Comfortable but supportive sofa and chairs

I have G-Plan sofa and recliner they are high backed and very comfortable. They aren’t the most stylish styles but I go for comfort over style nowadays. Expensive but mine still looks good after 10 yr.

Could you raise the legs?
Change the cushion fillings?

Weve just bought an Ercol corner unit which is lovely and comfortable.

Buying sofas and chairs is a real gamble isn't it? This is our first new sofa for over 40 years. Our previous pair had been recovered and refigured 4 times because we knew it suited us.

We bought G-Plan 3 years ago after visiting many shops and sitting on recliner chairs and sofas to test for support and comfort.

We chose a suite in light grey fabric and so wish we hadn’t.

It gets full marks for support and comfort ✔️
But it’s been professionally cleaned 3 times and the 2 chairs DH and I sit on - with recliners - look so grubby. I think it’s a bit like carpets where you can see a difference once you use a certain area regularly.

I regret not choosing leather as the suite was expensive and I won’t be happy with it much longer as the chairs especially look so grubby.

G-plan for us too. We like the high backed styles. You must be so disappointed sparkling, as missfoodlove says have a think if the sofa can be adapted in any way, if not take your time over a different choice. We knew we wanted G-plan as we’d liked our previous sofas so much. The staff in the independent shop we found encouraged us to sit for as long as we wanted and indeed to not make a decision on one day but to return a couple of times to be certain of our choice. Good luck with getting comfortable.

Oh sorry to hear this Sparkling, how disappointing for you.

We have two Marks and Spencer Abbey sofas, one in dark blue leather and one in cream.
They are 17 years old, are still amazingly comfortable and in great condition. Lots of people remark on how comfortable they are.
Occasionally, overnight visitors have even slept on them and report having a really good nights sleep.

We saw them online and then went to a large M&S store and tried them out. We bought them in their sale and saved well over £1000 and paid them off on interest free credit.

I hope you find something lovely and comfortable. ?

For our snug we have ordered furniture from Next. The beauty is we can send it back after 14 days if it isn't comfortable or if we don't like it. Our son has Next sofas and they are very comfortable.
We have a new M and S sofa and chair in another room but are not pleased with the quality, the fabric is wrinkling.

We had three bad sofas and finally gave in and bought Ercol. It’s been wonderful for 19 years and , as the wooden frame is still in excellent condition, it’s about to go away to be reupholstered. It cost a fortune but was worth every penny

Puzzler61 as I say I have GPlan and I know you aren’t supposed to but I’ve taken the covers off the cushions and arm rests and put them on a wool wash in my washing machine, this I’ve done twice now and they come out fine. I cleaned the foot rest on the recliner with Vanish upholstery cleaner it works really well.

Yes, Tanith, I have a Designers' Guild fabric on my main sofas and I wash the covers on a cool wash no problem. It was scary first time.

I've realised I have 4 sofas in total. Oh well, the dog finds them all comfy!

If it's just the height that's the issue with your sofa, you can buy leg raises.
They just fit over the original ones.

They're not the most elegant looking things, though.

G Plan for us too, go and sit on some sofas and chairs, Furniture Village usually have a good selection.Then choose your colour/material from the swatch.Nothing too light coloured! Ours is terracotta, had it for 7 years, and good as new.Extremely comfortable and hard wearing, and made here (Somerset.)

Another vote for G Plan. We replaced a very stylish but uncomfortable sofa for two G Plan high backed chairs which DH and I sit in and a two seater Sofa from Next for when we have guests. I would have gone for leather but DH resisted as he said it’s too uncomfortable, we do protect the fabric with throws if we sit down for long periods of time but I have washed sofa covers in the past with a cold wash with good results and wouldn't hesitate to do so again.

Perhaps I need to clean in the ways suggested tanith , in between the yearly foam clean ones.

I was loathe to do it as I thought I might make it worse. It get’s scotchguarded too when the cleaning company come.
The washing machine sounds a little daunting , but I might give it a try. Thanks.

Ekornes Stressless for us. You can buy chairs in three different sizes to get a good 'fit'. Our leather ones are fifteen years old and are so easy to look after.

Ooh dear, Sparkling - can imagine your disappointment. We have a G-plan 3 seater sofa and one armchair (dark brown leather) bought early last year from an independent furniture retailer where we felt less pressured. We took ages choosing (drove my DH berserk with my indecision over shops/designs/fabrics etc!) and went to several of the more well known chain stores too. Really pleased with the sofa and chair. Very comfortable and supportive. My DD told us she wouldn’t have chosen it as it seems she tends to go for trendier styles, but on looking round the stores, we found that many of the sofas were style over substance - low backs, long seat, soft squashy upholstery, more for sprawling on than anything else. Would really recommend our sofa, the style is called Watson. I think it’s quite attractive too! Sorry - can we advertise on Gransnet?! It has reclining seats which can be manual or electric (we chose manual) but you can have without recliners on. I feel for you - will the store be willing to exchange/refund by any chance? I would call them if you haven’t had the sofa for very long to see what they an suggest. Don’t delay though - the longer you’ve had it, the more difficult it will be. Good luck!

Thank you all. The sofa is 12 months old, but it has to go as it’s no use keeping it if I can’t use it. I am not usually so wasteful, but slipped up this time, our local Cancer Support will have it, so it will go to a good home.

Yes - you’ll feel better if someone else can use it. We all make mistakes when choosing things for the house, so best wishes with choosing your next sofa. Comfort is key, but there are some attractive ones out there which are also comfortable. Don’t be rushed into making a decision!

We have a G Plan sofa and it's great, extremely comfortable. Only issue is that I stupidly went for a light cream fabric and it already looks grubby after less than a year. Wish I had stuck to my original choice of blue speckles which wouldn't have shown any marks so easily.
Previously we had a tan leather sofa for about 8 years.

Im.now on my third set of lounge seating after parting with my much loved Schriber suite about 15 years ago, my eldest daughter scrounged it from us when she moved home, so we replaced it with a Sherbourne settee and two matching recliners. The recliners were fine, but the settee was rather uncomfortable and too small to fully stretch out on if ever one of us fancied a snooze! It was replaced by a three and a two seater Harvey's recliner suite, very comfortable to sit on, but the recliner mechanisms were rubbish and regularly would jam in the reclined position, leaving us stranded and in need of help to get back up into standing position. My youngest daughter has now had this suite for almost 4 years, and is still fine as a conventional seating suite, but she never uses the reclining facility, which was an expensive waste of money. We now have a Sherlock suite from Next, a Grande chair, Single standard chair, and a Snuggle chair in Burford fabric. Its just a over year old, the fabric is wearing fine, but the Grand Chair has had to be replaced under warantee when the frame failed and the seat caved in. This was DHs chair, bought to support his head better than a standard size as he is extra tall, but only weighs 12stones, so it certainly did not fail due to his weight. Next were rather slow at replacing it, sent an upholsterer to try and repair it first, even though it was plain to see that it was the wooden base frame that had failed. 12 weeks later a replacement arrived, only being of a different fabric batch to the original pieces, there is a visible shade difference, the replacement chair being lighter. DH is still not really comfortable on this suite, but has taken to sitting in the standard sized chair for the time being. I am on the lookout for a nice big comfy recliner that we both can use, but I have yet to find one to suit our needs.