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I have previously made a couple of bad sofa purchases that did not last. I am now buying a brown, genuine leather sofa and loveseat. I want it to last of course, but since I am redoing the whole room, including TV, I can't alot of money for all the things I need. So, what are good furnuture manufacturers that are reasonable (900-1400 per piece). Do you know much about Ashley or Southern Motion or Futura? I have never had a motorized reclining sofa. Do you think it will break with lots of use? If you want to look at PICS see my other post. Thanks!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: oojeanie,

You may have already learned that there are different grades of leather and how they were tanned. If dyed, some dyes are superfical. I am not experienced with the brands you mentioned tho I own a leather sofa. I can however highly recommend that you and all adult members of your family do some leg work after researching on the Web tips re. buying leather furniture. Seeing, touching, sitting and inspecting sofas in person is the safest route to follow. Armed w/ knowledge re. inner workings of brands, types of leather, store or manufacturer warranties will serve you well. Sitting on the sofa and testing everything from comfort level to cushion depth is vital. Do not let design esthetics, clever advertising or value prices sway you. Also, know what size will fit your space and if it will fit through doorways. Careful measurements ahead of time will be wise.

Re. motorized, I'd forego that feature as it sounds like a costly potential breakdown in the future. Then again, I don't own motorized furniture, but do own recliner chairs (two of which are leather).

Keep in mind that once you've found the perfect fit, brand, style, ask when annual sales may be upcoming to save you money or armed w/ important ID numbers, compare pricing on the internet. I have found that local furniture stores are willing sometimes to meet or beat on line store pricing if you go w/ a recent print out in hand.

IMHO anything motorized is going to be subject to many more problems than a sofa without electrical parts- just another thing to go wrong. For $1500.00 you should be able to get a decent sofa that would last and wear well.

None of the brands you mentioned would I consider to be good quality. I'd also stay away from Bassett. When buying anything leather, keep in mind that frame and springs need to be high quality too. Top grain leather is the only way to go. Beware of split grain or bonded leather. I recall you were thinking of a reclining sofa. The mechanism is only going to add to the cost and have the potential to break.

This may not be what you want to hear but with your budget I would be looking for a good second hand sofa from a reputable manufacturer like Bradington Young or Hancock and Moore. You will get so much more for your money.

Thank you for your input. I found those two manufacturers on a list of good furniture makers. One was a 6 and one was an 8 out of possible 10. The furniture store near me with a huge showroom does not carry those brands. What do you think of Flexsteel?

Flexsteel is a decent brand, certainly better than Ashley or Bassett.

We have Flexsteel sofas and they have survived twins. The twins are 5 now. We had a leather sofa, and sold it on Craig's List, so we could buy one with softer fabric. Leather wasn't snuggling worthy.

Well, since you made purchases in the past you were not happy with, it's good you're asking for opinions.

$1500.00 is probably the bare minimum for a well made 7ft leather sofa. The leather should be aniline dyed FULL grain leather, Top grain is good too. Glued, screwed and doweled kiln-dried hardwood frames and eight-way hand tied inner springs. The cushions should be 1 or 2 skins at the most double stitched. Remember the more pieces stitched together the higher the likelihood of a separation.

This quality should cost upwards of $2,000, but will last you at least 25 years or longer. They always have really well made leather sofas on sale. It's worth the research.
I would not get the brands you mentioned nor a piece with mechanical mechanisms inside.

Some brands you might check out:

Bernhardt
Lexington
Lane
Tommy Bahama
Henredon
Bradington-Young
Century
Drexel Heritage

Hancock and Moore is fantastic, but so are their prices!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: zone9alady,

Stay away from Ashley! From my own personal experience the quality is terrible and the leather started wearing after a week. Really disappointed.

quote:

quality should cost upwards of $2,000, but will last you at least 25 years or longer

This brings up exactly what was on my mind.

I bought a Natuzzi--for better or for worse, regarding quality. I've had it now for 16 or 17 years. I will DIE with this sofa because it's lasting us a very long time. (Of course, we don't have anyone abusing it.)

The point is, do you really want a sofa for that long a time? What if the next place it doesn't work with a new space? You might not plan on moving, but one never knows.

Would you be happier with a sofa that lasts, perhaps only 10 years, then see where you are at decorating-wise and house-wise?

