Can we talk sofas?

[crl]

We are hoping to move in the next year or so and plan to replace our sofa when we do. Our current sofa is a dark brown leather with those rolled arms. Just not my style anymore and the leather isn't the greatest. So my random questions are:

What's your philosophy on furniture buying? I like the idea of buying quality furniture and having it last. On the other hand we have a two year old and an eight year old (and a one year old Golden Retriever). Does it make any sense to buy a "good" sofa at this point?

Anyone have a lighter color leather sofa or chairs? How has it held up? Do you like it? What color do you have?

I'm not a fan of the feel of microfiber (I have weird sensory issues). Anything else that holds up well to kids and dog?

Where would you look if you like mid-century modern style sofas?

How do you feel about used for leather sofas? I'm good with used in general, but a bit reluctant for upholstered pieces, mostly because of bedbugs. . . .

Thanks for any thoughts on my ramblings!
Catherine

[brittone2]

I had the same dilemma going on in my mind when we moved into our new house a year ago. We needed a new sofa but had an infant at the time (plus two older kids) and we still have a dog. What I opted to do was buy a used leather sofa. We purchased a Hancock and Moore sofa that someone had in their 2nd home/beach house (so not heavily used). We paid about 500. I wanted something that was decent quality, but if I paid 2K-4K for a new sofa I think I'd be too worried about kids/pets doing damage at this point in our lives. For 500, I can feel good about using it as a family piece and replacing down the road if we need to.

We checked for signs of bedbugs, etc. before buying. Obviously there is some risk there but we felt okay about it.

Ours is more traditional than your style, but has a tight back, which I wanted this time around . My cat loves to sleep on the cushions on our loose back sofas and that makes the cushions deformed over time. ours is like a cognac color.

eta: this is the first time we've had leather. It isn't normally my thing but the LR in my current house is kind of rustic (wood beams and ceiling, brick FP) so it works here. So far I like it with pets and kids.

[newg]

We have a Flexsteel brand sofa and while we've only had it for for 3yrs....I love it. It's a fabric sofa, sort of dark/sandy brown. We got scotchguard (or something similar) sprayed on it. It has handled milk, pop and daily food use. I figure I'll get a good professional clean done on it when we're byond the spilling.......of course DH was the one who spilled the orange crush on it ;)

As far as the brand....I picked flexsteel because my sister has now gotten the sofa that was once in my house, given to me by my parents who had it given to them by my grandparent's....so I feel the brand is made well and can handle "life". We bought it at a local furniture store.

I don't know anything about leather furniture, except I'm not a fan of sticking to it :)

[mackmama]

We love our Restoration Hardware leather sofas in the Maxwell style. They are deep, comfortable, modern, and great leather. I wouldn't go used, but that's just me. I get kinda skeeved that way. I think as long as you get a leather that is easily wipeable and doesn't scratch too easily (like RH's Cognac color), leather is very kid-friendly.

ETA: I wanted to add that, if you are thinking about moving, I'd wait to buy a big furniture item like a sofa until you know where you're moving. We've made mistakes that way and have ended up having to sell furniture because it didn't fit in our new space.

[crl]

ETA: I wanted to add that, if you are thinking about moving, I'd wait to buy a big furniture item like a sofa until you know where you're moving. We've made mistakes that way and have ended up having to sell furniture because it didn't fit in our new space.

Yes, definitely planning to wait for the move.

Thanks all!
Catherine

[lyt202]

The Reese sofa from Room and Board is great. We bought our beautiful but impractical cream-colored Reese before DS was born and it has held up well to all the drooling over the last few years.

http://www.roomandboard.com/rnb/product/detail.do?productGroup=3002

We also have another mid-century style sofa from Crate and Barrel that is in our family room. We got a great deal on it a few years ago. I don't think they make the same style anymore but the Petrie sofa looks like another possible option.

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/furniture/sofas/petrie-sofa/s668217

[citymama]

We have the same exact dilemma (except no retriever).
We're likely to get a darker fabric sofa from one of the less expensive C&B or Scan Designs lines. The SF store "Funky SF furniture" in SOMA is a good place to look to. I would spring more $$ for flame retardant free if we can find it.

[queenmama]

I love vintage so our last sofa (9' long, 1960s swanky!) came from a local flea market for $200. I am loving it so much more than the brand new one I bought when we were first married, and that thing didn't hold up or wear nearly as well.

Sent from my Android phone using Tapatalk

[lalasmama]

My sofa set is approaching the legal voting age. It was my mom's. She bought it when we were "old enough" that she was able to have nice furniture. When all is said and done, it's very dated now.... but I have an 8yo, a baby on the way, and don't feel "done", so I don't feel like I should invest in a really nice living room set when I'm still in the formula-fingerpainting-markers age range.

