Hi Sarah

I just noticed your message on here and thought I should answer as I've just finished two sofa sourcing jobs for clients so it's all still fresh in my mind! The best kid friendly fabrics to use would be wool, microfiber or leather. If you decide on a fabric make sure you ask for a rub test and it should always be more than 40,000 as this will ensure that the fabric won't wear out too quickly.

Make sure the frames are made of hardwood and not plywood and are screwed and not glued together. Badly made frames reduce the live of a sofa and its comfort factor.

The best seat cushions should be feather wrapped foam as these are that comfiest and most practical. Also they plump themselves up so you're not forever doing it yourself.

If you're going to look at buying fabric separately for each sectional then you'd need at least 25/30 metres each if not more. This would probably end up being a really expensive option as you would probably need to spend a minimum of £50 per metre for a good quality fabric.

I don't know what your budget is but there are loads of great sofa companies out there who can provide you with what you need without having to source fabric elsewhere.. have a look at these..

Loaf, Raft, the sofa and chair co, Willow and Hall, Perch and Parrow, Heals, Swoon, Habitat, Zoffany, Alter London, Sofa and More, John Lewis, Lux Deco.

If you have a bigger budget look at B&B, Minotti, Poliform, Natuzzi, Roche Bobois and Flexiform.

Hope this helps.. Let me know if you need anything else.

Sarah

Hi, I've already gone quite far down the road with Sofa.com. I believe they are good quality - and have good guarantees. They have feather wrapped foam seat cushions and feather back cushions. They also offer a Guardsman (Scotchguard) which has a good guarantee too. I don't like microfibre so that's out. Leather ends up being much more expensive and wool can be a bit scratchy from experience. Sorry - I sound negative.... I have tried out their couches and they seem pretty good. I don't live in the UK so it's not easy for me to go around and try them all. I definitely need a modular couch due to the size/shape of the rooms - plus I like corner sofas. I have read horrible reviews about Loaf couches...and also their customer service. I will look at Raft and the Sofa and Chair company just in case I see another option. I did fear that sourcing my own fabric would end up being more expensive. Not easy furnishing a house from 800 miles away all by yourself!

Thanks for reply ...appreciate it.

Sofa.com do have other fabrics. Our sofas from them are upholstered in Designers Guild fabric.

They don't have other fabrics as far as I know. You can choose to have a couch covered in another fabric but you'd have to get swatches yourself and then advise them which fabric to use. How did you go about organising different fabric? Did you get the swatches etc through sofa.com? How long ago was it? Did it make it much more expensive?

They do, I bought in store two years ago, they had a deal on so it was the same price as a house fabric.