Sofas that have stood the test of time - where to buy a decent sofa?

[roonetta]

We bought two leather sofas around 4 years ago from Sofology and the seating has sagged badly. No surprise Sofology aren’t interested and say it’s normal wear and tear. We are looking to purchase new sofas but the big furniture companies like DFS, Furniture Village etc. all have terrible reviews and seem to have recurring issues of sagging or pooling fabric/leather after a short time. Can you give me your sofa brands that have stood the test of time? I am fed up of finding a sofa I like and then reading bad reviews. We don’t mind if it’s fabric or leather, although would prefer seat cushions that are not fixed and can be turned regularly. Thanks 😊

We bought a huge modular corner sofa from DFS 19 years ago. All of our 4 now adult children loved it so much since all their friends fit on it, 2 DC even acknowledged The Sofa in their theses. After about 12 years our cat had scratched it so we gave it to DD as she moved out to get married. We bought another corner sofa which was never quite the same. Then to my delight someone was selling one of our original corner sofa, the exact same one so we bought it and it’s still going strong today!

Loaf all day long :-)

This looks lush! And I’m shamelessly place marking because I’ll need to buy a sofa soon!

My Next leather sofas lasted 18 years. The only thing wrong with them was the bloody cat had picked them to pieces.

Us too ... think it's called goodwood

Have only had our (fabric) French Connection Zinc sofas (from DFS) for 6.5 years but they genuinely look and feel that same as they did the day they were delivered.

We bought G-plan sofas from an independent retailer. Best thing we ever did wonderful service nothing too much trouble. Find an independent company honestly they care far more about good service than the big chain stores.

Multiyork sofas still going strong here after over 22 years!

And finally retired an excellent Ikea 3 seater that did 25 years and was pretty good still…just had one corner destroyed by the cat. Loose cover went through several colour changes with Dylan machine dye 😁

We have a DFS sofa in the kids playroom that we’ve had for 11 years and going strong. It’s handling the kids jumping all over it well 😂🙈 we’ve also got a next sofa, which we’ve had for 18 months and so far doing well but hasn’t really had a chance to stand the test of time yet!

DFS here too but make sure you go for the foam cushions, not whatever the other choice is. I rarely turn them and never have to plump them up. I run over them every now and then with Dr beckmans just to clean off dog slobber, unrecognisable child food stains etc and they look good as new.

That’s lovely. Thanks for the link. I think we will have a look at DFS again, lots of reassuring comments about them.

Since your sofas are only 4 years old and are leather I'd just get new cushion pads/foam for them. It's ridiculously wasteful to replace a sofa after just 4 years, they should last for life. If you must replace it please put the old ones to a BHF shop (or equivalent) so someone else can make use of it. Approximately 22 million pieces of furniture are discarded annually in the UK because of fast fashion in interiors, it's a massive issue.

Thanks for your comment – I completely understand where you're coming from. Believe me, we're not approaching this from a 'fast furniture' mindset at all. We were really disappointed that the sofas haven't held up, especially as we expected them to last much longer than four years. Unfortunately, the cushions are fixed so we can't just re-foam them ourselves, and getting an upholsterer in to fix all the issues would likely cost more than the sofas are worth – especially given there are other faults too, not just sagging, like loose legs.

We will look into donating them, but realistically, they're not in a condition that most charities would accept – they're quite uncomfortable and visibly sagging. So we’re only replacing them because they’ve become impractical, not because we’re trying to upgrade or change the look. Just one of those unfortunate purchases we regret, really.

Natuzzi 20 years here too perfect condition

Our Ikea sofas are 21 years old. Had new covers once and new foam once. They should do us another 10 years easily. One is a sofa bed.

still sold in Ikea (though the sizes have changed a little).

Doesn’t that make them the Trigger’s broom of the sofa world

My partner inherited a Ligne Roset sofa from his divorce.... Over 20 years old... It is still the most comfortable sofa I have ever tried. So stains on the fabric but I can't really find a fault in it to make him change it... Sadly they don't make that model anymore.

@Unluckyjim- no not really, there’s so much more to a sofa than a cover and some foam! There’s a frame, back cushions, on one sofa there’s a bed and on both sofas there is feather stuffing as well as the foam! There’s also arm rests, feet, the back rest. I dunno. Loads to a sofa (well ours anyway). Cheaper and better for the environment to replace those bits than the whole sofa.

If you have a local department/furniture shop anywhere near you I would go there. They'll have a range of kit and will often do deals if you want to get eg a footstool as well or if you want something made in a more expensive finish or whatever. We have a couple nearby that have both been going since approximately Methuselah time and the reason they're still in business is because they pick and choose decent quality makes and look after their customers properly.

Sofa.com

Dfs - had it 16 years and just got it recovered as the dog had scraped the leather so much. I still love it

Sorry @SciFiScream , I know you’re right but it was just too good!

Buy antique/vintage and get it reupholstered. I have sofas that are 200 years old and the frames are bomb proof. Reupholstery isn't cheap because a properly upholstered sofa is a skilled job. You can usually buy a decent quality roll end of upholstery fabric on line - I had a victorian sofa reupholstered recently and the designer fabric that cost £80 a metre was less than £10 a metre from a roll end specialist (who shipped it very reasonably direct to the upholsterer for me).

Update: After a lot of consideration, and numerous treks around furniture stores, we decided to go down the replumping route. Called a local upholsterer who has said it will cost £400 for both sofas. They will come to our home to do it, and will replace the foam with decent stuff. We can strengthen the legs ourselves. Our thought process is that they might last us another few years, and we just couldn’t justify spending a few thousand on new sofas which might do the same again. Thanks for all your comments, they really were helpful 🩷