Sofa Showdown: Restoration Hardware versus Arhaus

Sheridan1974

9 years ago

I am shopping for a new slipcovered sofa right now and two leading contenders are the grand-scale rollarm slipcover sofa from Restoration Hardware and the Baldwin from Arhaus.

The Restoration sofa description indicates kiln dried hardwood and 8 way hand-tied spring suspension, but doesn't provide much info on either the foam or down fill cushion options. And, it's made in China. Here's a link to the product page:

http://www.restorationhardware.com/catalog/product/product.jsp?productId=prod1633286&categoryId=search

The Arhaus Baldwin description is less impressive on paper - plywood frame (they call it "hardwood laminate") and sinuous springs. The seat cushions are made with 2.0 density foam core, and the seat backs have a down fiber blend. It is made in North Carolina. The product page has a video showing its construction which is pretty cool and is what makes me think the suspension is sinuous springs. Here's the link:

http://www.arhaus.com/furniture/living-room-furniture/sofas/baldwin-slipcovered-sofa/

Apart from two versus three cushions, these sofas are fairly similar in appearance, and are within a couple hundred dollars or so in price using available promotions. The Restoration has significantly better "specs", but I suspect the Baldwin may nevertheless be a better sofa due to quality of its manufacturer, and I'm also suspicious of just how good the Restoration materials and parts really are. What do you guys think?

This post was edited by Sheridan1974 on Fri, Oct 3, 14 at 11:35

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Comments (3)

MJ2012
9 years ago
Arhaus. We've had the Baldwin for 15 years and it still looks and feels like new. Amazingly comfortable and easy to wash.
SLT3969
9 years ago
We have had a Baldwin from Arhaus for 10 years. I've replaced all the cushions once already, and may have to replace the bottom cushions once again. (A customer service rep is coming out to look at it this week, to see if it's an issue with springs, because the cushions sink way too much.) It IS a comfortable sofa, the slipcover is easy to clean (but wash gently, mine has holes!) but know that it will get squishy and "messy" looking quickly. I spent $2000 on it and would have thought it would be in better shape.
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I’m reading common themes above on fabrics. Avoid solvent based cleaning fabrics and know your rub wear numbers. I purchased performance fabric and it is outstanding! Black coffee and mashed in chocolate easily came out with no residual stain left behind. Did my research and chose a fabric that does not pill either. Have 2 sofas (tv watching room) and a dining table that is used on a regular basis purchaed 5 yrs ago, still in perfect shape. People also need to know the difference in leathers. You have lower end bonded leather, regular leathers that are only dyed on the surface, and others that are dyed throughtout the leather. There is something not right about the post with that leather chair. I had dogs, toddlers, hanging all over a real leather chair we owned for 20 years that didn't look like that one. Something is up with that post. Not normal. Take away…do research on foam density, rub wear of fabrics, avoid solvent only clean fabrics, and frame construction…and ask the in-store designer…not just the salesperson. I also had impeccable customer service from Arhaus.
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freethinker99
9 years ago
A few comments regarding the two companies. The bulk of Arhaus Furniture is made in Conover North Carolina by Thomas Bain. Their frames used to be 5/4 hardwood but I do beleive they have switch to hardwood plywood. They do have a cut away in their stores of a chair with 8 way hand tied springs but many of their sofas have sinuous springs. They have nice cushions, good leathers and good looking styles.

Restoration Hardware is made in China. I think the factory they use is called "Cozy" for some of their product line but I could be mistaken. Their literature says kiln dried hardwood frames, but as is the case with many manufacturers kiln dried hardwood is usually kiln dried hardwood plywood unless they specify that they are using 5/4 hardwood. They also say they have 8 way hand tied springs, but their are two types of 8 way tied spring systems. Those that are built into the furniture and those that are called drop in units. A drop in unit is essentially like a wire box made outside of the furniture with coil springs which can be tied in which the whole unit is then set into the frame and screwed into place. A drop in unit does not have the tortional strength of a real 8 way had tied unit. The real 8 way hand tied units have multiple layers with layers of a heavy duty material across the based and bands of metal crossing the base in a checkerboard pattern. If you want to see what a real 8 way hand tied unit looks like you could visit the Hancock and Moore website and watch their video. In as much as they do not show any construction features I suspect they are using a drop in unit and a plywood frame. In my opinion they should show some construction pictures on their web site or in their stores. If a company is using a construction system they are proud of they will usually show pictures or cutaways of what they are using.

RH does have many beautiful styles. In my opinion their merchandising is second to none and they also have a nice selection of leathers and fabrics.

I would say the construction methods employed by both companies are comparable.

This post was edited by Freethinker99 on Thu, Jan 22, 15 at 14:01

Sofa Showdown: Restoration Hardware versus Arhaus

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MJ2012

SLT3969

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