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How much are you willing to invest in a new sofa?
We've been living with my parents 20-year-old hand me down sofa for the past three years, but the springs are starting to go and it's getting tattered and uncomfortable. =(
I know they say you should invest the most you can afford in a sofa as it's supposed to last you ages... but how much will actually get you that kind of longevity? I don't want to buy Ikea quality... it's never long enough.
Re: How much are you willing to invest in a new sofa?
I think it depends on how much you use your sofa (or plan to) and you're in a place where you see yourself living for a very long time and/or want a sofa that you can see yourself using anywhere else that you move to.
We don't even have a sofa now and even when we did at our old house, we only used it when guests were over or when we watched TV (and we even don't have a TV anymore either). So given how much it's used, I'd just go for one of the $250 Ikea ones (but preferably not the $175 ones). ALTHOUGH, if we're living in our house again (right now, we're in an apt) and we were going to be there for a while, I always wanted a nice, modern leather sofa set and I'd like to spend about $1800 or less for that. But the way I see it is--if I'm going to get a small cloth sofa for a small living room (no set), then I don't see the point in investing too much in it. But if I wanted to get a nice set for a large house living room, then I might as well splurge a little and get something of quality. I don't tend to go for the "in-betweens" because it ends up feeling too expensive for the quality IMO.
LOL I was going to reply to this but then I realized that my answer would be USELESS because - like everything else - furniture is waaaaaaaaay more expensive here.
That said, my general philosophy is to buy for comfort. We have spent $1500 on a single sofa and $1200 on a set (2.5 seater + 3.5 seater), and the thing that both of them have in common is that they are VERY comfortable, so I've never regretted spending the money on either (they are not at all the most expensive options around here - in fact, we got both on sale - but they're the best of the less expensive ones). Sure we could have bought cheaper, but here in Australia where we live that would have meant buying something less comfortable, and I preferred to save my pennies and wait for longer so I could get something that makes me go "aaaaaaaah" every time I sit down.
I'm very much a comfort-over-style kind of girl, which is why we bought the pillow-backed couches vs the ones that are more formed (I read a post on the D&R board a while back where a large number of people swore they'd never buy pillow-backed because they always look untidy and slumped after a while, but I don't care - I'd rather have non-picture perfect and super comfy vs picture perfect and less comfy - my house is a place of relaxation and comfort, not a museum or a showroom).
LOL! I should post a picture of the set we have - it's a firm back with 5 throw pillows you lean against. It *is* comfy, but not as comfy as the the pillow attached ones.
Okay, here's what the erm... loud pattern looks like anyway:
Alyson & Phil | Planning Bio | Married Bio!
Dates & Quinces Blog
This exactly. Until we own our home we'll not invest in anything too expensive since we basically need something that can fit almost anywhere (in syle, size and color).
We're using an "early American marriage" couch too! LOL! It's an expensive couch (at least when it was bought...about 15 years ago)...down pillows, etc. But yeah, its day has come and gone....we're debating whether or not to just get it restuffed/refoamed and have a new slip cover made (it is slip covered with ftted covers) or just get a new couch. We haven't decided, thus we stick with it...as is...
Slip covered furniture is a must for us with pets and kids...leather? No go...kitty claws and puggie paws make that impossible!
TTC/PG Blog | Mommy Blog
We have two leather sofas in our living room that were fairly expensive....maybe around $1800 each? But.....we aren't planning on moving anytime soon (if ever), and we really invested in nice furniture for that room (it's the room you see first when entering the house, and we wanted a nice company room). But the sofa in our family room was MH's cheap bachelor sofa, covered, and re-covered again and again. It's not in the greatest shape, but it's comfy, and where we the the future LOs will hang out the most. I see no need to spend a lot on of sofa that will get trampled on by kids and pets over the years. As long as it's comfy, I don't really care how it looks!
I suppose if I combined the two rooms and only had one family/living area, I'd go somewhere in the middle....maybe around $700-900ish?
We recently bought a new sofa sectional and paid just under $1,000 at the military exchange. Similar ones went for $1500-2000 elsewhere. It's the main piece of furniture in our living room, so it's worth the investment, although we bought a simple, kid-friendly one (fabric, not leather -- and not that suede stuff that seems so popular these days). We probably would have paid up to $1500 without feeling guilty.
I imagine we'll hang onto this one for a while. We only got rid of the previous sofa 2-piece and matching tables (5 years old) because the tables were glass-topped and we didn't feel that was safe for the baby.
Funny you asked this....we just bought a new couch last night. We aid $1300 for it. It's a quasi-sectional - has a long side then a shorter side that seat one and has a chaise (which I can guarantee will become the dog's spot). We also chose the fabric type and color and that included delivery.
