Are there actually any decent sofa shops??

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We need a new sofa, don't want to order online as want to sit and try. We've been to the usual places - DFS, sofology etc. All of them seem to get bad reviews - not being delivered on time etc. I k ow you're more than likely to get a bad review than a good one, but are there actually any decent ones out there, without going to a bespoke shop and paying £££??

Hit send too soon!
Just wanted to add I'm not meaning to sound defensive on my last comment, I had been going to add it's interesting how people have such different opinions of these things.

My DFS sofa lasted 10 years, and could have gone on longer. It was one of the more expensive ones, and we paid extra for the firmer cushions. It was well worth it, I have no idea if they're as good now. It was the best sofa we ever owner and we still miss it now.

'Mine is Ikea and it's 12 years old with the only wear being some scratches from our cat when she was a kitten.
Not sure what traditional but modern is but ours is the Ektorp sofa. Not first time home owners at all.'

I think Ikea is abit of a mixed bag, like anywhere it depends what you get. We actually got a traditional style armchair from there that has been amazing, they discontinued it so we got it in the sale!

I feel your pain. DS looked at everywhere in a 40 mile radius, most realy uncomfortable, particularly support under the thighs. And how do those massive sofas fit into modern houses? His house is 50 years old but the rooms aren't massive.
He ended up with a DFS one, and time will tell. Ikea were the next best .

Look for an independent. We've bought from Sofa Sofa plus a retailer in Glos. Decent prices and excellent service/quality.

Having had a lot of pricier sofas we’re going for Ikea next time with Bemz custom covers.

Well, our new DFS one arrived today, about an hour ago - half an early than originally planned which is great.
It looks stunning, fabric is lovely. It's very firm atm but the sales person said it would as it's new & needs to be squished.
It fitted in fine, got through the doorways & corner turn.
It's this one:

www.dfs.co.uk/orka-velvet/rok1zcse6

I'm in the same dilemma. Had a DFS velvet sofa and chair delivered April and was faulty so replacement sent (not an easy process) which was also faulty. Both being collected next week and we are getting a full refund. I have had 3 leather sofas from DFS before. One is a bit dippy but now 5 years old and one of them was fantastic for 13 years! I think they do leather ones well. I'm now looking at Next, a friend purchased one recently and is really happy with it. I thought about Sofa.com as I love their styles/fabrics but read a thread on here about how badly made they are now and they are not cheap. I am also looking at Barker and Stonehouse.

Try Nabru. Yorkshire made, Modular, design your own sofas. Really good value and just fantastic. Just about to order our third sofa in a year as we are so happy with them.

I was concerned re what I’ve heard about dfs until I read that they provide a massive proportion of the country’s sofas so percentage wise there’ll be issues. We got ours in February and are really happy with it. I’d say the sofa I loved online was awful when I actually tested it out though.

I've just replaced our DFS corner sofa with another as it was 10 years old and the back support bar was dislodged by jumping children. I don't know anyone who has gotten a DFS sofa that went wrong!

We're nabru too, got it the Friday before lockdown, no dipping cushions front or back. Got a mix of soft and firm cushions so anyone can get a decent seat. Only thing is we got a puppy in that time whos bobbled some of the frankly silly fabric choice, got free replacement.

otherwise it's been cheap range dfs, got through 3 of them in 10 years.

Yeah we had DFS before these, shocking quality when you actually see what’s under the exterior and cost us almost double our main Nabru sofas.

I love the fact you can replace parts with Nabru, get new covers in other colours and fabrics and they’re washable too. What’s not to love? Their website is a bit dated but the sofa builder function is brilliant. I also recommend paying the £75 assembly charge, the guys put them together so fast, it would take me all day 😂

I have a huge dfs sofa that is fifteen years old and still so comfy / in good condition. I have had some spare covers made for it but it’s survived several house moves , pets and kids and still going strong

I tend to find its really hard to actually find the model you want to try out. I think its really risk to buy a sofa without sitting on it first. So I like IKEA, they last much longer than you might think (I bought one in 2009 and only just recently got rid of it because I fancied a change).

It's worth looking at independents. We struck lucky when we were wanting to replace our sofas. Having been deeply unimpressed by the big brands, we found a 'bespoke' company (James&Rose) which turned out to be in our area. They weren't as expensive as we'd imagined, obviously there were no middlemen and large showrooms, and they could customise to exactly the sizes we wanted with an absolutely huge selection of fabrics.

I went for Ikea in 2020. Bought a Lidhult two seater sofa, £600, attracted by being able to extend and adapt it as needed in the future, and the replaceable covers. Unfortunately... they discontinued it in 2021! If I had known this was planned I would not have bought it.

So do watch out with Ikea if you need future flexibility. Other than that, it has proved robust and comfortable, although the cover material declined in appearance quite quickly as it was a 'loose' weave.