Just things to consider.

Thanks to everyone for their thoughts. I found a Bradington-Young tonight. For the sofa and loveseat it would be $4000 before tax and delivery,-- total $4440. The Flexsteels I saw were about $2700 with tax and delivery. Indexlady, you do have a point, maybe I would like something new in 10 years. At my house I can't see anything being without any wear in that time. We have too many people here!

If I remember correctly, you live in a south suburb. If you don't mind heading down to the boonies, you can find much better prices at my favorite little family-owned furniture stores. They're not big or fancy, they're more like warehouses. It helps if you know what you want because there isn't much to try out. They do special order and the prices are amazing!

I bought my Bradington-Young sofa at http://www.leiserfurniture.com/index.html for about 60% of retail. IMO, this store is worth visiting just for the experience!

This little hole-in-the-wall, http://www.rolandosfurniture.com/index.html, sells Flexsteel. I haven't purchased furniture, but many of my friends have. I can tell you their appliance prices are fantastic, and from what I have seen the furniture prices are very good as well.

I have no affiliation with either of these stores. I only wanted to share that their prices and customer service are second to none!

Its good to hear from you Meldin, thanks for your reply. I found a small warehouse store near me. I am afraid to buy something from a catalog and they don't have anything just right on the floor.The owner drives to the Flexsteel warehouse in Dubuque to look for good buys on furniture. For example, he had a sofa with a 3" scratch in the leather on the arm. The set would be about $1000 less than if I purchased it new from Darvin. A scratch like thaat doesn't bother me, but do you think it would get worse? I am afraid to buy a sofa without sitting on it. I have been in every store in my area to find a model I like.

I understand your concern with the scratch. Whether it is a problem would depend upon the type of leather, how deep it is, where on the arm it is. On some leathers, surface scratches can be rubbed out with your fingers. Deeper scratches that go through the surface layers are there to stay and could definitely get worse.

Can the store owner email or text you a picture of the scratch? If he brings the sofa in to the store, are you bound to take it? If so, that's a risk you might not want to take no matter how good the price is.

Which Flexsteel model are you considering? I can pop into Rolando's tomorrow or Friday and see if they have it on display. It would be nice if you could try it out before purchasing.

Gotta run, but I'll be back tonight.

Leathercraft
McKinley
Hancock and Moore
Bradington Young

any decent leather sofa is going to be at least $2,000. anything less and it won't last.You can attest to the fact that inexpensive upholstery has a limited life span.

Thanks for the advice Charles. The only one of those I found near me is Bradington Young, and that was only one style. I'm still looking though!

quote:

Originally posted by Indexlady:

quote:

quality should cost upwards of $2,000, but will last you at least 25 years or longer

This brings up exactly what was on my mind.

I bought a Natuzzi--for better or for worse, regarding quality. I've had it now for 16 or 17 years. I will DIE with this sofa because it's lasting us a very long time. (Of course, we don't have anyone abusing it.)

The point is, do you really want a sofa for that long a time? What if the next place it doesn't work with a new space? You might not plan on moving, but one never knows.

Would you be happier with a sofa that lasts, perhaps only 10 years, then see where you are at decorating-wise and house-wise?

Just things to consider.

I have a natuzzi too and it has held up quite well so far..10 yrs in so far.

Here is link I saved, I think Nancy oringally posted it.

Leather furniture mfg and ratings.

Natuzzi isn't even a top one but mine is holding up great.

http://www.leathershoppes.com/...nufacturer_rank.html

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Always1StepBehind,

Always- thanks for the link. I think I would be happy with 10 years. It has only been 4 1/2 years and the one I have looks terrible!
I found a few more small stores that sell Lane. I am going to call and see what they have on the floor.

Lee Industries is a great line. I just purchased a sectional slip cover from them and the quality is superb! They are made in the US which I find is better quality than any import I've ever had. they are also a eight way hand tied frame.

With Lee if you purchase a slipcovered sofa from them and say 5 years later they discontinue the frame, they template your frame so that a slip cover for your 5 year old discontinued frame is still available.

I had B-Y leather recliner chairs and loved them. Changed color schemes and gave one each to sons. They are so comfy!!!

BTW: I work with Almans Furniture (Joel) in SC. They're wonderful to work with and have great prices. Usually can't beat them.