A pretty decent sofa was 1500 bucks THIRTY years ago. That 1500 is total junk in the present. If it's just to walk by and fill space, fine. Don't sit much. Or watch the consignment stores for something much better,/previously enjoyed.

What was the price of a car thirty years ago compared with today? Why are all sofas "supposed" to be 1500.00 to 2000.00? The manufacturer attempts to meet this mythical and magical number that exists in everyone's head, and to do that, they serve you a plate of junk ....while making full profit on the junk. That is simple fact. It's fine if you are willing to accept what you are getting.

http://www.lacrossefurniture.com/

Try the link... I think you may find a custom sofa that is well made and attractive. They also have some floor models in furniture stores... I don't like places like Ashley furniture (good look, cheap, junk)... If you are not buying frequently, quality really does matter. If you are in the Midwest, you can look at Nebraska furniture mart and buy anything from trash to treasure.

jan pls just look at the reviews!

Reviews can easily be faked. Schlumpy frumpy Legos isn't being faked. A lot of people want burlap clad blob furniture??? Not many on a décor site.

It occurred to me that the OP didn't say what size sofa she's looking for. Obviously this can make all the difference in price! We could all be comparing apples to oranges here when we talk about what we have paid for our sofas.

No one has mentioned LaZBoy. We have a couple of pieces from them in our vacation place. We don't live there full time though, so the wear issue will be different. But I can speak to the cost factor. They have some amazing sales throughout the year. I got my sofa and two chairs at 30 percent off during a Memorial Day sale. You can choose your fabric from a pretty decent selection, and delivery takes 4 to 6 weeks.

Point is, shop the sales! You might have to wait a bit for what you want, but it's worth it. I still believe you can get what you want/need if you're patient.

Just a thought about consignment... Not sure I would go that route. In many parts of the country bed bugs are a real problem. All it takes is one coming onto your home and you're done. Just saying...

Another thing to remember, which came up when I mentioned this thread to my husband, is that there may be varying views on what makes a sofa mid range.

OP did say a sofa with a chaise, and the showed three examples, so I feel like we had a pretty good idea. My question to the "no way no how" people is: "What EXACTLY should OP be looking for to determine if it is good quality?" What I've heard is the following:

Hardwood frame instead of plywood (and hopefully kild dried)

Screwed or screwed and glued, or dowel or tongue and groove joints instead of stapled construction (possibly with reinforcing blocks)

The highest density foam, possibly wrapped in down. The lower quality would be pollyfill wrap. The lowest would be just poly or low density foam cushions.

Metal Springs "eight-way hand tied" v. upholstery webbing. A middle option seems to be sinuous spring construction.

Fabric quality (Full grain v. bonded leather, stretch recovery, stain resistance) (IMO some "lower price" sofas do better on this, as they are marketed at families. A beautiful linen sofa might be quality, but it doesn't matter if you can't get the chocolate ice cream stains out. A sythetic twill might seem low quality, but it might look better after 8 years in many households.)

I've seen several recommendations here for OPs budget that have many, most, or all of these features. What else should she look for?

we are going back and forth on a normal sofa or a sofa with a chaise attached. our new living room is small so a sofa with chaise would maximize seating but a regular sofa would allow us to get more bang for our buck and be a bit more versatile in the long run.

Definitely feel like the idea of quality is probably pretty subjective which is leading to differing opinions. I do appreciate the knowledge gained on the frame, fabric and cushions and what makes them better quality. that is very helpful.

Photos of your space with dimensions will help. A chaise sofa may be too large and limiting.
Quality is really not subjective. It is what it is and you get what you pay for. Budget is a different subject. If you are working with a limited budget, IKEA is the best way to go IMHO. Inexpensive starter furniture. Fun styles and fabrics.
For the price it's great and you can replace in a few years.
When you can afford a quality sofa, invest in a good timeless style that will last, only needing reupholstering and new cushions in 10-20 years.

