Is this an insane price for a leather sofa bench

[onlychildhamster]

I am fantasy shopping a little, I only own cheap furniture (ikea/muji/made- maybe not mega cheap but definitely not ££££) so I probably could not bring myself to spend this!

www.curiosityinteriors.co.uk/dining-furniture-c3/dining-chairs-benches-c23/bianco-leather-harris-tweed-dining-bench-p3769

My set up in my reception room is that we never had a sofa, we have a sofa dining bench and a Muji Dining table and chairs. We currently have this. My DH likes leather sofas but not the really bulky ones (which is why we opted for sofa benches which are slimmer). We think we have space for the 160cm 3 seater and the existing sofa bench would just be on the other side. We only have two extra chairs and those are usually tucked in on the left and right side of the table.

www.made.com/ppc/flynn-dining-bench-graphite-grey?utm_content=shopping-prospecting&madelp=gshopping&gclid=Cj0KCQiAieWOBhCYARIsANcOw0wG4wnUuFcYPYDqlGbaHPIrdxK3xIyBX6YIdtzr1s3h4uxqHglj75kaAhZVEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

It seems crazy expensive to me, but then it is full leather... I hate PU leather! I don't need everything to be matchy matchy so it doesn't bother me having two different benches.

I'd never heard of a sofa dining bench! where do you sit to watch telly?

Anyway, while I wouldn't spend that, it's posh leather furniture, so I'd expect it to be pricey. If it's well made, built to last, and you love it (and can afford it) then it's not that outrageous but it's still an odd piece of furniture IMO. Maybe a second-hand one would work?

I actually think the leather one is really reasonably priced!

Expensive but not insane. I think it looks very nice actually so would expect it to be upper end of price range.

Am a bit confused that you have no sofa?

I did notice that the price in the link is for the cheapest option, but a multi-seater one is a lot more.

£558? I have to go look again. It shouldn't be that cheap.

OK, so that's for the chair. More reasonable. But no, decent leather furniture shouldn't be cheap.

That’s quite cheap really.

That's for slouching watching the telly?! Bloody hell treat yourself to a proper sofa!

@titchy I don't have a telly! :)

@MrsMadderRose I don't have a telly. But my DH has an amazing home office in our living room; always has since pre pandemic! We often have multiple dishes so a BIG table is a priority for us.

I generally watch shows in bed on my laptop. DH has a projector but we haven't used it for ages. if we do watch shows, its usually on the laptop! And we watch when eating a proper meal

@Chewbecca When we lived with my MIL before we bought our flat, she doesn't believe in TV so we spent all our evening time in the dining room talking while eating. And when i was growing up, we had a formal reception room but it didn't have a tv either, my parents had tv in their bedroom. So we only used the formal reception room for guests, the dining table for everyday. So I have a formal dining room table with a comfortable bench for long meals...

*dining room for everyday.

For confused peeps...

What about reading? Don't you need a comfortable place to do that? I don't spend my whole time eating and talking at the table, even with guests we move to more comfortable sofa.
But I thinks those examples aren't expensive at all.

@onedayoranother I have a home office in the second bedroom and i generally read there! I usually read at my desk and if I am really tired, i move to the guest bed or my bed....I call it the guest bed but actually its just where we nap... my SIL is one of my guests and she says my sofa bench is comfy (though admittedly at her mum's house, her mum only has wooden chairs).

I planned all this out when we first bought our flat cos I had a vision we would stay here with 1 small DC and obviously reception room needs to fit a piano for baby DC and there needed to be a big desk for both of us. Then came the pandemic, and i wanted my own home office (plus got a hamster who now lives in the home office) And DH got used to having the huge desk to himself. So now we are looking at 3 bed flats in our area and actually have the nursery... But I am so used to this set up, we would probably have the same set up in the new flat. I thought of maybe getting a small sofa, but what would be the point, we don't even have a telly and the dining table is very handy to put the projector on :)

@onedayoranother oh and in case it wasn't clear, i was getting a bit too ahead of myself with the piano thing. But DH does want to get a piano for himself, we are just waiting for the right one (planning on getting it second hand). For now that wall/side is empty and DH uses that wall to project movies onto it.

Oh I just realized I didn't say in the OP- the made dining bench is what I have now...

My DH just told me that he would like one in a darker leather..and he thinks it may become flaky/not age well. I thought if it is high quality leather, it wouldn't flake?

[quote onlychildhamster]@Chewbecca When we lived with my MIL before we bought our flat, she doesn't believe in TV so we spent all our evening time in the dining room talking while eating. And when i was growing up, we had a formal reception room but it didn't have a tv either, my parents had tv in their bedroom. So we only used the formal reception room for guests, the dining table for everyday. So I have a formal dining room table with a comfortable bench for long meals...[/quote]
I think its reasonable not cheap, not expensive.

Not the point of the thread but hours after work spent just chatting to Mil. Well anyone bar my partner and child would have me having a breakdown. I need down time. I just can't imagine. Gives me anxiety thinking about it.

Not expensive at all if its well made and exactly what you want. I couldn’t live without a comfy sofa / chair combo though, for watching movies / footy / reading…

@refraction my MIL has always WFH since she was in her late 20s. She is now late 50s. She does have many friends but she tends to see them on shabbat (Friday to Saturday). As generally that's when her friends socialize. Otherwise she is alone all day and I suppose being human, she needs the company and its a small ask for her children living rent free as adults in her home (which enabled us to buy our flat). She is a nice lady even though of course we wouldn't agree on every issue! Also she goes to the gym too but it's probably not enough interaction.

And of course on Friday to Saturday, she isn't able to use electricity, travel, clean, cook, write etc so chatting is an easy way to while away the hours. Yes you can go on a long walk, go to synagogue, read, nap etc but people generally use the time to socialize and catch up.

WFH in the long term (talking about years here) does have an isolating impact, I wonder if we would see the impact on society in the long run

Thanks for all the comments. It's not that I can't afford it per se for an expensive piece of furniture. It's just that a lot of the people I know tend to use cheaper options. Like I was talking to my friend who was buying her first house and she was bemoaning she might have to go up to £425k and probably can't afford nice furniture. I told her I was in the same situation 2 years ago and bought from IKEA/Muji/made and spent less than what I thought I would. She said that she was going to charity shops!

So I did wonder that apart from the likes of Carrie Symonds who can get Tory donors to sponsor her renovation, if people in general spend less on furniture these days...

Oh and my friend told me IKEA wasn't really cheap compared to cancer aid or something.

@MrsKDB I usually watch movies on my laptop so would put it on a table. Idk, I think it's what you are used to. My living room growing up didn't have a telly so we only used it for guests. We ate in a separate dining room. We watched TV in my parents' room in bed. I always thought those TV beds look nice even though I don't like watching TV nowadays!

DH grew up in an orthodox Jewish household and went to a primary school where TV wasn't even allowed (my MIL doesn't have tv though cos she is a hippie). In Jewish households, socializing happens primarily around the dining table...

In the past I always thought I was the only one with a combined living/dining area but i think it may be a thing in Japan! These tables are too small though, I would need a bigger one.

From muji