My intro & Leather Sofa Search

[Chavelamomela]

Hi Everyone. I have been lurking for a while here, and decided that it's time to post. I appreciate everyone's input.

I am in the process of furnishing a house, and like everyone, we have a limited budget and want to get the most bang for our buck..

We want to purchase two sofas, one leather sectional for a living room, and one leather smaller sectional (like a regular size sofa w. a chaise, or a small L-Shaped sofa) for our den. We have 3 young sons (ages 1-8), so durability is key, which is why we want leather. Top grain, treated, as this seems to be the best choice for a family with active kids.

Initially, I had budgeted about $4-5k for the two sofas, and thought that was pretty generous (A major step up for us from our first leather sofa purchase over a decade ago). However, after doing more research, it seems like we will have to stretch a bit more, perhaps to the $7-8k range for both sofas. That is really the max we can stretch to.

The other factor is that we are shipping everything overseas (yes, even if we order it from Overseas to be shipped it NY...We have to import all our goods from our country of origin in order to save on customs fees in our new home), so we need to make sure that everything arrives before our lift is sent. We plan on sending that lift in late June, and we can have things delivered to the shipyard for the couple months before then, so there's a bit of leeway, but not if there's a major delay in production.

The living room sofa will be larger, and more formal, so I thought to put more of the budget into that. Hopefully, the sofa there will survive a long time. The den is a high-usage room (tv watching, kids playing, etc), so I know it's unrealistic for us to expect any couch to last there an incredibly long time, but I do want to get the most durable we can. The replacement cost for any of our couches will be much more overseas, which is why we want to get the best possible now. (And I can only do the lift now, I won't be able to import another couch without customs charges when it needs to be replaced.) So long-lasting is important. We also have some narrow doorways to deal with, which makes our choices somewhat more limited, but I am less overwhelmed than if there were infinite choices!

So far, for the living room I have fallen in love with a beautiful leather 4-piece sectional (u-shaped w. a chaise)from Schillig. I sat on one at Safaviah and another at a different vendor and was very impressed with the firm seat (I love firm sofas), comfort, style, etc. . It's pricey, but I am willing to stretch my budget a bit for it. ($5-6k or so). I haven't found another sofa that impresses me as much (within my budget). I want the sectional to have a curved wedge, not a block, because you get more seating this way, and it's also pretty. (Specifically, I am looking at the Heidelberg with the tufted seats and contrast stitching and the curved wedge).

However, I can't spend nearly as much on the Den sofa, (if all I have left is $2-3 in the budget if I buy the schillig). I have seen some firm L-shaped sofas from Paliser, England (with their special coils), Thomasville, even one from Ikea that appealed to me! I am more flexible about style for the den, but want durable, somewhat firm seating (can be less firm than the LR sofa), and not a large footprint, since it's a long & narrow room, and a narrow doorway.

I would appreciate suggestions for either the Den and/or the LR sofas.

Thanks so much!

[drcollie]

I'd stay away from Ikea for sure, the build quality is not there. Thomasville is marginal and in bankruptcy right now, probably not a good one to order, either. Paliser is OK, not great - but OK. Whatever you order, see if you can specify "Export Pack" on the pieces, even if you have to pay a little more. Most upholstery is NOT set up for export shipping and won't survive the containerized shipping damage-free. Only Hancock & Moore and Councill pack automatically in Export packaging of the brands I'm familiar with. That's very important! Good luck...

[Chavelamomela]

Whatever you order, see if you can specify "Export Pack" on the pieces, even if you have to pay a little more. Most upholstery is NOT set up for export shipping and won't survive the containerized shipping damage-free. Only Hancock & Moore and Councill pack automatically in Export packaging of the brands I'm familiar with. That's very important! Good luck...

Thanks for the tips.

I am not worrying about the packing - I'm having them deliver it to the shipyard, but then the shippers will be packing it up for export. (My plan is to come to the shipyard when it arrives to inspect that it's all okay before the shippers pack it up to go into the container.)

Are there any other brands anyone can recommend that I should look at? Perhaps there's a company that has two sofas that are less than one shillig, but still high quality and appealing to my taste and comfort....

Thanks again!

[drcollie]

Well, I like Hancock & Moore and Bradington Young for leather upholstery, but of course I'm biased because I sell those two makers in my store. If there was another line I liked as well or better, you can be sure I'd have it in my store but so far I haven't seen anything else out there that sends me. Everyone wants top quality at a low price of course, but there's only so much you can do with that ratio before either the build quality suffers or the prices rise.

[Chavelamomela]

Thanks for your honest opinion. I have looked extensively at the BY site and not found anything that would work for my den - I am dealing with 27" doors and it's a long narrow room (225"x110") so I dont want a sofa that is deeper than 36." but we also want that sofa to be a small sectional - a 1-arm loveseat with a chaise at the other end. None of the sofas that BY offers has the chaise option and is also 36" or less. (or can fit into my narrow doorway).

Where can I look for the smaller scale sofas?

Thanks!

[drcollie]

with 27" doors, contact Jeff at:

http://www.simplicitysofas.com/

good luck