That being said, my mom bought a "nice" sofa set when I was my DD's age, thinking we were "old enough". I ripped that thing so fast, her head was spinning. I think it was less than 18 months old. I sat down with a foot under me, and a shoe on said foot, and somehow, it found a weak spot, and there was a huge rip. I STILL remember getting in trouble for it!

For now, I bought a semi-cheap slip cover set, and it now looks like I have somewhat more tailored khaki colored furniture instead of the grey-multiple-colored tapestry fabric it was before.

As for the other part of the original question, I'm a no-leather person. When I have insomnia, I end up on the couch. XSO's leather couch was so much less comfortable to sleep on--I got sweaty so fast. But it was always nice and easy to wipe off. But I was always scared of DD "breaking" it somehow. FWIW, I have cloth seats in the car too, because I'm so scared of leather :)

[Mommy_Mea]

I would go with something mid-priced, that way it will hold up to life, but you won't panic every time something spills on it.

I don't like microfiber either. Our couches are a chocolate brown twill fabric, and it has held up phenomenally well to 2 kids, lots of spilled milk, spit up and life! It is scotchguarded, so I am sure that has helped.

I do wish we had gotten smaller couches without pillows for the back. Our house is pretty small, and the couches are large scale. But they are comfortable, and the couch is the size of a twin bed when the back cushions are taken off, and has had many people sleep on it...

Anyways, if I could replace my current couch, I would love something like this:

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/furniture/sofas/hennessy-sofa/s283137

[lhafer]

When we built our current house we needed new living room furniture. We had a 3.5 year and was pregnant with #2 at the time. We decided to go middle of the road. We were afraid if we went cheap, it wouldn't last the toddler years, and we didn't want to go expensive BECAUSE of the toddler years! IT's been perfect so far. We've had it for 6 years now, and plan on it lasting for another 3 years or so. Then my DD2 will be around 5ish and DD1 will be around 9. We plan on going nicer next time.

[crl]

Thanks you all! We have plenty of time to think about it and look around.(BTW, I really like the looks of some of the Room and Board sofas, thanks for that suggestion.)

Catherine

[cuca_]

We've had good luck with velvet. We got a dark gray/navy velvet couch from Mitchell Gold last year and it has held up incredibly well. Now, granted this couch is in the living room, not a family room, but my kids still sit and sometimes walk on it. If I remember correctly, there is some sort of stain repellent on this particular fabric, but when we were looking for sofas, I was told that velvet holds up fairly well, and it has been true for us. In fact, we do have some microfiber chairs that I purchased at Restoration Hardware, and they have held up fine, but not as well as the velvet.

[minnie-zb]

We bought a sectional for the family room a few years ago (it has easily been 5+ years) from Penney's. It is microfiber and it has held up remarkably well. I bought it with the thought of this is only going to last a few years and we are going to replace. Our girls are now almost 10 & 7. I'll seriously consider replacing in the next couple of years, but honestly it is doing pretty well. It cleans up like a champ. I'll never forget when our oldest spilled Welch's grape juice on it (it is taupe) and I freaked. It was still pretty new. It all came up without a problem. It was freaking amazing. I don't care for the style at this point, but it is the family room and it is comfortable (and clean!) so it works for now.

I'm getting ready to have a real living room for the first time and that's pretty exciting. We are working on picking what we want. Thanks for the tip on the velvet and sofas -- I'll have to keep it in mind.

[crl]

We've had good luck with velvet. We got a dark gray/navy velvet couch from Mitchell Gold last year and it has held up incredibly well. Now, granted this couch is in the living room, not a family room, but my kids still sit and sometimes walk on it. If I remember correctly, there is some sort of stain repellent on this particular fabric, but when we were looking for sofas, I was told that velvet holds up fairly well, and it has been true for us. In fact, we do have some microfiber chairs that I purchased at Restoration Hardware, and they have held up fine, but not as well as the velvet.

I have heard that about velvet. My mom had a great sofa that had this cordurory like material on it. It wore like iron. And it was so comfortable; I could lie down full length. Even though I didn't live there anymore, I was a little peeved when she got rid of it because she was tired of it.

Catherine

[lyt202]

Also check out the Room and Board Jasper series. Clean lines but with slipcovers. If I had thought about kids when we bought the sofa, I probably would have bought that instead.

[crl]

Also check out the Room and Board Jasper series. Clean lines but with slipcovers. If I had thought about kids when we bought the sofa, I probably would have bought that instead.

Slipcovers sound good in theory. But in practice I am lazy so I'm not sure they would work so well for me.

Catherine

[lowrioh]

Check out Lazboy. We have a set from them that we bought 10 years ago and it is still going strong....except for the spilt yoghurt stain that I need to get out of it. They have a ton of fabrics to choose from and some surprisingly nice designs.

http://www.la-z-boy.com/Product/5215-3632/Talbot-Casual-Sofa/
http://www.la-z-boy.com/Product/5756-3638/Zoe-Striped-Fabric-Sofa/
http://www.la-z-boy.com/Product/7084-8815/Premier-Sofa/