Family friendly sofas?

7 years ago

We are buying 2 large sectionals for 2 different rooms. One is a "casual" TV room and the other is a slightly more formal room that will have a bigger couch and more likely to have guests using it. We are planning on buying both of them from sofa.com in the UK. We have 3 children and it's in the country, plus there is a chance that we may rent the house out at some point. I find Sofa.com's fabrics a little limiting as they advise against Velvet for kids and the linens crease a lot, so once you rule out certain colours, you have a small choice. I really liked the tweeds they did but they've discontinued them. You can use your own upholstery fabric but I don't know where to start looking. Obviously if we use our own fabric I'm sure it will be more so I need to be careful how much it is per metre. The sofas have loose covers. I am unsure of colour at the moment (although one or both could be blue). I love light coloured couches but not very practical. Any idea how much I'd be looking at for a mid range fabric. Also, which fabric type should I look at (I think textured will be more hard wearing and hide marks?) and also, which sites shall I look at. I don't live in the UK at the moment and this is all VERY overwhelming! Any help appreciated.

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Comments (5)

PRO
Seraphin Design
7 years ago
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
Sarah Freisenbruch
Original Author
7 years ago
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.
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Victoria
7 years ago
Sofa.com do have other fabrics. Our sofas from them are upholstered in Designers Guild fabric.
Sarah Freisenbruch
Original Author
7 years ago
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?
Victoria
7 years ago
They do, I bought in store two years ago, they had a deal on so it was the same price as a house fabric.

Family friendly sofas?

Comments (5)

Seraphin Design

Sarah Freisenbruch
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Family friendly sofas?

Comments (5)

Seraphin Design

Sarah FreisenbruchOriginal Author

Related Discussions

Victoria

Sarah FreisenbruchOriginal Author

Victoria

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Sarah Freisenbruch
Original Author

Sarah Freisenbruch
Original Author