the best and worst sofa shops

Our 2019 survey of sofa shoppers has uncovered the best and worst sofa shops, ranking dozens of big

the best and worst sofa shops

WHAT’S THE BEST SECTIONAL SOFA?

There definitely isn’t a single best sectional but I can tell you that after talking to a ton of people and reading endless reviews, sectionals are typically a “you get what you pay for” piece of furniture. You don’t have to go crazy with a $20,000 sectional to get an excellent one but on the other hand, don’t expect to get 20 years out of a $1000 sectional. When shopping for a sectional for our family room, I was looking for a high quality piece that we would have for at least the next 10-15 years and that would hold up well to daily use.

The two brands I highly recommend that I think make some of the best sectional sofas out there are Lee Industries and CR Laine – they’re both extremely reputable brands based in the US with several different sectional styles that I love. I ended up choosing a Lee Industries sectional mainly because I’ve had a great experience with their furniture in the past. Our sectional is {this design} which we ordered in a custom configuration from a Lee Industries retailer (none of the non-custom options fit our space unfortunately). Check out {this post} for all the nitty gritty details about the specific sectional we chose. For a similar non-custom (and less expensive) Lee Industries option, check out {this beautiful sectional}.

The most economical way to buy a Lee Industries sectional is purchasing one through Crate & Barrel (you can check out the Lee Industries sectionals they offer {here}) or Serena & Lily (you can see their sectionals {here}) and choosing one of their stock fabrics. If they don’t have a sectional style or stock fabric that works for you, then you’ll have to go custom (which is a good bit more $$$ but there are a ton of options) – you can go through either store or through a local Lee Industries retailer which you can search for {here}. If your head is spinning looking at those sectional price tags, I get it – it literally took us two years to pull the trigger on a nice sectional because it was so much money!

If a Lee Industries sectional is way over your budget, a great mid-priced option is Pottery Barn’s York sectional that you can find {here}. There are multiple configuration options, the choice of square of sloped arms, and slipcovered or non-slipcovered – my favorite is the slipcovered slope arm sectional found {here} – so pretty!

If your budget is super limited, I would look at the IKEA EKTORP sectional – it’s not a “forever” piece of furniture but it is a really great bang for the buck! I own one of the EKTORP sofas and after having it for five years, it’s still going strong:

WHAT THINGS SHOULD I LOOK FOR WHEN SHOPPING FOR A SOFA OR SECTIONAL?

When shopping for a sectional, some of the things I looked for that are indicators of a higher quality furniture piece are:

• US made
• Hardwood frame (avoid soft woods and particle board)
• Eight-way hand-tied springs
• Double-doweled and blocked joints on corners
• A good system for how the sections interlock. Our old sectional had plastic connectors that would often come apart and one even broke. My current sectional has metal connector that work beautifully – they always stay connected yet they’re easy to disconnect if you want to move any of the sections apart.

• WHAT’S THE BEST FABRIC FOR A SECTIONAL SOFA?

  There are some really amazing performance fabrics out there (Sunbrella, Crypton, etc .) so if you have young kids or pets you’ll want to check those out! They can withstand some of the worst of spills and still come back looking amazing because they can be washed (if you have a slipcovered sectional) or cleaned using things as harsh as a bleach solution! If you’re going to choose something that’s not a performance fabric, look at the double rub count of the fabric – a higher count means a heavier duty fabric that should wear better.

  HOW DO YOU KEEP YOUR LIGHT-COLORED SECTIONAL SO CLEAN?

  I get this question ALL of the time. And actually, while I really wanted to find a performance fabric to use on my sectional, I had a very specific linen-like look in mind and ended up going with Basket Natural (not a performance fabric) because it was exactly the look that I wanted. The things I do to keep it clean are:

  1. Don’t allow messy food and drinks on the sectional – we eat popcorn and drink water or seltzer on it but if it’s a food that has the potential to cause a bad stain, if you want to eat in the family room you have to eat it on the coffee table. Of course, when we have other adults over, we have wine and other goodies when hanging out on it – the food and drink rules are for the kids!
  2. Use lots of throw blankets – Hope is allowed up on the sectional so I made sure we always have a few throws on it – she would always rather cuddle up on a throw than lie on the bare sectional so it keeps her (and her hair) on the throws that can be thrown in the wash (oh the life of Hope!

source: drivenbydecore