What Kind of Sofa Do You Want?
Do you need a new sofa, or does your existing sofa just need a refresh? Perhaps it’s a bit of both.
Considering how expensive brand new sofas can be, it’s common to visit online marketplaces or furniture outlet stores for a pre-loved deal. After all, recycling is now more important than ever.
If you do find a good unwanted product, you can then perform some upcycling and upholstery love of your own on it, to make it truly yours. It could even be something as simple as adding sofa legs to make your mark.
So what’s best: A new sofa, opting for a pre-owned sofa and performing upholstery, or turning to professionals for upholstery?
Let’s take a look at these different types of sofas, where you can find them and what you can do with them.
Market Places
As stated before, it’s common to visit outlets online or in-person, here’s a few places to try online:
- Facebook Marketplace
- eBay
- Shpock
You’ll also find brick and mortar furniture outlet stores by Googling (or whatever search engine you swear allegiance to) and sometimes via searching through Facebook/Instagram. It’s common that these furniture outlet stores will have their own social media pages or websites.
Both independent sellers using online marketplaces and offline shops may offer cheap new sofas – not just second hand. Though, it’s important to know that these may not be the greatest quality sofas and still cost a few hundred pounds.
This is especially a gamble if you shop online, find out that what seems like a good deal isn’t the quality you were hoping for and are then liable for return costs.
Outlet stores in particular will sell a new sofa that has been damaged slightly, either during production or transit. Alternatively, they may be ex-display models. So visiting a store in person gives you the opportunity to perform an examination and see if you can easily perform a fix.
Upholstery Time
Once you’ve found a good place to shop, and your perfect piece of furniture, you may already be raring to go with how you want to improve your new-old sofa. If you do decide that the sofa you’ve bought needs your own mark, then there are plenty of accessories out there to give variety and uniqueness to your new upholstery project.
Accessories Like Sofa Legs and Feet
This simple addition can make all the difference. Whether it’s getting up off the couch with more ease, improving eye level with the television for movies and video games, or you use a table to eat dinner and work on a laptop from your sofa. Legs and feet could drastically improve your comfort.
Sofa legs and feet come in different shapes, sizes and styles. Depending on what goes with your sofa, you could opt for a bun foot style for a small lift, or a tall leg style that will give your sofa a height boost. You could then use the space under the sofa for storage, perhaps a footrest that you can pull out after a long day?
You could even add legs with wheels if you like to rearrange your living room a lot, either for redecoration or to create easy floor space for home workouts.
Thinking Twice about New Sofas
As we’ve said, new sofas are incredibly expensive. You’ll be looking at a cost of at least £500 for a sturdy yet comfortable three-seater. It can easily be double that price, depending on brand and material.
A basic looking sofa can be found for around £150-£200, though you may find it uncomfortable depending on your usage. It might be ideal if you don’t use it much or not many people use it. But if you’re looking at something you can sink into most of the evening, you’ll want something on the higher pricing tier.
Upholstery vs Professional Upholstery
If you are not upholstery minded, requesting professional upholstery services on the other hand can be expensive, more so than a new sofa. The reupholstery of a 3 seater sofa could cost you an average of £850 in the UK. This option should only really be considered for a high quality sofa that you have sentimental attachment to.
Though it can be a time consuming process and you’ll need tools and materials, if you are skilled and genuinely enjoy it, upholstery shouldn’t be a problem. It’s a great hobby and can save hundreds. There’s plenty of tutorials on the internet if you are a newbie and willing to give it a try.
Now we’ve weighed up the pros and cons, if you’re in the market for a “new” sofa, you have options for every budget.
