Furniture quality from local IDs

10 years ago

In a separate message, I explained that I'm in the market for a new sofa (and a few chairs), but I haven't bought this type of furniture in nearly 20 years. It's daunting, to say the least.

I'm starting locally. My fave store doesn't carry quality furniture--even as an amateur, I can test a sofa frame.

Another local designer has a lovely sofa in his store. Its tufted in the back, and seems sturdy. The cushions are fiber/down combo, and it passes my frame test. The length and depth are on target for what I need.

But it's only $1,800 on sale. I asked him for the manufacturer simply to research the quality, and he declined to share. I love everything about the sofa, but I'm really skeptical on the price--can a small, local designer offer a solid, quality sofa at this price? I'm not dumb about manufacturing and overhead, but this seems to be too good to be true. What am I missing?

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Comments (5)

beekeeperswife
10 years ago
I cannot understand why he won't share the brand with you. Did you ask him why?

I guess I'm just an open book and would never hide this information from someone.
ineffablespace
10 years ago
He's afraid you are going to take this information and try to find the sofa even cheaper online. People do this all the time, so he's not being over paranoid. I know someone who furnished an entire house this way. The interior designer specified the furniture, the client bought it all elsewhere and cut out the interior designer from the process without paying her a penny for her time. And a lot of people seem to think there is absolutely nothing wrong about doing things this way.

It's different if you have a working relationship with this designer, you should at least know what brand of furniture you are getting. However, some companies sell furniture that is essentially unbranded to be sold by designers to clients. If you are just someone walking in off the street asking information on one sofa and then you are going to disappear after you get it, I can see why he might be hesitant to share the information.

That said, without knowing what your price point is, or what your expectations of quality are, $1800 is not going to get you an ultra high quality sofa, not like the quality of a $7000 Kittinger or Hancock and Moore frame. There is also a sort of furniture that is "decorator furniture" --it's decent quality, but concerned mostly with looks.

This post was edited by ineffablespace on Sun, Mar 16, 14 at 10:42
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User
10 years ago
I purchased a sofa in January, a smaller one for our bedroom sitting area. It replaced one we'd had for 30 years. It had been recovered twice, and was a very heavy old sleeper sofa that was difficult to move to look under or vacuum under. The main object of this was to get in a lighter sofa that we could have cleaned easily that the dogs could lie on. I had the fabric already. I bought the Manchester Apartment sofa with COM, which cost $2600. Down cushions, Dacron wrapped. Delivery time was supposed to be six weeks, ended up being 10 weeks.

On our basement project I am working with an ID who, for the budget I gave him for the room, told me he would be ordering my sofas and chairs from Lee Industries. I knew that I would pay his cost plus 35%, that is in his standard contract, and we have worked together before. The fabric is not Lee, but rather chosen collaboratively by ID and me and sent to mfg as COM. I am ending up with two 86", 3 cushion, "cloud nine" down and Dacron wrapped upholstery, sofas on legs with stringers (stretchers) in what ID considers a "very good" quality for $4200 each. He says they are "excellent for the price."

Those are my recent sofa experiences. Based on those, a well made sofa for $1800 is a bargain. If the quality of the sofa in the designer's shop seems good to you, I would buy it. It may be something ordered for another client that did not work, or a mistake made either by the designer or factory. But I would definitely ask about the quality if the upholstery (how many and type of double rubs it sustained, and the fiber content). If the fabric contains a lot of rayon I would not purchase it.
peony4
Original Author
10 years ago
Bee, no, I didn't ask why at the time. I'm one of those people who thinks of such questions after the fact, unfortunately. I suspect, though, that his experiences have been similar to what ineffablespace describes--he's young and has probably been burned a few times by giving his time to build a reputation, while the actual dollars ended up elsewhere.

He did reference the sofa was made by a U.S. company that sells directly to him without a name brand. It might be just a designer-quality sofa that ineffablespace describes. But it seemed very well-constructed, heavy and solid. It may be too good to be true at that price--and, while I'm not discounting it, I've decided I need to increase my budget to expand my research.

Kswl, thanks for sharing your experiences, too--I appreciate it. I've heard positive input about Lee. Congratulations on your finds!
stealthecrumbs
10 years ago
I agree that $1800 sounds too good to be true. It is possible that it was a return as suggested by another GWebber or a market sample. While I can certainly understand not wanting to give out the name of a manufacturer for fear of price shopping, I absolutely would not buy furniture I could not research!

Were you able to at least photograph it with your phone? We might be able to help you find a similar style or suggest manufacturers to consider.