How to avoid costly mistakes
when purchasing
Furniture
Insiders guide to
what many retailers and importers don't
want you to know
Helping you the customer to get what
you pay for!
1
PAGE
3 Check list of 5 key questions to ask
4 Frames of imported furniture and reproduction
antiques
5 Frames locally made , what to look for
6 Foams
8 Springs and webbing
9 Fabric
10 Leather and fabric protection
12 Re upholstery
13 Services we provide
14Fuse furniture
15 Location map
2
Check list of 5 KEY QUESTIONS to ask the sales
person.
Where is this furniture made, country of origin?…………………
What materials went into making the frame of the furniture?
……………………………………………………………………
What type of webs or springs are used for seat and back support?
……………………………………………………………………
What type of foam is used, is it Australian made or imported?
…………………………………………………………………….
What grade of fabric is on my furniture? Light Domestic,
Domestic, Commercial and have all sewn seems been over
locked ……………………………………………………………
What grade of leather is on my furniture, reconstituted, corrected
grain, semi aniline or full aniline? If imported, do I have leather
all over, if not where is the leather substitute?
………………………………………………………………….
With each question above ask what warrantee is given with every
component.
Name of shop or manufacturer …………………………………..
Name of sales person…………………………………
Signature of sales person……………………….…………………..
Date ……………………………………………………………….
NOTES:
3
It’s what you don't see that can make all
the difference
To most industry outsiders’ sofas and chairs look basically the
same, but internally it’s a totally different story, let’s start
with the frame, there are numerous timbers and boards
available for manufacturers,
Frames of imported furniture
Imported furniture does have a terrible reputation and often
this is rightly deserved. When asked to repair a ladies brand
new sofa , I put the sofa on my work bench removed the dust
sheet from underneath and when I looked inside , the internal
frame was made of old pallet timber nailed together, not
using any glue never mind support and strengthening blocks .
I explained to the owner what I saw and though I did what I
could the furniture wasn't worth fixing, she was extremely
upset. I’m not saying all imports are like this, it’s just that if
you can’t see inside fully upholstered furniture how do you
know what you’re buying.
Imported reproduction antiques
This is another area in which to be careful. A lot of the
reproduction antiques are manufactured in areas of the world
where the timbers are grown in a humid climate and not dried
out properly before manufacture. Because of our dry harsh
climate timber that still has moisture in it will dry
out ,consequently the frames will tend to warp ,crack and
4
open at the joints , I’ve seen it happen many times and I’ve
heard importers and shop keepers admit their products are of
poor quality and their justification is “O well its cheap, what
do people expect ”
Locally made frames
Pine and chipboard
This combination is most commonly used in WA for
frame manufacture, this is satisfactory but may not make
for a long life. Chipboard is basically sawdust stuck
together with PVA glue , this is water based and so when
exposed to too much moisture will fall apart and fail .
Pine, as we all know is a very light weight timber which
may have a large amount of knots (weak points) in it. There
is nothing really wrong with pine as long as it is reinforce at
all the main stress areas and load baring rails are not too
long.
Jarrah & plywood
(We favour these in our frames)
Quality and a long life can be expected with this type of
frame , Jarrah as we all know is an extremely strong hard
wood , my company often reupholster lounge suites from the
1930s 40s and 50s with Jarrah frames still going strong after
all this time , so the proof as they say is in the pudding ! We
use plywood as it is strong and flexible without the inherent
problems of chipboard; this is why it is used by boat builders.
Combined with the Jarrah these are exceptionally strong long
lasting frames.
5
All foams are definatly NOT created equal
This is an area that seems to cause the most problems, and the
reason for this is, cheap foam and expensive foam feels
similar when new, it’s only after you have been using your
furniture for a few months that the difference becomes evident.
As you repeatedly sit on the seat cushion, they start to get
softer and softer, over a short period of time they can start
collapsing, looking thin tired and becoming uncomfortable.
The cause is as simple as this; cheap foam is made of
cheap chemicals. The chemicals that give foam its resilience
and makes it last for a long time is lacking in the cheaper
product. That’s why at Couture Living we pay more for
premium quality foam. In my opinion, is money well spent
both for long term comfort and for the long life of the your
furniture, especially if your chair or sofa doesn't have
removable seat cushions, if you need to replace or repair the
cushions and they are fixed to the frame it will be very
expensive to have the work carried out, it will not be a matter
of just unzipping the cushion cover and refilling it with new
foam.
