Furnishing a new home and redecorating requires a designer’s eye, spatial skills, product knowledge, and patience. We all seek peace of mind knowing our money is well spent and the pieces we purchase will endure. Quality and comfort are paramount to interior design clients. While it’s relatively straightforward to recognize quality in case goods like dining tables or buffets, discerning well-made upholstered furniture is more complex.
With upholstered furniture, it’s not merely “What you see is what you get,” but rather “What you don’t see that determines what you get.” The wood, frame construction, springs, padding, and cushion material all dictate the piece’s quality and lifespan.
In short, here are key characteristics of better-quality upholstered furniture:
Kiln-dried hardwood frame
A frame constructed of kiln-dried hardwood will prevent warping, ensuring your piece of furniture remains stable and free from squeaks, even with seasonal changes in humidity.
Solid joints
Higher-quality sofas typically feature a frame with double-dowelled joints and glued and screwed corner blocks. These solid joints enhance stability and longevity, ensuring the piece withstands everyday use.
Spring construction
Springs are positioned inside the frame, offering options such as sinuous wire springs and traditional 8-way hand-tied coil springs. In higher-end pieces, the seat typically features the superior support of 8-way hand-tied coil springs.
Good padding
Padding layers are attached to the frame for a seamless feel, ensuring optimal comfort. These layers envelop the frame meticulously, providing a soft and cushioned feel throughout every part of the upholstered piece.
Quality of foam
The quality of the foam is paramount for ensuring the longevity of the upholstered piece. It’s essential to seek out high-resiliency cushions with a density of at least 1.8 pounds per cubic foot (pcf). These cushions not only provide enduring support but also maintain their shape over time, ensuring lasting comfort for years to come.
Manufacturers frequently offer customizable seating comfort options, ranging from standard to extra firm, blend down, and spring down cushions. This variety allows for catering to diverse seating preferences, ensuring that each individual finds their ideal level of comfort.
Ultimately, a successful combination of sturdy frame construction and high-quality foam can yield a spectrum of seating experiences, from firm support to luxurious coziness, meeting the needs and preferences of various users.
Quality fabric/material
When choosing a sofa, understanding your upholstery fabric is essential. The fabric should boast an appropriate abrasion rating to guarantee durability. Additionally, the evolution of performance fabrics presents an excellent option, offering advantages such as fade and UV resistance, remarkable durability, easy maintenance, and suitability for households with pets and children. Available in an array of materials, constructions, and colors, these fabrics are exceptionally versatile, catering to diverse preferences and needs.
In today’s market, finding good quality furniture has become increasingly challenging. Fortunately, our clients benefit from our access to some of the finest brands. With our expertise, we can locate the perfect piece that aligns with both your lifestyle and budget!
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