Headache from Trying to Buy a Sofa - (financially able but want to save money too)

[irridium]

I'm on a time limit here with my landlord replacing my door to a smaller one and the old leather sofa had to come through with the door taken out.

I'm looking for a non-leather 3-seater sofa that is suitable for a black-haired moulty cat that likes to claw on one side of the sofa. I've been told that a micro fibre or something velvety is best for cats as they don't have threads that can be pulled, but then someone told me that velvet is the worse for cats as the fur stays put.

I've tried to find new sofas in stores like Sofaology and Sofa.com and they're quoting £1200! I didn't set out to pay that much, maybe about £800 at a push. But seeing there's nothing to my taste that is more than the £1000 range. I'd rather buying in person as I don't think I can trust a sofa from online without knowing how it'll look, fit, and sit.

As it it'll be my first purchase of a sofa, I really want to get this right. I looked on eBay but the sofas are very limited to my taste, fabric and size. I don't mind buying second hand, as long as it's in a good condition that will have at least 3-5 years use out of them.

How do I go about finding the right sofa? I'm finding it all a bit of a headache trying to choose something suitable. I have until mid-September to purchase one. The stores have stated that it's a 4-week wait for deliveries.

This is something I am looking for - www.sofa.com/gb/sofas/bestselling-sofas/iggy-sofa/p/SO-IGG

Take a look at the clearance section on Sofology. Lots of choices and usually pretty quick delivery

www.sofology.co.uk/clearance-sofas

The Talllah range looks similar to the one you posted and comes in under your budget.

Have you been to IKEA?

Is your landlord not replacing the old one?

I got the Beatrice sofa from dunelm recently, they delivered in a week and it's velvet although I got navy, can't remember if they had grey. I really love it, it's so comfy and although it does get hair on it from my dog I just lint roller it every day or so to get it all off.

Try looking in charity shops that sell furniture. There are some absolute bargains and delivery will be prompt.

All my furniture is mine, so not the landlord's responsibility.
This will be the most expensive purchase that I will be making, and buying something that is an investment takes a lot of decision-making. I dither all the time as to what to do and tend to leave it for a bit and then it gets to crunch-time when I have to bite the bullet.

I know you can get some real bargains on eBay but there aren't that many that are to my taste, unfortunately.

How do you choose the right sofa? I know there's one from Sofa.com that was £1100 but it's so expensive. I don't know if I can let myself buy something to that amount.

First you need to decide on the size of sofa. Not good buying a huge one for a tiny room. If the current one is about right, make a note of the dimensions.

Sit on some sofas and decide if you like high back or low back. If you buy online, you won't know if it's comfortable until it arrives.

Sofa.com have some lovely sofas and they are great quality.

They have an offers page

www.sofa.com/gb/ready-made

British Heart foundation furniture shops are good, if there is a large one near you. Even better if you can find one in an expensive area. Some of the stuff they have is in really good condition and very reasonably priced.

Look for somewhere that makes to order, you can choose the sofa, which legs you want & what fabric, I'm going with kcsofas.co.uk, the equivalent sofa in SCS is approx £400 more.

Have a look for less usual places to buy sofas. We always look for warehouse type places that sell end of line stuff. You get to try it out before and delivery is usually as soon as you want it.

If you like IKEA sofas, they have the enormous advantage of being able to be recovered with washable loose covers from Bemz. They have lots of different fabrics and shades, so you can ring the changes (winter to summer, for example) and you don't need to have a heart attack when your cat claws it/is sick on it. They also do different legs that just screw in. I have the most basic IKEA Klippan sofa, (coming up to 20 years old!) which I plan to replace in the next 12 months. But with a mustard linen cover and wooden legs, it's actually quite a nice piece of furniture that I'm happy to use while I save up for the big investment sofa (I also fret over big decisions like this).

Look on the Trade Secret website (you'll need to register). All their sofas are in stock - ex display etc - top brands, much cheaper and fast delivery.

Thanks for all your replies everyone. I'll check them out.
(Ikea sofas are not to my liking, I'm afraid.)

We bought two new sofas and a footstool from sofasofa.co.uk earlier this year and it was about 1,500 for all three items. They also come with delivery legs attached and you just take them off and screw in the proper taller legs when it's in the room. They even helped us get our old one out as they were a bit earlier than expected.
Our previous one was an old dfs one second hand and we had a cat that liked to have a good scratch. That sofa was a moleskin type fabric and you are right there are no threads to pull, but the holes he made just got huge!
Our new one is a cotton fabric and although the dog and cat hair does get a bit stuck in it, a good hoover with a hoover attachment for furniture soon pulls them out.
sofasofa.co.uk/collections/poppy-collection which we got in the Linoso fabric