encased in a Muslin wrap. This is the best core that you can purchase. An easy way to quickly identify if the cushion is spring down or not is to see if the cushion crowns or is flat in appearance. A flat cushion core is more than likely to be foam. For consumers who are allergic to down, there are alternative cores that will still give you comfort without sacrificing quality. As with the frame and support system, so it is with the cushion cores. Instead of a spring down cores, most manufacturers use foam.

4- A Few Key Points To Think About When Buying The Perfect Sofa

In having a better understanding about the three things to look for that you cannot see when buying upholstery, now it is time to learn about what you can see. That is to make the decision as to whether to use fabric or leather on the frame you just selected.  Believe it or not, this subject is more cumbersome than the three things you just learned about in the construction of upholstery. It’s also an area of buying which will determine how much money is going to leave your wallet. A good rule of thumb is to start by shopping the brands and names you find appealing such as Bernhardt Furniture, Century, and Vanguard. These famous names are industry leaders in stylish sofas, sectionals and loveseats – Most offer custom leather and fabric sofas and  can be shipped nationwide.