Comfy 1 Sectionals, in Custom Sizes, p. 3

Our furniture can be light in appearance, but our frames, suspensions and cushion filling will never be light in durability or in quality of support.

The Florida family that bought this sectional had recently had poor experience with a sectional from a big-name, upper-priced national chain. They came to us for something that would hold up well. That was the right thing to do.

Shown: 116" x 89" Maryland model sectional, with 33" back height, a heavy-duty yet soft decorative fabric from JF Fabrics, our blonde wood finish, and the optional padded arm wraps.

Subdued colors, to blend with the surroundings. This customer, for a home on the coast of Maine, chose a neutral color for blending with the rocky terrain outside. The fabric is a soft chenille, with a lot of character in its weave, which is available in a wide selection of colors from Kravet, to be seen in our showroom, in many fabric shops, or on their web site (referred to in the fabric section of this web site), with samples of specific colors available on request.

The word gets around. You may notice similarities between some of these pictures. It started with an architect and his wife who bought our furniture for their own home (below). Years later, an Ohio couple buying a house plan found out about us from the architect (their sectional is shown on the previous page). And later a Maine couple likewise (above). (Needless to say, it's important to us to make sure that every customer is pleased with his or her order.)

Ten years of use plus sun exposure would normally mean that an old sectional sofa would be going to the ever-growing landfills, if it hadn't long since gone there. In addition to the big expense of buying a replacement, a major effort could be needed to find a sectional that fits this space. But in the case of furniture made by us, arranging for a good-as-new sectional, sofa or chair is comparatively easy and economical. Following our standard routine, all that our customers had to do to renew this sectional was to request fabric swatches that would satisfy their new color scheme as well as their fiber content preferences, then order a new set of covers, and later change the covers. (A complete set of covers for a sectional as shown here, including shipping, is $901 in the fabric shown in Jan. 2008, and would be that much or less in thousands of other quality fabrics; obviously, some fabrics would be higher.) All of our cushion covers are zippered, but it requires some effort to change them since we intentionally make them a tight fit, unless the customer requests a looser fit. Replacement arm covers on current models can just be slipped onto the padded forms and secured with hook-and-loop (velcro-type) fasteners. If the back of the frame is exposed, re-covering that would usually require unbolting the back, wrapping new fabric around it, and stapling at the inside edges, but in most cases not even that is necessary.

The back cushions shown here had an earlier version of our "puffy" filling option. Such pillowy cushions might settle with use, but they are easy to plump up. Also, our current version of this filling option has narrow vertical blocks of foam inside that provide resistance to settling.

Cotton lovers and people with sunny rooms, please note: We normally recommend avoiding reds, blues, dark colors, and cotton fabrics if your furniture will receive a lot of exposure to sunlight. But much depends on the intensity of the exposure. Our customers with the room shown above had a blue cotton fabric for their first ten years, and they had fading, but (even with their large skylights) it wasn't bad enough to keep them from ordering another cotton fabric for their replacement covers. Special factors in this case: (1) this room is on the north side of the house, (2) the house is in central Maine, and (3) surrounding trees provide shade.

If you like architecture such as shown in the two pictures above, or are interested in small-house designs and might have a house built some day, architectural plans are available from Knight Associates, with a website at knightarchitect.com.

What says "family fun and togetherness" better than a sectional sofa?

And what better way to make the best use of your space than with a sectional that's just the right size for your room? Together with just the right fabric, that's durable, cleanable, and the right color. If you buy from us, these things are routine. The snapshots here were sent to us by one of our customers in Massachusetts, who wrote, "...our sectional ...is great, wonderful!   My husband and I think it is very clever how it all fits together, it only took us less than an hour, including opening boxes, to get it into our family room [and assembled].  Our two girls love it!"

Please note: Once assembled, our sectionals can be easily disassembled, but they can't be separated to be used as separate sofas, loveseats or chairs.

Q: Which should we buy for our room, a sectional or separate sofas?
A: Each has pros and cons, which mean different things to different people.
Disadvantages of a sectional: (1) A sectional does not allow flexibility for re-arranging the layout of your furniture, compared with having separate pieces, and that could be important if you move. (2) Also in case of a move, one of our sectionals must be disassembled and later re-assembled at the new location (but that is a quick and easy process, requiring 20-30 minutes at each end of the move, and making it easy to carry almost anywhere, mainly in the form of flat pieces.)  (3) If your fabric has a "nap" (as in velvets, suede-type fabrics, and some fabrics with a pile or conspicuous texture), or a sheen, or a direction in the pattern, you should expect to see a change in appearance as the fabric turns the corner of the sectional -- normally an abrupt lighter-darker transition. (4) Compared with two separate sofas coming together at a right angle, filling in the space in the corner with a sectional corner adds about $600 to the price, which is probably more expensive than a typical table to fill in that space.

