Sofa Furniture Buyer’s Guide Blog

We’ve found furniture that we like but aren’t moving into our new house for about 6-8 months as it is being built. We don’t have any room to put new furniture but don’t want it to be gone/discontinued by the time we need to buy it.

It depends. Some retailers sell "open stock" They order furniture, often by the container load, and sell it when it comes in. When it’s gone, it’s gone and they may or may not order more of the same or even keep the same manufacturer.

Others sell a manufacturer’s line and will have display models and inventory or order things just like it as sold. They will continue to sell as long as the manufacturer makes that model and/or they have some in inventory.

Others are "made to order" particularly upholstered furniture. You pick out the style and the fabric (sometimes from 1000s of options). As long as the fabric is available (average lifespan 3-5 years) they will make it for you.

The other thing to do is just ask the retailer. They may know if the style is being discontinued soon. If so, you can buy it and have them hold it for you until you are ready. This may involve a storage or warehousing charge. Or you can put down a deposit and have them let you know if this is happening during the time you’re waiting.

i purchased insurance to cover accidental damage, my cousin burnt the sofa with hair straightners but the insurance company wouldnt pay coz its neglect. what excuse can i use to claim new sofas?

Well, you aren’t going to be able to find a "new excuse" for a claim. This incident is already carved in stone in your file, and if you come up with a new "excuse," you are going to be red-flagged as trying insurance fraud — which could cancel your policy or increase your rates. Insurance companies can be real ba$tards.

Bear in mind insurance companies don’t want to hand out claim money, so it is likely you got an auto-reject. Stand firm that your cousin ACCIDENTALLY burned the sofa with chemicals — she ocould not control the drip, she didn’t realize it, etc. — but she did not NEGLECTFULLY do it. Nor did you not neglectfully do it. Neglect implies doing something on purpose, or having knowledge sufficient to realize it was neglect. Does your cousin live with you and does she part of the insurance claim? If she was just visiting, then it was not your neglect, and you consider it an accident. Get a statement from your cousin. You may have to push the issue a few times. However, whatever you do, do not try and clam another reason — or excuse — to get new sofas, or that will be really, really bad news, and any claim for your sofas will be labeled an insurance scam.

If it comes down to the insurance company not giving in, and not worth an attorney, get some nice slip covers and start shopping for a new insurance company.

I am a college student and im moving into an apartment. I am living in the living room and thinking of turning it into a room. I have ideas for what to use for my walls (cubicle partitions) and i have a basic layout of a room. What are some good ideas of saving space? and whats a good way of making a door since i dont have real walls. I was thinking of using a shower curtain or something liek that for my door.

I’ll TRY to help you here.

Wall partitions are great. They’re like a free-standing, fake wall. I’ve seen two types: a small, tri-fold one used for a small section, or a really nice, big-sized one that will cover almost an entire wall! That’s nice, because you could divide the room in half.
Another choice would be to have a sleeper couch that you turn into your bed only at night. If you can spring for it, consider a computer armoire, so you can close the doors during the day, but use it as a desk. If not, find a different type of fol-away desk.
I HOPE this is what you were asking. However you do it, I’m glad you’re thinking about doing this. If you’re that cramped, it’s best to have a way to make it a living area during the day and a bedroom at night. Hopefully it won’t be too long before you can have your own bedroom!

I’m moving into a new apartment in a couple of weeks, and I’m going to go buy a bunch of new furniture. But I’m not too sure as to what color furniture (sofa, tables, dinette, etc.) I should get. What will go good with an apartment with walls that are white, and carpet that is sort of a "dirty" white, but white nonetheless.

Right now I’m thinking the obvious black but what do you think?

Since white is a neautral color any color will go with it . That is why most rentals walls are painted white . Choose furniture that reflect your personnality. Do you like modern or country??? The main thing is that you get furniture that you like and that you are comfortable with. . Have a fun time shopping and congrats on your move.

We’re in a rented house and my cat won’t stop scratching the sofas! She has also opted to rip the wallpaper, making a huge problem for us! Does anyone have any ideas as to how we can stop her?

