Sofa and Chair Buying Guide
Buying the perfect sofa or chair means finding the ideal combination of style, comfort, quality and value for money. Our simple buying guide will help you make the right choice.
How to choose your new sofa
Think about the look you’re after. The colour, shape and style of your upholstery will have a huge impact on the look and feel of your room.
With more than a hundred different sofa and chair styles to choose from, in hundreds more sizes, colours, leathers and fabrics, Furniture Village has something for everyone.
Whether you’re looking for style and practicality, comfort and support or are looking for your own distinctive style, explore our All Sofas page.
Choose the right shape, support and comfort
Our expert sales consultants will be happy to explain the different qualities of all our sofas. Here are some of the key things to consider:
Frame: this gives the sofa its shape and structure. The frames in our range are tough, strong and durable to cope with demands of everyday life.
Support: our sofas have a number of different support systems, from traditional springs and webbing to serpentine or zigzag springs and sprung edges.
Fillings: this is the ‘comfort layer’. There are 3 choices:
Foam
This gives the firmest feel and retains its looks best. Manufacturers of traditional furniture prefer foam fillings.
Fibre
A man-made synthetic filling usually wrapped in ‘ticking’. Offers medium to soft comfort, depending on the density of the filling. Cushions must be plumped daily to retain their shape.
Feathers
A soft, luxurious option, these cushions must be plumped daily to keep their shape and comfort. If you like the feather effect but are allergic to feather fillings, our sofa experts will help you find a soft alternative.
Our designers often use a mix of fillings - foam cushions with a fibre wrap, or feather cushions with a foam core. Try them all before making your choice.
Choosing the right cover
We’ve got a fantastic range of sofas and chairs in fabric, leather and a mix of the two. Here’s a brief guide to the pros and cons of different covers:
Leather (hide)
Only leather upholstery can claim to improve with time, developing a character all of its own. Leather wears in, fabric wears out. Each hide is unique and there are several different treatments to create different looks.
Corrected grain leather is particularly durable, easy to care for, and excellent for a family environment. Semi-analine leather is very soft, bringing a real sumptuous feel to your furniture. Analine shows off the natural features of the hide and is very soft to the touch.
Our natural leathers, including Nubuck suede, oiled, waxed or hand finished hides all show off the unique natural characteristic of the hide.
Faux leather
Pellissima is a durable coated surface backed with eco friendly recycled leather fibres. Bonded for additional strength and durability, it feels great to the touch and offers great value for money.
LeatherLuxTM is man made to match the texture, colour and feel of family friendly leathers like corrected grain. It's often combined with real leather so LeatherLuxTM gives you a great looking, high quality sofa at outstanding Village value.
Fabric
Fabric sofas have loose or fixed covers.
Loose covers are usually made from natural fibres such as 100% cotton. These can be removed and machine washed at low temperatures or professionally cleaned. They’re often more casual in style, though those held in place on the frame cover by Velcro give a more tailored look. Many people choose an extra set of covers so they can ring the changes without the expense of brand new furniture.
You have a much wider choice of fabrics for fixed covers including formal velvets, soft chenilles, hard wearing microfibres, faux suedes and woven designs. Fixed covers are usually more tailored in style and can’t be removed. Even cushions of fixed cover suites shouldn’t be washed.
Our Upholstery Care Guide explains more about how to care for loose and fixed covers.
Choose your recliner or massage options
Many of our sofas and chairs, both fabric and leather, recline for ultimate relaxation. You can have recliner actions at either end of a sofa or corner group as long as there is an arm.
Some recliners are manual, operated by a handle just below the arm. Others have electric recliner controls, where you can adjust your position with your fingertip. For the ultimate relaxation, we have a fantastic range of stress relieving massage chairs.
Your sofa buying checklist
• Measure carefully!
Before you order, please make sure your chosen sofa will fit your room and can be maneuvered into your house. Some of our larger items come apart for delivery, so ask us for help if you’re worried. Once your furniture is in production, we can’t accept your cancellation without a charge.
• Try before you buy
Visit your nearest Furniture Village store to see all our ranges, test them for comfort, try some recliners and ask our experts for more information on your favourites.
• Protect your investment
While everything at Furniture Village comes with a 5 year quality guarantee, it’s worth asking about Guardsman too. Our excellent cover plan will protect your new furniture from accidental damage including spills, stains, tears and scratches. It’s well worth the extra cost to relax and enjoy your new furniture, worry-free.