need to buy a couch - recommendations?

[luvmyfam444]

the one we have is actually fairly new (in my mind anyway - being only 4yrs old) but it looks like CRAP. The part that really sucks is that it was pretty expensive too from a nice store - thought it was supposed to be an okay brand.

SOOOO now I'm wanting to know a good brand -middle of the road that will take the weat & tear of kids - not leather -like the look hate the feel.

I can't afford Bernhardt or Henredon - they're way out of the budget.

Actually I've been thinking of getting rid of the couch all together -only 1 person sits on there @ a time typicallybut I don't wanna regret not having one

 

[ukwildcat]

I don't have a brand suggestion, but we've had a microfiber couch for 10 years that has held up very well. We have it cleaned once or twice a year when our carpets are cleaned. 3 kids under age 4 as well. Good luck.

 

[bballmom56]

We have a couch made by Lane that we absolutely love. It is the only seating in the living room/family room, so it gets a LOT of use. It is a 3 piece sectional, very comfortable, very durable. We have had it for 13 years now.

ukwildcat ~ my DS is visiting a friend at UK this weekend so that he can go to the game today! Since the game is on CBS, I will see if I can spot him in the student section.

 

[dawson5]

We bought a flexsteel about 10 years ago. The couch has held up well but it needs to be recovered, hubby and boys abused it quite a bit. We now have one from Sofa Select, it's nice but I don't think it will hold up as well as the Flexsteel one, the back cushions are already starting to tear away from the frame. Then we still have our first couch, we bought it at Value City. It has held up but looks like cr@p. It's almost 20 yrs old. It was our main couch when the boys were little, there was a lot of drool marks and food spills on it. We rented a carpet cleaning machine with an upholstery tool and spent quite a bit of time cleaning it. It looks a lot better now. If you still like your couch, spend $25 and see if you can clean it up, it's worth a shot and a lot cheaper than a new couch.

 

[aprilgail2]

We have Lazy Boy furniture and we love it!

 

[golfgal]

We custom ordered our furniture from a company called C.R. Laine. We have had it now for 6 years and it still looks brand new. I have been very happy with it. We have 2 couches and 2 chairs in our family room and a custom sectional in our TV room. I would say that they are a mid-price line-the sectional was about $3000 and the couches were about $1500 each.

 

[powellrj]

I can tell you what NOT to buy, DO NOT buy a Jennifer convertable. We wanted something inexpensive for our family room and it was beyond cheap. What came was nothing like I saw in the showroom. I guess I should add, ONCE it came, it was nothing like was in the showroom.

 

[tommya60]

We shopped for a new couch for forever...our 16 year old couch had to be replaced and recovering was going to cost almost as much as a new couch. I finally went to a local store, just to see what they had--not a branch of a major "name brand" place. I love my new couch--it's exactly what we wanted, delivered in 3 weeks, great price and so comfortable. Manufactured here in state...which I like. Since it is very new (less than a week old) I can't confirm how long it will last, but Dh is very impressed with the construction (he does woodworking for fun). Check around your area for a similar store, you might be surprized.

 

[DMickey28]

I don't have a brand suggestion either. We have two cats, a dog and soon to be two boys. We buy our furniture with the idea it will last us a few years before it needs to be moved to a less used room!

We just bought two microfiber couches for our living room from Jordan's furniture's discount/discountinued room. One is a full size 90'' couch with a recliner on each end. A little lighter than milk chocolate color microfiber. The other is a love seat with two rocker/recliners. Each was $477, with the warranty and fabric protection. Total with delievery was just over $1K. We figure if they stay in this room for 3-4 years before needing to be moved into the kids playroom it was a decent deal.

We always shop in those discount rooms ... this was in there because it was last years model. We got the pieces brand new from the warehouse, not floor models or anything like that.

 

[ericamanda01]

We got the Ektorp from Ikea and it has removable covers that are washable. I love this couch! I don't know if it's a special fabric, but I have spilled coffee, soda, wine, and so many other things and there is not one stain. We have 3 cats and 2 dogs and even they haven't stained it. If you have an Ikea near you I would check out what they have.

 

[disneybound2010]

Catnapper!I had never heard of the brand until I fell in love with my couch,but apparently, it is one of the leading competitors of LazyBoy. We got ours at Wolf Furniture a couple of years ago(during a big sale) and it has held up beautifully so far.It's a microfiber 3 piece sectional and is the most comfortable couch I have ever laid on. We did opt to have the fabric protector added and that has been a big lifesaver! Between my DH and child, I am forever cleaning up spills and messes...yet the furniture still looks brand new! Hope this helps some!

