Most people here will say thousands. But I think it helps to know how much hard use it wil get and how long you want it to last. I don't have any kids to jump on it or spill things, for one thing. Is 5 years enough? 10? 30?

How long do you want it to last?

Length of wear correlates to the expense of the product, until you get into wacky designer prices for wacky stuff.

A lifetime like a leather Hancock and Moore? That would be like a 70’s era Coach hand bag. If you take care of it, your grandchildren may need to tweak the support, but it will still be viable. I’m not talking a 4K Gucci bag. Just a well made, what would be a $500 bag now.

Or, there’s the 10 year wear of something like a Flexsteel. Kinda like the Liz Claiborne or Aigner level of hand bags. More mass market, and not as well made, but still better than the $15 knockoff bag off of Amazon.

You don’t get what you don’t pay for. But, what is it that you do want to pay for?

I paid like $800 for my American signature couch we've had it 7 years and have a 3 and 5 year old it's held up but will need a new one in a couple of years. We use it daily....

The kind of sofa and how dense the foam cushions are and what upholstery material all matter.

I have a used, wood frame mid-century modern set that is actually over a half century old (used office furniture): two-seater and pair of chairs -- with (8) removable cushions with quality vinyl. This basic idea:

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The back have flat wood vertical slats. Beneath the seat were two inch wide rubber straps -- those straps had to be replaced; however, the sofa and chairs and all eight cushions are still in use.

Do insist on FLAT back slats. I've had rocking wood chairs with small round vertical back slats and they are extremely uncomfortable because even with dense foam in the cushions the slats could be felt .

We have a Rowe that's 15 years old. It's been re-upholstered once already (cats) but the frame is solid with no squeaks or wobbles. And the springs are still excellent. I'll be reupholstering it again (my cats are damned lucky I love them) and anticipate another 10 years out if it easily.

If your upholstery is something that will split or wear thin and/or get a "slick" appearance with use, that will shorten the lifespan of your sofa.

If the foam padding is not dense enough, even if it sits comfortably when new, then, as the foam ages and collapses, you can feel the frame of a sofa, especially the front edge, with the back of your legs.

If you have separate cushions and a wood frame, you can always cover or replace the foam or the cushion covers as needed without replacing the entire piece.

I would never use foam for cushions unless one was using foam with a down wrap, and then only in a room where it was not sat on daily. The best is a spring cushion wrapped in fiberfill. It will last for decades and take just about anything.

The back, if a tight back, should also have a spring unit. If all it has is foam and fiberfill, it will quickly start to sag and lose its shape. With at spring unit, it will last for decades.

A good hardwood frame is key and it should be wide enough to allow for re-upholstery. Many of today's sofas have such narrow frames, they cannot ever be reupholstered.

When I got married 50+ years ago, the first purchase a young couple made was a sofa and they often used any money received as a wedding gift for this purchase. They bought the very best quality they could afford and expected to still have this sofa on their 50th wedding anniversary, albeit recovered; in new fabric.

I am using my parents wedding sofa, purchased in 1940. It's been recovered (and re-styled) 3 times over the years and is still in outstanding condition. It's a very comfortable sofa.

It would be hard to find a high quality sofa for less than $5000 retail plus the cost of the fabric. If one is lucky enough to have a local upholstery shop that can still build a sofa (frame etc), one can do better on the price.

Just to add that I was SHOCKED when my designer told me that residential sofas are now rated for 5 to 7 years - and those are the $2000 to $3000 ones sold by placed like Restoration Hardware etc - essentially what seems to be bought by the middle class.

As others have posted, my mother and aunts bought sofas which were intended to last - albeit with reupholstery.

My designer said that furniture is made deliberately with a shorter life expectancy unless you spend quite a bit more than these middle of the range sofas cost.

I bought a love seat and chair in 1991 and it is still in perfect shape. It's mohair and even the fabric is in perfect condition although the back of the chair has faded where the morning sun hit it all those years.

I wouldn't get a $500 sofa unless one was truly looking for a disposable piece of furniture because one knew that there was limited shelf life.

If you have the patience and flexibility, try craigslist because upholstered furniture has almost no value used so your $500 budget would go further in terms of snagging a higher quality sofa than a $500 new sofa.

It depends totally on how it is used. Will children and pets have access to the sofa? Will you be eating/drinking while using the sofa? A $500 sofa can last a long time if it is not heavily used or abused. Food, pets, kids, very heavy people, jumping, etc, will all take its toll otherwise.

At 4x the price I’d want to get more than 7-10 years. Just saying, :p

What does the warranty say? That's a good indication of what a manufacturer thinks of his sofa. Then ask how it's built. Plywood/solid wood or is it particle board? What's the upholstery like?

Buying used quality is a pretty good deal when you have limited funds.

I did that with my first apartment way back. I made a cool girly slipcover in shell pink for it, and pillows, and it wasn’t so fuddy duddy anymore. It had good bones and it was reupholstered when I could afford it. Then my sister inherited it. I think my great nephew has it now in his first apartment.

My current sofa is a classic Lawson arm design. It is 40 years old and has been reupholstered twice.

Kavya, do you have a 15-year-old son who will take a running jump and land on the sofa? If so, buy a cheap one and wait for him to grow up.

