Frequently Asked Questions

Choosing Upholstery

Shopping for a new sofa or easy chair is a surprisingly complex process. Here are some of the aspects of your decision making process:

Visual - Do I enjoy looking at it? Does it complement my room, my house? Will I be proud of it when guests are invited?

Comfort - Do you and your family like a sofa you sit "in" or one you sit "on"? The difference is for people who, when they relax, like to sit "in" a sofa are more likely to be comfortable when they slouch, lie down, or put their feet up. Folks who like more structured support generally relax when they sit "on" a sofa or chair and it supports their bodies properly.

Fit - You that is. This is an element of comfort. If you are short, then a shallow seat is important so that your feet hit the floor comfortably. If you are tall, than you will likely need a deeper seat, and a back height that catches your shoulders comfortably. Another aspect of fit is whether the angle of back to the seat suits you. Some people are more comfortable leaning back, others more upright.

Often this is a huge problem when couples shop for furniture. The question then is to determine who will be sitting on that new piece of furniture more often. For adult members of a household, it is very important that all have a place to relax that is comfortable to their definition of comfort. (It is not a surprise that the "wife" is often left out of this equation.) Kids are usually comfortable anywhere, especially when they beat you to the "comfortable" chair!

Fit - the room that is. Will the width and depth fit the intended spot in your room? (This requires you to have actual maximum measurements when you shop, not just think "I need a small sofa".) Will the scale of the piece be in keeping with the size of the room and with other decisions you've made about the room? Will traffic patterns be maintained? Can you get it into the house and then the room? Are door widths and turning angles big enough?

Fabric choice is perhaps the most difficult element to resolve as so much of it is subjective. But here are some aspects of this choice:

Your fashion preference is a key element in your fabric choice. What patterns please you? What colors cause you joy? What colors work with the rest of your room and home? What role does texture have in your preferences? There is no right or wrong here, only your personal desires.

Pattern, in addition to its fashion element, will affect over all maintenance of your upholstery in the following ways:

• Mid tone fabrics with a pattern are the least likely to show dirt and stains.
• Solid fabrics of any color with little or no texture are the most likely to show stains.
• Colors which are too light will show overall dirt more easily.
• Dark colors will show lint, ashes and dust more easily.

Durability is another element. How the new upholstery will be used is key here. Will it be placed where the family gathers every night and are the kids going to pile on it? If so, then durability becomes very important in the decision. If the chair or sofa will be in a room used less often and mostly by adults (respectful adults, that is), then durability has a broader definition.

Comfort, meaning is the fabric pleasing to the touch?

How does a particular fabric affect the overall comfort of the sofa? Some synthetics, such as olefin, have little give and will cause a sofa to feel a little stiffer whereas 100% cotton, for example, has a little give and will make the same cushion feel a little softer.

Cleanability is yet another factor when choosing new upholstery. The industry has a standard coding system to tell consumers how to clean the fabric on upholstery.

• W - means clean with water or water based products
• S - means any solvent based product
• WS - either
• X - used only for very delicate fabrics like silk.

In addition, many fabrics come pre-treated with a fabric protector, and we also offer a product called Fabricoat which we can apply before we deliver your new sofa or chair to you.

Style of the sofa or chair is largely a fashion decision. Do you like traditional, contemporary, transitional, with a skirt, without a skirt, straight arms, rolled arms, any number of other arm descriptions, wood trim? How high is the back? This is probably the element in the purchasing decision that people most frequently know when they arrive in our store.

Warranties are the measure of what a manufacturer thinks of their own product. Standard industry warranties for manufacturers of the quality that we offer for sale provide lifetime (sometimes prorated) on frames, springs and some cushions. Fabric is usually warrantied for a year.

Frames are the skeleton of the sofa or chair. Quality furniture will always be kiln dried, and the corners will have a combination of glued, screwed, doweled and blocked. Don't buy upholstered furniture whose frame does not come with a lifetime warranty.

Springs come in a variety of styles. Eight way hand tied coil is the way that upholstery was made for centuries until modern times. And it is still the way that high end upholstery is manufactured. But recent technology has brought about numerous new spring and coil structures that are just as comfortable and durable and are less expensive to produce.