 

[DawnCt1]

Shop around, even for Bernhardt. Pick your style, fabric, etc. and then shop the North Carolina outlets. Years ago we bought a Bernhardt bedroom set for what a knock off would have cost us. Two years ago we bought a living room set for $1200 less than what I would have paid locally. Its a Rowe. I don't know how "sturdy" it is because we don't use the living room on a daily basis, but it still looks great. I have an Ethan Allen sectional in the family room that gets used all of the time. It looks okay but after 14 years, I am happy with "okay".

 

[luvmyfam444]

Thanks for the replies. Ya know I wish there weren't so many choices out there - it'd make decisions much easier.

The couch we have has the Sunbrella fabric on it - supposed to be great - but none of the stains come out with just using the Spot Bot - talked to a rep from Sunbrella & he said after trying a list of things (he emailed it to me) then to use Acetone, I'm a bit scared of that so I haven't tried it yet. I'd think it would make the couch highlly flamable.

Though the stains are a problem the WORST part is the stuffing they used in the back cushions - it's all lumpy & the throw cushions are the same (but not the sitting cushions) Its rather odd - almost like they'd been in the wash & got all wadded up & just didn't lay out straight - but not quite that bumpy.

So - onward the search goes....

 

[N.Bailey]

We have Lazy Boy furniture and we love it!

I'm going to 2nd this. We had a Lazy Boy sofa and recliner that stood the test of time all thru the years of raising my kids. We replaced it a few years ago and when I got rid of it, it looked better than this crappy excuse for a sofa that we have now (it's an Ashley and I would NEVER recommend them to anyone).

We looked high and low for our current set because certain criteria needed to be met (kids had to have a sleeper sofa and against my better judgment, we bought it). All the other sleepers didn't have the width to sit comfy, or they were too hard, too small, or too something or other!!! Oh, what a huge mistake and we paid over 2K for it. For a couple hundred more, we could have bought the new Lazy Boy that I really wanted at the time (kids were upset that it didn't meet the "criteria," and truth be told, we never use the sleeper anyway and really never did).

Buy the micro fabric as has been suggested already though. You will not be disappointed with the fabric. Even pet hair doesn't adhere to it. This should make it a huge selling point if you have a pet.

 

[puffkin]

We have Lazy Boy furniture and we love it!

I third this! Their furniture is high quality, stylish and affordable. It isn't the cheapest out there, but it is priced well for the quality. I was surprised at how nice their stuff was when I went to the show room....I was envisioning just recliners. Our family room set looks like new 8 years later and except for the damage my cat did to the one corner, our living room set does as well after 4 years. We have a dog, 2 cats, almost 4 year old climbing around on our furniture daily. None of our pieces are recliners!

 

[luvmyfam444]

GREAT! WE have a Lazy-by showroom near here - I've never been it - it will certainly be worth the visit! Yep I only thought of recliners as well

 

[Mickeypooh99]

We have a couch made by Lane that we absolutely love. It is the only seating in the living room/family room, so it gets a LOT of use. It is a 3 piece sectional, very comfortable, very durable. We have had it for 13 years now.

ukwildcat ~ my DS is visiting a friend at UK this weekend so that he can go to the game today! Since the game is on CBS, I will see if I can spot him in the student section.

We have a 3 piece sectional from Lane that is 8 years old, and it hasn't held up at all! The frame is falling apart. The seams have ripped. I have sewn them up all over the couch. My DH has had to nail the frame back together. We will never buy another Lane. The seams started ripping within 6 months after we bought it.

 

[stsomewhere]

We got the Ektorp from Ikea and it has removable covers that are washable. I love this couch! I don't know if it's a special fabric, but I have spilled coffee, soda, wine, and so many other things and there is not one stain. We have 3 cats and 2 dogs and even they haven't stained it. If you have an Ikea near you I would check out what they have.

We looked at that couch, too.
But, ended up going with another Ikea couch. We love it. It is so comfy and easy to clean.

 

[kirstenb1]

I like Bassett furniture. They have stores where you can go in and choose from over 1000 different fabrics. It takes 4-6 weeks, but well worth it.

 

[luvmy3jewels]

Wow, I'm suprised at how many people have recommended Lazy Boy! I was going to post about how our Lazy Boy microfiber sectional hasn't held up at all. I guess my family must be harder on furniture than others We have had our sofa for four years and it was already looking bad by the end of the first year (and it isn't comfortable at all!). I'm going to have to replace it, but am waiting for the kids to get a little older. I was reading this thread looking for ideas on what brands would be best.

I agree with the pp that suggested finding what you want and then ordering from the High Point area (NC). We did this with a previous living room set and saved probably 50% off the retail price.