Advantages of one of our sectionals: (1) Filling in the corner by means of a sectional doesn't add an addtional normal seat; but it does add (a) more space for reclining, a crucial consideration for many people, (b) if someone sits into the corner at an angle, with an extra pillow or two placed in the corner, it provides a nice, deep-sitting, loungey place to sit, especially for a long-legged person, and (c) it's also a seat for somebody who doesn't mind sitting with her or his legs turned below oneself, which is actually a normal position for many women and children. (2) Filling in that corner with cushioning is important for many people to allow around-the-corner personal contact that wouldn't be possible with separate sofas. Various studies have found that caring touch is very good for both body and spirit, reducing stress and consequently disease (AARP magazine, Jan.-Feb. 2006, p. 46). (3) For some people it's an aesthetic aspect of their decor; they like the unifying look of a sectional continuing around a corner.  (4) For some, a sectional provides a warm, welcoming appearance, indicating an assumption of congeniality. 

PRICING of our sectional sofas is complicated, since there are so many different sizes and options, and since every one we make is different. There are illustrative prices shown under some of the pictures in this section, but to get a price quote on the particular size and model you're considering, please give us a call or send an e-mail.

Standard LENGTHS: The following are the standard base lengths that we make on either side of our sectionals (all lengths include the distance from the very back edge in the corner to the outside bottom of the leg on the extending side); for an L-shaped sectional, you would need to choose two of the lengths below:
55", 59", 62", 65" and 71" (these 5 lengths include the corner section plus one seat) ,
83", 89" and 95" (corner section plus two seats), and
107", 116", and 125" (corner unit plus three seats).
Keep in mind that the Virginia model arms, flaring outward as you see above, add 3 1/2" to the above lengths. And the padded arm wraps for a California or Maryland sectional, if you choose the padded arms, add 2". Three-sided sectionals: For the back-corner-to-back-corner length of the side that will be in the middle, add 30" to any of the sizes above. In addition to these standard lengths, we can also make special in-between sizes (at a $90 surcharge for the special work) or longer sizes for a large surcharge.

You can be confident that we will get the measurements right in anything we make. When we write up an order, we discuss it carefully with the customer and then complete a birds-eye view diagram of your sectional on the order form. We then send you a copy for your confirmation and records. When it is being manufactured, the owner checks on it especially carefully as the measurements of each component are being written up for cutting; and again when it is in final form before being packed up or delivered. We have made many sectionals since the late '80s and haven't had a problem yet.

Some people underestimate the size sectional they will need for the number of people whom they plan to seat on it. You should keep in mind the following: (1) The space that's usable for normal sitting (with your feet resting on the floor) doesn't start until 33" out from the corner; and (2) even then, seating starts at 33" only on one side, because if two people are each sitting right next to the corner of one of these sectionals, their feet and legs would come out into the same space (see diagram below).

If you lay out some dining chairs in a right-angle arrangement (as shown below), and let people sit as close together as they feel comfortable sitting for a while, this will allow you to figure how much seating space you need on each side of a sectional.

"X" marks the leg-conflict area, which means that you have to move person 3 or person 2 away from the corner (A) a little. To the minimum comfortable sitting space, add 32 1/2" and the arm thickness, and that will give you the minimum length you need for that side of the sectional.

If your space is limited, be sure to note that the molding at the base of your walls will push the sectional away from the wall an inch or so. Also remember that the Virginia model arms tilt outward 3 1/2" beyond the 2" minimum arm width, and the optional padded arm wraps that can be ordered with the California or Maryland arms would add 2" at the the arm tops.

We won't sell a sectional that isn't at least 65" on the longer side, because two occupants couldn't sit comfortably on the smaller sizes. Even with the longer side being 65", it would still be minimal (or cozy?) for two occupants.

For detailed information about our standard and optional heights, cushion types, firmnesses, and seating dimensions, click here

Exact pricing depends on size, fabric choice and other options. Our home page shows our 800 number and has a link for sending e-mail to us, so that you can request more information. For more information on our pricing in relation to the long-term value of our furniture, if you haven't already read this section elsewhere in our site, click here Discounts /completion times: Our standard completion time, for orders at the list price, is fiveor six weeks.* If you can wait as much as six months, we deduct 10% off the base price of the furniture. But, to repeat, our standard completion time is five to six weeks. Since our sales levels fluctuate considerably and unpredictably, we offer discounts to customers who don't expect their furniture soon. This provides a backlog of orders to keep our people working during lulls in sales levels; and it allows easier handling of the full-price orders when we have a surge of them, since worker hours can be diverted from long-term orders at those times. If we don't have surges, the long-term orders come through early, but the customer still gets the full discount. Better advance knowledge of what we'll need to produce also allows us to order supplies better, to hire and train at a moderate pace, and to group our work into efficient batches of similar products.

*Our "normal" completion time is subject to change if we receive a surge of orders, which can happen at any time (but we would make that clear when an order is placed); this tends to happen especially in the last months of the year. If you can plan farther in advance of when you really need the furniture, it's better.

To see pictures of some of the fabrics that are available on this furniture, click here.

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