When it comes to furniture, the sofa (or sofas) is one of the biggest and most important investments that you make. This is because sofas are expected to give you years if not decades of reliable service.
Even once you’re done using them in the upstairs living room, you’ll eventually move them to the basement or family room, right?
All furniture naturally wears down over time, so it’s not like you should expect a sofa you buy to survive a lifetime of wear and tear. But you should still expect it to last you for a very long time, and since sofas are already very expensive, the specific sofas you buy is not a decision you should take lightly.
Here are the top five things to look for in a modern sofa:
1 – Construction Quality
Comfort is not the most important quality to look for when buying a sofa, but rather quality. This is because even if you buy the most comfortable sofa in the entire world, if it’s poorly made the comfort isn’t going to matter much in the long run, right?
Sofas can vary in price significantly. Some will only be a few hundred, while others will be several thousand. If you are on a budget, obviously you’re going to gravitate over to the lower end of the price spectrum.
Nonetheless, this does not necessarily mean that you need to sacrifice on quality in order to spend less money.
And here’s another way to think about it: even if you buy the cheapest sofa now, chances are it’s not as well made and therefore will not last as long, so down the road you’re going to be spending more money anyway.
A higher end sofa that costs several thousand dollars should last up to thirty years, while lower end sofas will only last for a fraction of that. Follow a rule of trying to buy the highest quality sofa you can for what you can afford.
2 – Comfort
The next most important quality to look for in a sofa will be comfort. Obviously if your sofa is not very comfortable to sit in, then you’re simply not going to use it (and what’s the point of having the sofa in the first place, in this circumstance)?
The best way to determine whether your sofa is comfortable or not will be to actually lay down in it at a furniture store. Take as much time as you need to try and get comfortable.
3 – Seating Needs
Besides being well made and comfortable, your sofas also need to be functional, and that means they need to sit enough people in your family. You also need to consider how many people you typically have come over to your house too.
If you need a sofa that can maximize the number of people who can sit it in at once, consider a sofa with an L-shape. These will typically provide additional seating in comparison to straight line sofas.
4 – Frame
It’s not the cushions and upholstery that you need to be so concerned about when it comes to the durability of your sofa, because they can be easily replaced and are relatively cheap. The real part of the sofa that you need to be concerned about is the frame. Cheaper sofas will typically have frames made out of plastic, which is why they don’t last as long.
In contrast to this, higher end sofas will either use durable metal or hardwood for their frames, which will last for several decades. To test the frame construction of the sofa, lift one leg of the sofa about six inches from the floor. If the other front leg does not rise quickly from it, then it means the frame is twisting, and the frame is not very strong.
5 – Quality Operating Mechanisms
If the sofa reclines, you will need to make sure that the mechanism works smoothly and solidly. If it feels rough trying to get the sofa to recline back, that’s a huge red flag and a sign that the furniture is cheaply made.
Buying A New Sofa
Buying a new sofa should not be something that you take lightly because of the high expense it almost always comes with, and also because of the fact that it’s totally reasonable to expect that your furniture should last you for many years.
Keep the above qualities and pieces of advice in mind the next time that you go sofa shopping.