Foam in imported furniture
Australian foam manufactures have Australian standards they
have to adhere to, overseas manufacturers don’t, they can use
whatever they want and unfortunately we don't know what
quality of foam is in the furniture we have paid good money
for.
6
So when buying furniture even if its imported, tell the sales
person you want to replace the seat cushions with Australian
made foam cushions, if they want your business they will do
what you ask, they may charge you for this and don’t forget to
ask what foam are they putting in and who the manufacturer is,
if they are doing the right thing they won’t mind giving you
this information.
Seat cushions
We use three types
Foam with Dacron wrap, this is the most basic and
economical available from soft to very hard and anything in
between, it all depends on what suits your level of comfort.
We have made sofas with two different types of seat cushion
because the husband and wife had differing needs.
Foam with inner coil springs, from what I know we are the
only manufacturers in Perth offering this cushion. It
comprises of coil spring, like what you get in mattresses
sandwiched top and bottom between two pieces of foam .This
gives a nice soft bouncy feel as the spring works with the
foam.
Feather with foam core, the luxury feel of feather but without
the inherent problem of constantly needing to keep plump
them up as was required with the older feather cushions. The
foam core middle helps to keep the cushions shape while the
feather wrap maintains inviting feather cushion look
7
Springs or webs, when and where?
Because most of your body weight goes down, what’s holding
you up is important.
Elastic or rubber web. There are many webs on the market,
some manufacturers use the cheapest web they can find, this
is not just with imported furniture, even some Australian
manufacturers will use inferior webbing in their seats. You
can imagine this will lead to problems with the chair or sofa.
As the web stretches the whole seat will start to sag , most
people have experienced when sitting on a chair or sofa , as
you sit you sink deeper and deeper , almost sitting on the floor
and then trying to get out of the seat again, it can be extremely
difficult . Eventually webbing stretches so far the fabric on
top of the seat platform will start to rip, I would probably get
one or two phone calls a week with people enquiring about
getting their sofa re webbed, if we have to use a seat webbing
we use Warwicks Black Cat webbing, it has a 10 year
guarantee. Your retailer or manufacturer will know about this
product .
Metal Springs . There are two types , coil and no sag .We use
both but to keep costs of manufacturing down NO SAG
springs are often used , they give the nice bouncy feel of a
metal spring without the labour cost of hand sewing springs in
place . Springs or webs can be used as back support, because
most of the strain is on seat. What is used here is not really an
issue; however I did see an imported suite with cardboard as
the back support once, probably not the best idea!
8
Fabric
It’s probably a good idea to choose your fabric before you
paint your walls or choose your flooring. The simple reason is
this, you can get virtually any shade of paint or carpet colour
but going the other way around may prove difficult to find a
fabric with that specific colour you've painted the whole room
with.
When selecting a fabric, apart from choosing the right colours
and designs the main questions we should ask are
How well will it wear?
How well will it resist or hide stains?
Fabric bought from a reputable source will have information
on what type of performance you can expect from it.
Light Domestic, would be for very occasional use .
Domestic, although suitable for everyday use I would still be
slightly wary as it may fail sooner than you hope.
Commercial, this is what I recommend to my clients as it is
made with heavy usage in mind, as might occur in hotels
cinemas and the like.
Remember all sewn seems must be over locked, we do this
with all fabrics; if it isn’t done the fabric can fray resulting in
holes appearing. Best to unzip a cushion cases and look inside
to make sure it has been done.
9
Fabric protection I’m often asked is it worth it? It does work
but over time it will wear off, it doesn’t last forever. If you
have paid a lot of money buying your new furniture or having
it your old pieces re upholstered then the comparatively small
outlay for fabric protection gives you some piece of mind.
Some fabrics have fabric protection already applied when it
is being manufactured, so this can save you the outlay, read
the back of the fabric sample , it should tell you if it has
already been done or not. The costs can vary greatly from
retailer to retailer, so shop around.
