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What else could it be? Yes, you guessed it, ’the environment’. It seems right now everything is looked at from an environmental impact perspective, so why is buying a new sofa any different?
50,000 items of lounge furniture a year goes into landfill. This is like burying 1000 London buses. When you buy new furniture, your money goes towards a massive amount of raw materials from across the globe including tropical hardwoods, production energy and transport costs.
So don’t just think by popping down to your nearest “Sofa Warehouse” the only carbon footprint you’ll be making is the emmisions from your car. There is massive amounts of energy used to mass produce this type of cheap furniture, not too mention all the noxtious materials found in some furniture that can take 100’s of years to breakdown.
The GOOD news is…
They don’t make it like they used to. Chances are the suite you’ve already got is better made than a new one. Low prices of new lounge suites means……well as the saying goes, You get what you pay for. So if you decided to reupholster or cover the furniture you already have in a fabulous new fabric you can get the latest look in your lounge, save money, cause less impact on the environment and still have your favourite comfortable place to relax, switch off and enjoy yourself.
2 Responses to “Another reason to re-cover your sofa than to buy new!”
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February 29th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
I had a quote from yourselves to re-cover a sofa bought from Marks and Spencer. It was cheaper to buy the same sofa in their sale and give the original to a friend than to have it recovered. It was a 2 seater and you quoted in the region of £800. Too expensive!!
March 3rd, 2008 at 2:03 pm
Pat
Thanks for your comment.
The cost of covers for a two seater sofa from Plumbs ranges from under £100 up to the price you state which would be for full reupholstery or traditional loose covers in the highest quality branded fabric.
Equally you can buy a brand new sofa for just £199, or you can spend £3000.
There is always going to be a range of prices whichever product you buy.
I would also add that there are other factors to consider. There is comfort of the furniture you have and the fact it is already in your house.
The biggest factor however is probably environmental impact. Many estimates show that we deposit 50,000 furniture items a year into landfill - the equivalent of 1000 double decker buses.
Then there is the huge amount of raw material, production, energy and transport costs to deliver a new sofa to your home.
Covers tend to be far cheaper than new furniture but also have a much reduced impact on the environment.
I appreciate your feedback and opening the debate. I would say that the decision is not purely one of price, but if price is the only factor, then made-to-measure covers for any sofa from Plumbs start at just £99.