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Hello everyone. I am looking to buy a fabric sectional for our family room. What brand do you recommend that is the most durable and the best quality? I am looking for something very good, that I would be able to keep for let's say 15 years, that would also wear well with kids. I am willing to spend the money necessary. I am not very familiar with furniture shopping and am open to any and all opinions! Thanks in advance :)
I don't recommend brands per se, rather advise you determine a budget you want to be in and work from there. Build construction is more important than brands. No fabric sectional of any kind is going to last 15 years on the original upholstery in everyday use, for that you will need to move to leather which has 4 x the wearability of any fabric. Expect appx 7 - 9 years tops for everyday family use on almost all fabrics, then it will be time to reupholster.
Thank you for your reply. As far as budget goes, I can go anywhere from 6-9K. What type of build construction would you recommend?
Do you have any feedback on Smith Brothers and Century brands? Those were recommended to me at the furniture store but I have seen some negative reviews online.
You will find negative reviews on every brand out there, I can guarantee you that. Most are from people that have unreasonable expectations as to performance. I'm a dealer for Century, they are a big player in the market and build a solid product. Smith Bros I have never carried because they don't do an 8-way suspension deck, which is definitely something I want all the product I sell in my store to have. Construction is everything, and 95% of all the product out there in today' market has an engineered plywood frame. It's OK, but I'm a bit old school and still prefer a solid hardwood frame which limits you to just a few makers. Of course, that solid hardwood frame costs considerably more but there's a frame that will go 50 years or more..
However, your primary limiting factor is still going to be your fabric. In daily use, it might not last more than 5 years, certainly not more than 9 years in my experience. It will pill, get stained, wear through, etc. Now you have an expensive re-upholstery job ahead of you because the chassis / springs and cushion cores are all still good. In today's major city market, you will spend $ 2,200 to $ 3,000 to recover a sectional. This is also why I like leather so much better, at the 9 year mark you won't be putting money into a recover (provided the leather has not been abused). So while the leather is a higher cost going in, over the life of the piece it is much lower per years of viable use.
Some people don't like leather - i get that. In the case, pay particular attention to fabric content and percentages, and also inquire as to the Rub Value (the number of back and forth abrasions a fabric will tolerate before it shows visible wear). As your rub value increases, your stiffness and hand of the fabric decreases, the trick is to find a good balance of the two. Sure, there are 100,000 double rub value fabrics out there, but they feel like cardboard. Always hold the fabric up to your cheek and gauge the softness as your cheek is better than your hands for determining that. Don't get caught into the trap of someone saying you have to buy a Performance or Microfiber fabric. All that means is they are easier to clean, not longer lasting. Remember too, that all man-made fabrics will pill. In your bad reviews you read, that's probably the # 1 complaint. Anything made with a high Polyester / Nylon / Olefin / Rayon is going to pill. I personally prefer a blended content that has cotton / wool / linen that is at least 1/3 of the content, however more natural fabrics typically are more expensive fabrics, too. And this applies to any new upholstery maker.
I am also a dealer for Taylor King, and I think they offer Century-like build at 2/3's the cost in their Taylor Made program in selected fabrics. I see them both come in and don't see a lot of build or workmanship difference, and the TK always comes in less in price. Either will fit nicely in your budget, depending on the size and build of the sectional.
Leather is more durable no doubt, but in my experience if you get a decent fabric you can get 10 years out of it. We have an H&M fabric couch that is our daily primary sofa with a lot of use. We bought it from Duane back in summer 2010 so it is going on 10 years this year and I think we'll get at least a couple of more years from it, honestly the cushion cores have been the main noticeable aging thing rather than the fabric. It still looks fine and we are just approaching the point where we've talked about maybe getting the cushion covers professionally cleaned. Our fabric is kind of that velvety feel and I believe mostly cotton.
Ah, but you are past having kids on the sectional everyday, Dan !