Good sofas are pricey..we got a sectional almost 10 years ago,,it was expensive..almost 10k. We looked around, tried to find something else that we liked and at a lower price, but we could now..10 years later, kids in the house, guests, etc, the sofa looks just like new. No sagging, not much wear on the fabric..the fabric can be removed and cleaned if needed. It looks like this one, but in an orange color

We don't have great pictures. Don't have the keys yet. It is a split level. The pony wall is 110" and the window wall is 152". we would probably put our TV in the same place. Might put a couple small chairs where they have their couch.

sectionals normally do not give maximum seating. except when they are children or maybe watching the game, most people do not want to sit that close. so your sectional now seats 3, 4 if the end one curls their feet up. really no more than a sofa, maybe 2 sofas and 2 chairs would give max?

regarding quality I have bought great things at walmart, you just have to do your best to research. and sophie i work really hard to find the independent review sites you should know that by now. that is why i am so impressed and they have over 80 fabrics so maybe you need to remove the burlap from your mouth. i am honest they do not have great styling, but for kids, being green and buying american they sound really good. unfortunately the leather from america -Joybird not so much, kinda like some people we know.

midrange, very few of us are buying midrange since i have seen $15,000 -$25,000 couches. 2000 to 5000 is a meer spit in the bucket.

sorry for being negative but sometimes you just have to put it out there. get others to take a breath fresh air.

otherwise i am happy to help you. always rather have fun!

This doesn't seem to be the place to go for advice unless you are in the top 1%. I do not know anyone with a 15k - 25k budget for a sofa. I could think of so many better things to do with that money.

no mallory, i have seen very few recommended here, i never would. it is just a reference point. shows we need to think in different ways. my viewpoint is i research and then get one i like, all of mine have lasted at least 10 years and was thoroughly sick of them and all were under $1000. so maybe? mid range is not what we should be talking about. many feel you should not buy online. i have heard bad things about lazy boy too. you can only research and then get what you like. I figure if you don't spend more than what would equal out to $100/yr you are doing good. most of mine equaled out to about $50/yr- then i gladly gave them away, so i did good. the company i mentioned is the only one that had good reviews every where i went. hence my recommendation. the no leg boxy style is already coming back in and if you want it to last forever, style does not matter, it is always out of style at least 50% of the time. I am happy to show you things in your price range and style, you decide if it is good.

ok, I must have misunderstood your previous comment then. I feel like I have enough information from this thread to make an educated decision. Thank you all for contributing!

Lee Industries, COCOCO HOME are good mid range quality. I don't know where you get 10,000-15,000? More like 3-4,000. If that is not your budget, IKEA for now imho.

Buying a good sofa is a bit like getting your home professionally cleaned. You don't think its 'worth it" until you have it, or until you have to do the same quality job yourself. If we all had to make a sofa... from hardwood frame, to screwed and doweled and glued frame, to springs tied eight ways by hand, to straight stitching and pattern line up of upholstery, to spring down cushioning,,,,, to shipping it, to disposing of the waste in making one........and blah, blah blah forever.......I think not one of us would or could make one for five grand , three missed vacations, and six months of solid effort. A good sofa, like a good housecleaning, is about that which you can not or did not see. And therein lies the problem : )

agree with you Jan, except for the cleaning analogy:) I never like the pros cleaning..I've seen it done by several and I would never be happy with that..But sofas, yes,,definitely no time to make a good one:)

I don't know about anyone else but I change my sofa at least every 5 years so I'm not going to pay more for than $2,000 and that's stretching it. Things change and a sofa is not forever.

What add to all the landfills?mFurniture is not disposable.

I understand people getting bored of stuff, but that is not sustainable..landfills are way too many. One option would be to get sofas that can have their fabric changed. For our sectional, we could have ordered a different set of fabric covers, but at the time we bought it, it was already expensive enough for one set.

As someone who has changed sofas I can tell you that doesn't mean it goes to the landfill. In fact quite different. The two sofas we used to have are now sitting in a halfway house free of charge from us and being sat one daily! One person getting rid of something doesn't equal landfill

Alison.....exactly!!!!! We always donate ours to a worthy charity...they are always still In good shape and I'm sure they get a few years of use out of them. I have NEVER taken a piece of furniture to the landfill.

that's good to hear, but unfortunately many people don't do that.

Lol, just go to a college dorm on moving out day!

It's so much easier to donate! Many places will pick up your items. Otherwise you end up schlepping it to the curb yourself. If nothing else, that's a good reason to keep it out of the landfill. Honestly, I don't know a single person who would throw away a sofa.

I really can't believe where this conversation went. Good luck to you, Mallory. I know you'll find something.

Who takes sofas to landfills? Most donate or sell at garage sales.

I found a local organization that accepts donated furniture and household goods to use to help people out of homelessness and will pick up at your home ... definitely no excuse for used furniture (or cabinets, or appliances still in working order, or towels that no longer match your bathroom, etc) to end up in a landfill. With social media, it is easier and easier to find these organizations. I belong to a facebook group for "neighbors and friends of *insert hometown*" and it is a great resource for finding out about things like this. There is also a local "reuse recycle" group and a local group for selling things. Makes it easy to do the right thing.

