New sofas

Thank you

Sofasofa are excellent value, durable, washable loose covers, massive range of styles and colours. Give them a look

Ooh, there was a lovely chaise longue in our local Age UK, the other day, needed re-upholstering, so I resisted. They also had a beautiful leather sofa, just the right height, but sadly only one.

Panache Thanks for you suggestions. We have looked at LA, but nothing was quite right, but I will look at sofa-com.

I love chaise longue, but what we want is a big squashy sofa to slump on.

Monica may I offer one suggestion......look up www.sofa.com/gb...........this company will make to your requirements and always seem to have sales,again lovely hard wearing materials,including lovely velvets to choose from.
Whilst not wishing to repeat myself frequently,our Laura Ashley sofas are quite low backed..........well worth a quick look on their catalogue which you can scan on line.
Another thought,what about a chaise lounge which would not hide your bookcase ......in fact it would enhance it I would think!!!

Callgirl1, I love your sinkable inableness (sp) description, and think it should be included in all seating descriptions forthwith. . I am still looking, but as our holiday draws closer, so does the fact that we may order new sofas whilst there.

A lot of the DFS sofas are Chinese imports - I saw a report from Felixstowe about the containers full of them coming into the port. SFS seems to sell various brands but they are more expensive.

Auntieflo, if you google ‘sofas with higher seats, you’ll find numerous links.

They may be a tad old fashioned but they are very comfy, most modern suites are too low and too squashy when stiff hips and knees arrive ? I’d rather comfort over fashion any day.

Dfs sofas vary in quality. You can buy a suite for £500 or a suite for£5000 it just depends on what you choose. You can't expect a lower price one to keep its looks or last very long but you can expect a more expensive one to last longer. Our current one was from furniture village and was from the higher end price range and still looks pretty much new after 4years . I don't like the prices of the gplan or Ercol ones and find them a bit old fashioned .
Many of them now include the higher seat chairs in their ranges nowadays but not sure about sofas.

We are sofa hunting at the moment. We have had our existing sofa, from the late lamented MultiYork for over 20 years, but one of the legs has come off and is not repairable.

Our biggest problem is that we have low cottage ceilings and a book case behind the sofa so that we do not want the back to be too high

A solution to higher seats on furniture you might already have could be ‘elephants feet’ — that is what my friend and I call them - big cups you put under the feet/legs which raise them. You can get them in medical equipment stores -we bought them for my friend’s mother. Another friend had the occupational therapy team put a contraption under his sofa but it is all joined together and a nuisance when you want to pull the sofa out to clean etc.
There is a co-operative called Sofa-sofa based in South Wales which sells direct the sofas made by the Welsh furniture companies. You can order from their catalogue or go to a shop if in the area - they deliver to all sorts of places and their fees are reasonable. I have two of their sofas and the covers are removable and washable -sort of a chenille fabric.
I have a sofa and armchair from Marks which is well over twenty years old and still going strong - it is upholstered in Wedgwood blue Bayer velour which is perfect and withstands a good scrub and dry off with a clean towel.

My problem isn`t just that I need higher cushions, but it isn`t always possible to know about sinkable inableness, sometimes I sit on a sofa and just can`t get out of it, and it`s so undignified having to be pulled up!

Sorry a bit off topic I just wonder whether anyone with G-Plan sofas have had them cleaned? Ours is in perfect condition and comfy but it’s looking decidedly grubby in places I’ve toyed with the idea of washing the cushion covers but it’s not advised and will only make the other grubbiness show more I’m sure. Really don’t want to pay out ££££££s for a new one just yet.

Anyone got any recommendations?

Slightly off subject, but we've got an Ikea opening in Exeter in May. I am so excited as I've only ever been to an Ikea once, somewhere up north.

We have purchased very much of our seating furniture through the Laura Ashley stores and though I would class them as perhaps mid range in price, they have certainly stood the test of time.
Whilst our Ercol wood furniture is almost as good as it was when bought some 40/50 years ago,our only one complaint,we now favour the ivory look and when we do move .........a massive downsizing project...........I hope those looking for second hand quality furniture will be happy to buy and I can then fulfill my dream and go for the lighter French inspired look!

P.S Sadly we too have heard that DFS settees do NOT stand the test of everyday wear and tear.

We bought a Parker Knoll Westbury suite recently. Like you I needed a higher seat and not a very deep seat as I like my knees to coincide with the edge of the seat. The suite isn’t as big as the modern ones tend to be. My daughter bought the Parker Knoll Canterbury which is bigger. When we looked at the specs I am sure they gave the seat height (House of Fraser). There is a choice of filling. They had two suites with different fillings on show to try. We opted for the fibre which is standard but there is also foam.

Nice to hear that I'm not the only one who likes a higher seat now. We used to have a lovely furniture store in our small town, but now we have to drive to a retail park to see anything like that, and they are not always easy to get to. I agree that G-Plan and Ercol are good makes, our dining room furniture is G-Plan, and we've had it for 57 years!!
In a couple of months, we are going on holiday, and in the town there is a super family run store. I may come home with a new suite as my souvenir.

I have had my ikea bed settee for 5 years. Its usec daily as asofa and maybe a month a year as a bed. Still as comfy now as the day i brought it. Bargain.

www.ercol.com/en-gb/living-room/sofas-armchairs/
Have a look at Ercol made in UK sofas, more expensive than Ikea but beautifully made and last for years. My sister has the Costanza in blue and loves it.
I have a Danish sofa made in 1960s which has been reupholstered it’s gorgeous and very comfortable. My DD has an Ikea sofa and is really happy with it. It depends on your budget. So, shop around and try them all out!

I agree Gplan furniture has higher seats and backs very comfy and well made.

I purchase a GP sofa which I particularly wanted and managed to get it with a huge reduction because it was on display in the showroom.
Oh my it is so so comfortable.
You can't beat comfort.

Our son has had an Ikea sofa for 14 years. Still very comfortable if too low for me. We have two small sprung armchairs that used to be in my office which are at least 18 years old. Springing still excellent, they are on their second set of (pale cream) covers. Sadly not available now as the covers could do with changing again. Many of the Ikea sofas have washable covers, a real bonus if there are sticky fingers (or messy husbands ) about. We have some G Plan and also a sofa we bought direct from a manufacturer, all good seat heights. I’d say go and sit in them and see, it is fairly easy to change the seat cushions if you need to.

We bought a G plan sofa a couple of years ago, as it was the only one with a high back. From the amount of furniture stores still around, some people must change their furniture very often!

Ikea furniture is good for the price, but the cushions tend to be a bit lacklustre in my experience.

Funnily enough, I was reading this the other day - www.gbfoamdirect.co.uk/replacement-cushions-for-sofas-sofa-cushion/

Perhaps you could buy an Ikea sofa and change out the cushions if you're looking for longevity in it?