Leather
This is an extremely tricky area, just like foam, leathers look
similar when new, but their differences become apparent after
some use. We have samples of good quality leather at our
showroom.
Bonded leather or reconstituted leather, usually found on
imported lounge suites, this is a material made of varying
degrees of genuine leather combined with other substances to
give the appearance of leather at reduced cost .This maybe a
product your are being sold as real leather. It is often used
around the outer part of furniture so as to reduce costs.
There are different types of bonded leather, but the type
being used on upholstered furniture today is a polyurethane
product, backed with fabric and then a layer of latex. The
actual leather content of bonded leather varies from
manufacturer and the quality they are presenting. Be mindful
10
that the polyurethane surface is stamped to give it a leatherlike texture.
Corrected grain leather
This can be found on both locally made and imported product ,
it is named this because lower grade hides are used, part of
the top layer of leather is removed due to imperfections and
then a new top surface is created by embossing or printing an
artificial pattern on to the surface . The heavy pigmentation
and lacquers used can create stiffness, preventing this product
from breathing as well as the aniline and semi aniline leathers.
I don't discourage the use of corrected grain leather as they
can be hard wearing, unfortunately it can be difficult to tell
what you are buying until it’s too late, you need to be
confident your supplier is selling you leather that will perform
in the way you require.
Aniline and semi aniline leather
This type of leather is found at the higher end of furniture,
Semi aniline leathers are processed more than full aniline
leather, they have more natural characteristics and markings
but are lovely and soft to the touch. I highly recommend these
leathers as they are a pleasure to work with.
Overview
Leather of quality is a pleasure to own and should give years
of hassle free use , poor quality leather as with inferior
fabrics will often fail ending up costing more in the long run.
11
To re upholster or not to re upholster
This is a question I get asked all the time, the answer varies. If
the furniture was well made, and replacement cost is
expensive then re upholstery of it would not be a waste of
money. If it is a cheap or even just an average piece of
furniture then it may not be a worthwhile option.
Unfortunately when people get quotes for re upholstery they
can vary greatly, and the difference in price may be because
the upholsterer charging you less, may not do what is needed
when the fixing of frames, respringing or re webbing and of
course new foam or padding where necessary .
Re upholstery if it is done properly takes a lot of man hours
and it is a waste of time and your money if the upholsterer just
puts new fabric on top of failing springs or frame work. So
my advice is tried to find a reputable company, one that has
been referred to you by someone you know. Another way to
find a good upholstery company is ask the fabric wholesalers
as they usually have a list of companies who they know do
good work. You can find wholesalers in the. Final you can
find wholesalers in the Yellow Pages.
At Couture living our company’s commitment to quality
means we always check frames and springs, replacing them
when and where necessary.
When buying new furniture it is definitely worth getting the
questionnaire filled in .You as the customer has every right to
know what it is you’re actually buying. So print off a few
12
questionnaire’s and take them around you when you’re
researching products.
If something does go wrong with your furniture you will have
in writing what the sales person told you, it won’t be case of
your word against the sales person or the retail shop.
It is usual that most retailers ask for a deposit, I personally
only expect the balance of payment when my client has
received their goods and are happy with everything, this will
give you the customer leverage in the eventuation of
something not being to your satisfaction, as this may give the
retailer motivation to fix the problem in order to get their final
payment.
I recommend you go and check out the quality of
lots of retailers and manufacturers, once you have
an understanding of what is needed to make
quality furniture , then come and see me,
together we will work out exactly what your
requirements are and what will work best within
your budget. As a thank you for reading this
report and if you have any work done by us, I will
pay to have fabric protection applied FOR FREE, I
will pick up all costs! services include
 Furniture Made To Size and made to fit you’re room
 Re upholstery and Restoration Service
 Curtains and Blinds
 Home consultations
 Fabric sales
13
FUSE FURNITURE
We are the sole agent and
distributor in WA for Fuse
furniture some of the
finest designer furniture
from around the world.
Check out this exciting range @
www.fusefurniture.com.au
14
Contact
Stephen Kinsey
0411426672
Showroom 08 93811200
Email [email protected]
www.coutureliving.com.au
9 Loftus St West Leederville 6007
Look for the big red chair outside our door.
15
designer inspired
craftsmen built
16