I believe that couches and mattresses are worth as much as you can invest, to get the best quality you can afford. We have purchased an inexpensive couch and within 5 years had to replace. We also purchased two expensive couches that lasted 20 years..so it all comes out in the wash, as they say. Because we selected timeless styles (as best as possible), they looked good in living room and when they started to look a touch dated, moved one to a den and another to the basement. Works well dollar wise and environmentally as well. Start comparing manufacturers, construction, watch for sales, and get the best quality you can afford if you plan on keeping for any length of time.

I have always found that many think their stuff is worth far more than it is. i fear the ones who are willing to toss in the garbage of a certain mind set that nothing will make it better.

We had a FlexSteel custom sofa made 10 years ago.
It's been used everyday since and looks brand new.
In fact, I'm tired of looking at it and it just won't quit.
Thinking of gifting it to my son for his first apartment.

Nothing wrong with the Ikea couches. How about Scandinavian Designs? (Formerly Plummer's). Got a good sale set there.

Yes, you can most certainly get quality for that price, especially depending on where you live. I've learned from reading this thread that quality seems to be subjective.(though one person did a great job of mentioning construction considerations) If it has a good guarantee, lasts 20 years, and looks good that whole time, then I'd say it's good quality. Look at Flexsteel, Smith brothers, or other similar American made furniture. The construction and fabrics are quality. I've had pieces from those lines, and it does not wear. I donated a couch that was over 10 years old and looked as good as the day I bought it after 3 kids jumping on it. I'd rather buy from a local furniture store if possible. In the Midwest, you could get what you need within your budget. I am interested to see what you decide!

I will check out Flexsteel etc. As of right now I am leaning towards Room and Board. :)

Today we purchased a Stanton Sofa for 900 including upgrading the fabric and getting an additional 5 year warranty. It is a bit smaller than I wanted but my husband loved it so we went with it! Thanks for everyone's help. I wouldn't have known to look at Stanton if it weren't for this thread.

I think it looks amazing! And look at that you didn't have to spend thousands of dollars after all...

Nice pick, Mallory! Looks like a lovely sofa.

Speaking of good quality and affordable sofas, does anyone on this thread have experience with Interior Define? They carry a sectional I'd like to purchase, but I don't know anyone who has bought from there before.

The sofa looks really nice. I'm glad that you found something at a great price

Good for you! You proved what a lot of us said...that it CAN be done.

Report back in 3 years how well that wears please. It will help others a lot.

Green Designs, Stanton Sofas has a lifetime warranty on the interior of the sofa. We upgraded to a durable fabric and bought a 5 year warranty on that. So we are covered on everything for the next 5 years and for 900 bucks I feel like that is a pretty dang good deal.

plus the company is a local one and my sofa will be manufactured a few miles from my house, they only use hardwood for their sofas and other people in this thread have backed up the quality.

Definitely agree with Flexsteel.

My client is on a strict budget for her second home. We did Ikea. I don’t have a crystal ball, so I can’t tell you how it will be in 10 years, but wow is it comfortable and the material for the slip cover is just as good as Crate and Barrel or Pottery Barn…my opinion.

http://www.remodelista.com/posts/10-easy-pieces-linen-slipcovered-sofas/

Nice couch! Glad you found one you like. I agree that you don't need to pay $10k for a quality couch. I got one for under $2k from Smith Brothers. It was fully custom from the legs to the arms to cushions and fabric. It has a lifetime warranty on the frame and springs.

http://www.smithbrothersfurniture.com/about/styleandtailoring

Mallory F where did you purchase the sofa? I am also in the NW, but selection in S Oregon is slim.

mo mad I am in S. Oregon. Gates in Grants Pass carries Stanton furniture.

Whitney Forman-Cook, I too have stumbled across Interior Define and was wondering if you bit the bullet and ordered the sectional you have been eyeing? There's a sectional that I'm very interested in but I'm hesitant since there isn't many reviews out there. Any advice or updates would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much. :)

beep beep? Anyone know of anything around $1800 that would be attractive, comfortable, and last at least three years? I was looking into article, but started getting nervous after reading some negative reviews. Thanks!

I had a Vanguard sofa for almost 15 years. (But where are there real furniture stores anymore?) Just replaced with Bassett and am happy so far.

Mallory F, how did the Stanton couch hold up? I am also in the PNW and am thinking of getting one but the reviews are terrible.

Dania has some great affordable options!