If not, read all these reviews, do your own research, keeping in mind how you live: do you eat on the sofa, is this the main piece of furniture everyone will sit on, is it just for formal entertaining. Our current sofa is a vintage 1950's piece we bought 17 years ago and has had everything thrown at it: parties, dogs, cats, napping, eating, etc. Still going strong.

do you plan on using the sofa or is it just for looks? because if you're going to use it daily, you'll get a year or two before it starts to sag, get wrinkles, and looks 'worn'. for 500 bucks, they aren't going to use premium upholstery.

get a custom sofa. I had one made 18 years ago. It was a sectional w/chaise. I've had it reupholstered once, (and it didn't need it. I was sick of the colors) and it's still in perfect shape. You're looking at over 5K, I'm guessing.

I don't think I ever want to have sofa for 20+ years. My taste changes faster than that. Also used furniture don't cost anything close to original price.. I got leather sofa 6 months ago for 1,500 If I will get tired of it in five-seven years, I would not feel too bad. I am not an expert but in my area upholstery work with nice fabric alone will run you at list 2,000. So basically you are paying every time for new sofa...

In 1995 I bought a Thomasville smallish curved sectional for $3.5K, which was a lot of $ to me. It looked good for years - used daily but no kids until my grandson 8 years ago. It had some light fraying from my cats (who've been gone for about 9 years now). Last year it finally started getting tired, the foam, fiberfill wrapped cushions weren't comfy any more. The springs seemed ok. I had my upholsterer look at it to see if it was good enough quality to recover - they said it was better quality because of the age of many I'd find today (I knew it was mid range quality), the springs were good, the frame was hardwood. I did NOT want to buy any furniture made in China and many pieces are these days.

I wanted latex foam, so they redid it all, rebuilt the arms to a more current look. They beefed up the frame a bit, because my one complaint was it was light enough that it would scoot sometimes and the 3 pieces would become misaligned. They covered it in a very nice Krypton fabric and it was about $5.5k. I had looked at new similar sectionals and they were comparably priced, but none in a style I liked as well. It fits perfectly in my room, so it was worth it. It will outlive me by many years.

Spend around $3000 for an American made sofa with 8-way hand tied springs. Not ALL $3000 sofas are made well, the imported ones at Restoration Hardware are overpriced for their quality - they are experts in selling the illusion of quality. If that isn't the budget, then expect to spend $2000 for a good sofa with sinuous springs (make sure there is a good warranty). Brands I have had good experience with are Lee Industries (my personal one is 15 years old and not a wobble or squeak) and the MT Company. Other brands worth checking out: Hancock and Moore, Taylor King, and Stanford.

I used to work in a used store that periodically had hancock / taylor and those were there because someone did not want to reupholster or was ready for a new look. If I bought new and quality I would budget about 4/5k .

I have few of them for my office as well. I spent about 2K to set up all of them. Pretty decent and comfortable.

I bought two sofas at Macy's three years ago. They were on sale and about 500 a piece. One gets a lot of use and I have cats. They still look almost brand new.

Here is a photo.

aktillery,,,what a beautiful room. and I can tell which sofa gets used a lot. that's what I was saying about a cheaper sofa. the wrinkles, the sagging, gathering on the material. They just don't hold their shape. with an expensive sofa, you won't have that. (I also got a sale sofa from Macys almost a decade ago. it's not used daily so it's still in excellent shape).

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aktillery9,

I love everything about your home....the view, the construction, decor...it is all

lovely.

I purchased a Massoud sofa in 1996. It is still the most comfortable sofa that I have ever had. It still has the same support that it had when new. I plan to have it reupholstered soon, not because it needs it but I want to get rid of the skirt and a change in color.

@Sarah

Much of the wood furniture in our house are pieces I ‘inherited’ (since they came from relatives who were still alive at the time, it was more of me being the sole person who expressed interest when the opportunity to get the furniture came up) some is over 40 years old, the newest is around 20 years old. Pretty much all will make it to the age where they will officially be considered antiques with my efforts to keep them cared for and clean.

Upholstered furniture is slightly different in what to look for to get a long lived piece, and as many are featured in prominent areas (read: people see and use them a lot) it’s commonly these items we frequently want to replace/redo with something that suits the latest trends. The sofa with chaise that is in our main floor living room we bought in August 2017 (special order fabric so it wasn’t actually here until late September) wasn’t terribly expensive at around $700, but it fits the space and our 4 foster kiddos watch tv/play downstairs in the basement family room area that has the ‘wallhugger’ stationary back wood frame futon. The futon mattress is relatively inexpensive to replace, dark gray in color, so if it has to be replaced we’re totally fine with that! The sofa+chaise is a lovely sapphire blue, a nice place to seat guests and where the mister placed the GIANT fancy new tv (the only furnishing that he really wanted to pick out, was that tv - everything else he has put in my hands to decide on!) so he can watch it, and I can simultaneously cook while watching the news/whatever tv show I’m binge watching. Do I expect the sofa+chaise to eventually be a 100+ year old family heirloom? Of course not. But it will make it at least 8-10 years before I’m itching to replace it, and that’s okay. The mister isn’t creating a dented area in the shape of his butt on the thing even though he usually sits in exactly the same spot and the exact same position. So far there hasn’t been any stain-causing mishaps by anyone, all I can ask for really. :p