IMO, a couch is something you hang onto for awhile so I don't think $1300 is that much. Especially for being able to pick the fabric. It was at a furniture store that is going out of business so they prices were pretty good. We do put our furniture through a lot - Todd is a big kid, we have 2 teenagers, and the dog has a spot too...but she also has her balnket on it and she knows she is only to lay on the blanket. I'd never go for Ikea quality (or lack thereof).
Amy, that's exactly what I want to get! I just need to find somewhere to buy them from. I'd just slipcover what we've got (I don't hate the loud pattern), but the springs really are going in both the end seats. We're getting about 6k back in tax refunds this year and we can't decide if we want to invest in furniture or put it towards a new car or travel...
Alyson & Phil | Planning Bio | Married Bio!
Dates & Quinces Blog
i paid either 1300 or 1400 for my couch a few years ago - i love it. don't regret it at all
have you been to EQ3? I didn't realize they're a canadian company - AND they have a showroom in TO! i'm not very familiar with their stuff, since i just learned of them recently, but i've really liked what i've seen. and definitely could be doable, depending how much you decide you want to spend.
eta: ohhh - i was looking at their regular sofas...the sectionals are a bit more...
maybe they have floor sample discounts!
I would pay big money for the perfect couch. We have a Natuzzi microfiber that is kind of comfortable for me. My poor husband is 6'2"-6'3" (he changes his answer, so who knows what is right) and weighs 250. We have a modern red leather couch - looks great, but is like sitting on a park bench. It was deceptive. If you do the sit-down-and-try-it test, sure, it's comfy. If you sit on it for more than 5 minutes, poof, it turns into a park bench. Stiff.
How do you find a fluffy, comfy couch that will withstand a big guy flopping down on it?
Newlyweds since 2007
You know what, I walked by that showroom on Friday! That's definitely somewhere to go check out!
Alyson & Phil | Planning Bio | Married Bio!
Dates & Quinces Blog
It depends on your needs.
We got a new couch the summer before SP was born when I was in full-on nesting mode. I wanted to get my "dream" couch from Pottery Barn but Dan said no way...we were not going to spend $4K on a sofa that a new baby would be puking, drooling and maybe peeing on. So we got the Ikea version for about $1,200.
I really like our sofa. It really has been through it all in the last 17 months not just with the baby but with the pets. It looks nice, has a 10-year warranty and I can replace the slipcover if I get tired of the color. My "dream" sofa will have to wait for a while but this suits our current needs.
i think it really depends on if you want something temporary or something that will last "forever" but we're pretty frugal and even on a piece that we would keep "forever," i think we'd only want to pay between $700-1200. (we're not into leather stuff, so that helps keep costs down)
i really liked the stuff at EQ3 too, didn't know they were canadian. but they had decent prices (not sure about quality) and you can customize things like the fabric, type of legs, etc.
Jaime & Brent
Oahu, Hawaii | Sept. 9, 2005
My Food Blog - Good Eats 'n Sweet Treats
Everyone else gave you great advice. We just bought a sectional for our basement (movie room) and it is SOOO comfortable. I love getting snuggly with our family including the dog. The fabric is a tightly woven material so that the dog hair vaccuums off easily. We have leather upstairs and baby spit up wipes right off (pre-baby spilly talking friend's wine also wiped up easily.) What I'm saying is think about your lifestyle when choosing a fabric.
Have fun shopping!
Married Bio
We paid 1250 (incl tax & shipping) for a sofa and large matching chair. We looked all over for quality and good price and it was the best deal. And so comfortable! And nice looking too! We got it from Belfort Furniture in VA, which has great deals.
This is what we got:
http://www.belfortfurniture.com/Item.aspx?ItemID=1426411227&ItemNum=8566-20
I would add that my friend swears by Overstock.com and she just ordered a sectional couch with ottoman from there for I think something like 1300 and it's SUPER comfy!
HTH!
Malia & Dave & Alexa
Happily married since 2-17-08! Three since 9-9-09!
Baby Blog
we didn't "invest" in anything until we bought our house. I have ALWAYS wanted a natural slipcovered sofa from Pottery Barn. Once it came down to buying it I got cold feet
It was going into our living room that we don't actually use so I went with this one from JC Penney. The quality is still really great. They were even running a promo so we got the chair for free. I use the chair a lot more b/c it's in the sitting area off of the dining room and we hang out there more.
Unfortunately now that we are ready to buy a nice sofa for our family room basement we have learned nothing fits down there. We both agree we would totally splurge on this sofa from Crate and Barrel. MH's roommate in lawschool had it - it was sooooo comfortable and could seat lots of people and it seemed to hold up well, his roommate was always entertaining. We go visit it every time we are in C&B but know it's totally not possible to get it down the steps and through the 30" doorway to the basement. I know it's pricey, but we know it would be totally worth it.
Good luck. I totally recommend shopping around and try to see the sofa in person. We were able to compare the PB one to the JCP one and realized there wasn't much difference and are still happy with our purchase over a year later.