One thing is absolutely certain. You will never stop a cat from scratching but you can divert his claws from your sofa, furnishings or carpet to something more appropriate. It is relatively easy to stop your cat scratching your furniture. First you must buy or make him a scratching post.Whenever you see your cat scratching the furniture tell him NO… or AH-AH in a firm voice, then gently pick him up and take him to the scratching post. Do this is a very gentle way so as not to scare him. Place his paws on the scratching post and simulate scratching. Praise him and tell him ‘Good Kitty’ and stroke him to make it an enjoyable pleasant experience. You will have to be diligent at first and try to catch him in the act of scratching your furniture. Never punish him for scratching inappropriately but praise him well when he does the right thing. It’s all about reward and pleasant experiences.

Good Luck!

my living room is painted in white, pop corn ceiling, light tan carpet, sage microfiber sofa and love seat, coffee table and end tables are chrome and glass, 2 lamps are chrome also. it looks like a single man’s living room. also the tv stand is silver. i want my living room to have a warm look witha warm color and nice pictures. i have outdated blinds. any idea on new in fashion blinds or curtains. i would like to have a santa fe decor or look. any ideas.
ps: i am not very handy.

You can replace blinds with the wood faux blinds they go up almost the same way. As for paint just pick one wall and paint it a color you like. A nice accent wall can give room a warm look

I have limited space in my living room, but i want to rearrange it. I have one physical corner in the room, two cable jacks on either side of the room, one huge window and a bunch of furniture. Can I put either the tv or the computer in front of the window? or should i put my couch there?
Ok- just to clarify- i am not talking about my bedroom. I am not putting anything in there- i am talking about my living room- the main part of my house. I have a chair, a couch, an entertainment shelf, a bookshelf, a computer desk and a corner shelf. That and two toy boxes and a small table. It is a lot of tings all having to go into the same small area.

So the tv can go in front of the window? Or would it be better for the Computer to go in front of the window?

I was going to suggest placing the couch in front of the window, but noticed that you have toy boxes, which would mean you have children and I would not place a couch infront of a window with children in the house so….I would put the computer in front of the window. Could you also put your TV on the same wall, this way, all your electronics are on the same wall and the sun won’t put a glair on your screens. Also, could you place your sofa away from the wall by about 4-5 feet and place the toyboxes behind the sofa so the children could have a little play area?

I recently moved all of my furniture that had been in a climate-controlled storage unit for 1 year into my new apartment. My couch grew mold in the storage unit, so I threw it out. The rest of my furniture is primarily particleboard (bookcases, dressers, etc.) and some wood. What should I use to clean this furniture to make sure that there is no mold on it and that won’t destroy the furniture? Thank you!

bleach is about the only thing that kills mold
just have to be careful using it

I have two bage color swade fabric sofas and they are very dirty. They have stains from like everything. I would just get rid of them but my hubb dosent want to because they are so comfortable and they were really expensive and he feel bad to get rid of em. How can i clean them to make them look somewhat nice again.

Cornmeal.I have owned suede coats for years and the sleeves always get gunky. Go to the grocery store and buy a box of the cheapest cornmeal you can find, yellow or white, doesn’t matter. Spread a towel under the part of the sofa you will be working on to keep the cornmeal from going everywhere and pour a handful of cornmeal on the sofa. Grind and scrub it into the suede with your hands or a DRY sponge, brushing it to one side to check your progress. Add more as needed until you finish the entire sofa. The cornmeal will bring up the nap, absorb grease and scrub dirt out of the nap. Once you have it clean vacuum with an apolstery brush to remove any cornmeal residue. It sounds weird but it works!

we want to spruce up our living room but don’t have a very good eye for interior decorating. i can tell when something looks good, but can’t seem to decorate well (either because of lack of style, budget, space available,etc.) are there any resources online that I can turn to to learn the basics of how to put together an attractive room? are there "style" rules that i should be following?

One place to get some good ideas from, would be www.hgtv.com. thats where I would start looking.