With a higher price tag and longer lifespan than most household purchases, buying a sofa, love seat or armchair can feel like a daunting task. With so many styles, sizes, fabrics and colours to choose from, there are quite a few decisions to make before you reach your perfect choice. We wanted to make the process as simple as possible for you and ensure you’ve covered all bases – so we’ve created this step-by-step guide to help you on your way…
Explore our Collections
We have three Made to Order sofa collections: Snuggle, Urban and Mid-Century. Each has their own unique style and fabric options, so this can be a handy way to narrow down your selection based on your own preferences. Our Snuggle Collection offers classic designs ideal for cosying up and getting lost in the squishiness, our Urban Collection combines comfort with a minimal contemporary aesthetic and our Mid-Century Collection revives classic designs from the 1960’s for a retro look.
While eyeing up the different styles in each collection also consider the room the sofa, love seat or armchair will be in, its function and main users. For instance, will it be a sofa in constant use by kids in a playroom or is it a love seat intended for occasional use in a reading nook. This will inform your decisions about style, level of comfort required and most suitable fabric options and will help you choose your favourites.
You can find more detailed information about each model, its frame and cushion fillings on the product page in the ‘Dimensions & Specifications’ box. This is also printable so you can refer back to it throughout the next steps.
Check Dimensions
Think proportion! You want your sofa, love seat or armchair to look like it was made to fit into your space, neither over-imposing nor too small. You could sketch out your room to scale and plan the positioning of your seating using the measurements on the product pages, or to get a real feel within the room mark out the size on the floor with masking tape or newspaper. For sofas, try out the various options, whether it be 2-seater, 3-seater, 4-seater or corner sofa. Then you can assess which size is best to go for. Make sure there’s enough room to walk around and to keep a spacious feel.
Also consider the room’s layout and any accompanying furniture you may need such as an armchair or footstool. Are you looking for just one piece or multiple? If you’re tight on space, rather than opting for two matching sofas you may be best choosing just one sofa and a complementary love seat or armchair.
Perhaps most importantly when it comes to dimensions, make sure your purchase will be able to be transported through your front door and to your room of choice, taking into account any awkward corners, door frames, stairs etc. You can use our Will It Fit Guide (which you can find on any sofa product page) to help you. Some models have removable legs which can give more space for manoeuvring.
Browse & Order Fabric Samples
On the product page for your chosen sofa, you can see the available fabric and leg colour options for that model. Each collection has its own specific range, so the model you choose will determine what choices are made available to you. If you would like to order fabric samples, select ‘Order Samples’ on the product page. There you can find more information about each fabric type such as composition and rub count, and choose your free swatches to have delivered to your home.
Once your samples have arrived, make sure to look at them in the position where the sofa will be, and at different times of day so you can see how they look in varying light. Also hold next to paint, wallpaper and any other items in the room that are there to stay, such as curtains, blinds, carpet or other furniture to check that the colour and texture ties in.
Chat to Us or Visit our Showroom
If you have any specific questions or would like general advice our sofa specialists are here to help. Whether that’s when you visit our showroom in person, via a virtual appointment, or by having a chat over the phone, they can advise further on style, size, fabric options and aftercare to help you decide.
At our showroom, based in Altrincham, South Manchester, you can try before you buy and see larger fabric swatches. We have most models on display as either a sofa, love seat or armchair, but to avoid disappointment we advise contacting us before you visit to make sure we have what you want to see on display, particularly if you’re travelling from afar.
Place your order Online or Instore
Once you’ve completed those steps and narrowed down your selection (fingers crossed!), you should then be ready to order. Head to your chosen collection, go to the model’s page, then select your size, fabric and leg colour before you add to basket. Check you’re happy with the delivery lead time. All our sofas are made to order with great care, specific to your chosen options.
After you’ve placed your order, you can look forward to delivery day! Our customer services team will be in touch with you closer to the time to arrange a date. You will also be sent aftercare information for your chosen fabric type so you can keep your sofa, love seat or armchair looking it’s best for years to come!
If you’d like more information to help you find your perfect sofa, read our other blog posts on colour, size and fit, pet-friendly options and velvet.
