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THE SOFA EXPERT
What should
I look for in a sofa?
How do tetrad produce quality sofas at such keen prices?
Do your sofas come with a guarantee?
What if I want a specific fabric on my sofa?
What quality features can I expect?
Feather cushions always flatten, don't they?
Do fibre cushions need plumping like feather cushions?
I've got allergies, what can I do?
What effect will the sun have on my furniture?
Do your sofas have matching chairs?
The price of a sofa usually reflects the quality of the materials used. Cheap sofas may look okay on the outside but
in order to achieve that very cheap price something has to be sacrificed and it's usually the quality of what you can't see!! This will include the quality of the frame
(usually chipboard or worse!), the thickness and quality of the foam, springs and quality of cushions, not to mention the wearability of the fabric.
We think a quality frame, quality cushion
fillings and a myriad of little details are essential to ensure your
sofa lasts longer.
Tetrad are a very large company, therefore they do have economies of scale. They tend to limit the fabric options, as by offering a limited choice of fabrics, they can buy in that fabric very competitively to start with, and secondly it simplifies production. Being a large company they also use state of the art machinery for fabric and leather cutting as well as frame making. They have a highly skilled workforce with some of the best upholsterers in the trade, but where possible they use 21st century technology to maximise productivity in order to keep competitive.
We offer a 2-year guarantee on all our sofas. Our experience is that complaints on our sofas are very few and far between and almost never after two years. On the contrary, we have customers who tell us how delighted they still are with their sofa seven, eight and even nine years after purchasing it.
Tetrad produce very few sofas in what we call COM (Customer's Own choice of Material). If you are looking for a sofa in, say, a Designer's Guild, Jane Churchill or Osborne and Little fabric, or just want to choose something more specific to your home furnishings scheme, we have a range of sofas available from Tamarisk ( www.tamariskdesigns.co.uk) who are a much smaller company producing sofas of similar quality to tetrad but specialising in COM. Naturally they are a little more expensive, but you then have an endless choice of fabrics. Our Interior Design team would be happy to help you choose a fabric from our huge range and to offer advice on curtains and blinds if you require.
All our sofas are made to the highest standard with quality frames, fillings, cushions and fabrics.The benefit of this to you is that your sofa, under normal living conditions, should last you longer and, because it has a proper frame, it would be worth re-upholstering in future years.
This must be one of the most discussed topics to do with sofas. Where to begin?
Not all feather cushions are the same! If you buy a cheap sofa it will have cheap feather cushions which will consist of poor quality feathers and not many of them!
These cushions will flatten away in no time at all, regardless of how often you plump them.
A quality sofa will have quality feather and down cushions. The weight of the cushion will indicate the density of the fillings and the feathers themselves will be curved
to maximise the "spring" of the cushion.
Feather cushions give a sofa that lovely cosy, relaxed look and comfort but even the best quality feather cushions need plumping regularly. The best way to do this is
to take the cushion off the sofa, drop it on its narrow side and repeat this on all four sides at least once. Go round again if you think it needs it. This is so much better
than just taking the cushion off and plumping it in the middle between your arms as it fully aerates the cushion, separating the feathers and allowing them to do their
job properly. Doing this will not only dramatiacally increase the life expectancy of your cushions, but also the comfort of your sofa.
Sadly, seat cushions don't last forever. If you think about it, they take a pounding over the years and eventually they will need replacing. How frequently will depend on
the use of the sofa, but properly plumping your cushions will significantly extend that time. Rotating your cushions regularly, swopping left to right and turning them so
top becomes bottom will also help them to maintain body.
There are two types of fibre cushions, block foam and soft fibre. Block foam is a square of foam that is used to give a very firm seat and a "rigid" look. These cushions don't really benefit from plumping but should be frequently rotated if possible. Soft fibre cushions look and feel very much like feather cushions and need maintaining in exactly the same way. There's no escaping it, the cushions on that lovely soft, enveloping sofa that you've chosen do need some tender loving care to keep them doing their job properly!
Some of our sofas come with matching chairs but very often people choose a contrast chair in a different fabric. We have a number of chairs on display and our design team would be happy to help you choose a fabric that will compliment your choice of sofa. (We can also help you with matching curtains and blinds if you wish: www.interior-trading.co.uk/curtains.html)
Our sofa companies will substitute feather cushions for fibre cushions at no extra charge wherever necessary.
We all know how powerful the sun is. If you imagine how it burns your skin in very little time, you can appreciate that it probably isn't very good for your furniture. It can dry out the furniture and alter the colour. For the sake of all your furniture and home furnishings we would recommend pulling curtains or closing blinds when possible to avoid the damaging effects of the sun.
Many of our sofas come either split in half for delivery or have removable arms or legs. Think about how you will get the sofa into your house and discuss it with us if you have concerns. We have years of experience and can normally work out if it will or won't go in! Locally, we are happy to pop round with a tape measure and a template to put your mind at rest.
Comfortable sofas are normally big sofas! Customers tell us, all the time, how wonderfully comfortable our sofas are and that's because, mostly, they are quite big! We recommend you have a little measure in your house before ordering. Mark the corners of the sofa on the floor with masking tape (or baked bean cans if you prefer!) just to see what space it will take up in your room......be aware that when tetrad call a sofa a Petite it may not be as petite as you think!!
We deliver sofas all over the country. Delivery is normally free of charge. Delivery assumes ground floor easy access to accessible parts of the country. Remote areas and difficult access may be subject to a charge. We'd be happy to offer a quotation to your address.
We generally quote 6-8 weeks but this is only an average. Delays in materials can sometimes make this a little longer but equally, if all components are in stock, it can sometimes be a little quicker. We do try to keep you updated.
If you have a question not answered here, please e-mail it to enquiries@interior-trading.co.uk. We will get back to you as quickly as possible.
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