When it comes to buying sectionals and sofas, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Cheap options are always tempting but often wear out quickly and contain horrible materials. Many of the best furniture brands offer upholstered items but don’t necessarily specialize in sofas or sectionals. Here we’ll guide you through a list of the best sofa brands and what separates them from the competition.
Price Ranges
Consumer markets are structured largely in accordance with varying price points. The furniture industry is as defined by these as any and understanding them can help you reap great rewards while shopping for furniture—online or locally. In general, there are five price points to consider:
- Luxury: Waste of money for items like beds with fish tank headboards.
- High End: Best of the best. The furniture you keep for life.
- Mid Range: Good quality, might not last forever.
- Low End: Cheap materials & design, may last a few years.
- Bargain: Expect disaster.
We’re going to ignore the first (luxury) and last (bargain) categories and only focus on the three most prevalent in the market: high end, mid-range, and low-end. Luxury furniture has prices that aren’t based on anything other than novelty. Bargain furniture pricing is based on the cheapest possible solution and, in most cases, doesn’t really deliver what it advertises. Is a bookshelf really a bookshelf if it’s only rated to hold 10 pounds of books per shelf?
Sofa & Sectional Brands
For clarity, we’ll divide our consideration for which sofa and sectional brands are the best into categories base on the three most popular price ranges. Each brand should really only be compared to other brands in that same price range.
8. Bernhardt
Pricing: High-End to Mid-Range
Bernhardt a tremendous furniture company that specializes in everything you can imagine—at least in terms of home furniture. They are certainly a high-end brand but you’ll find every dollar spent contributes to a proportionate level of quality and style. There’s no over-zealous frill within Bernhardt’s catalog. They are a family-rand company that has been around since the late 1800s (let that sink in) and are now led by 4th generation heirs to the Bernhardt name. Bernhardt sofas, sectionals, loveseats, and other upholstered designs feature the pride in craftsmanship that so many other companies have abandoned in favor of cheaper pricing. The level of quality found in Bernhardt’s sofas and sectionals can’t be told—it must be experienced to believe.
7.Lexington
Pricing: High-End
Few brands say “quality furniture” quite like Lexington. This brand was among the pioneers of American furniture design around the turn of the nineteenth century and has remained a pivotal presence in the furniture industry ever since. Their designs influence the direction of the furniture market and ripple through many other brands’ catalogs. Lexington is now owned by parent company Lexington Home Brands which also owns a selection of other quality furniture brands. Among them are Tommy Bahama, Artistica, Barclay Butera, and Sligh. Each of these brands should be on the radar of anyone looking for quality. The brand of their heritage, Lexington, offers some seriously succulent sofa and sectional designs.
6.Coaster
Pricing: High-End to Mid-Range
The coaster is another sofa brand that offers much more than upholstered living room furniture. Their catalog is deep—ranging from accent tables to bedroom sets—and is characteristic of a team dedicated to design quality. Within their catalog, you’ll find they have several distinct collections—Scott Living, Essence, Every day, and Elevations. These are great taxonomic gridlines to help you cultivate a harmonious selection of furniture in your home. There are no rules that say everything should be quite-so-matching however, and Coaster’s sectionals, sofas, couches, and other upholstered items will look great paired with anything. They offer a wide range of styles and materials to cater to every buyer’s home design approach.
5.Hooker Furniture
Pricing: High-End to Mid-Range
Hooker Furniture has a rich history within the furniture industry and has been around for more than 100 years. They are one of the best brands out there for case goods, but also have a tremendous catalog of sofas and sectionals. Among their own catalog, Hooker Furniture also owns two other notable furniture brands specializing in sofas, sectionals, and all things upholstery: Sam Moore and Bradington-Young. Each of these brands has a well-deserved place on this list but, for the sake of simplicity, we’re including them together. Among these three brands, you’ll find a dizzying number of custom upholstery options, designs, and styles ranging from traditional to modern.
4.Baker
Pricing: High-End
Baker Furniture is among the best furniture brands on the market and offers custom-made sofas, sectionals, loveseats, and even accent chairs. The majority of their products are hand-made in America and should be expected to last a lifetime given proper care and maintenance. You’ll not find many options for buying Baker furniture online but, if you’re in the market for the best of the best, it’s worth checking out their dealer locator page to find the nearest retail option. In most cases, you can still order from larger retailers and have them deliver them for a reasonable fee.
3.Omnia Leather
Pricing: High-End to Mid-Range
Omnia got its start as a family-ran company with a rich Italian heritage tracing back to artisan leathers and craftsmanship. Since its inception, Omnia has found a place in the American furniture market and is one of few brands that still embrace the Made-in-America perspective. They are a founding member of the Sustainable Furniture Council, maintain active programs to lower their environmental and carbon footprints, and feature a catalog showcasing some of the finest leather seating options on the market today.
2. Bassett
Pricing: High-End to Mid-Range
Bassett Furniture is one of the oldest and most respected furniture brands in the world. They’ve dedicated themselves to maintaining quality manufacturing and design, even in the faces of outsourcing and quality compromising trends that have taken the furniture industry by storm in the past decades. Simply put: Bassett is dedicated to making furniture that lasts. Not to mention that their manufacturing techniques helped pioneer American-made furniture starting more than 100 years ago. They aren’t an upholstery-only company by any means. Bassett features a catalog with a dizzying selection of all sorts of furniture. They feature an incredible selection of sofas, sectionals, loveseats, chairs—you name it.
1. Verellen
Pricing: High-End
You’ve not likely heard of this sofa brand before, they’re fairly small compared to other international behemoths. Nonetheless, Verellen offers some incredible products of a quality not found in many other catalogs. Verellan is captained by Tom & Sabine Verellen who draw design inspiration from their heritage in Antwerp, Belgium. The styles found in the Verellen catalog are a unique fusion of modern and artisan design. They also offer a handful of other items such as mirrors, tables, and stools but the core of their catalog is rooted in sofas, sectionals, and chairs. Their products are available around the world through various retailers, studios, and interior designers.
Important Considerations
You may have noted that several of these sofa and sectional brands own other brands that also sell similar products. In most cases, you can expect quality among familial furniture brands to be closely comparable. Supply chains tend to coalesce like that. So, for example, if you fall in love with a Hooker sectional you can expect a similar love to be kindled from a Sam Moore or Bradington-Young product.
It’s also important to recognize that many of the brands discussed here offer couches, loveseats, sofas, and sectionals that fall into different pricing categories. One company may offer high-end and mid-range options, all of which should be considered as being of similar quality. Companies that offer both high-end andlow-end options should throw up a red flag. Exclusions are companies like Haverty’s or Rooms to Go that sell their own brands as well as other brands.
Figuring out where to buy sofas and sectionals can also be troublesome. On one hand, it’s tough to buy something online that costs thousands of dollars without first touching it. On the other hand, you can find prices that are thousands of dollars cheaper online. The best approach is to visit some local upholstery retailers and get a first-hand experience of the quality of different brands. Brand names might now always be readily-apparent so don’t hesitate to ask a salesperson. Armed with this new knowledge, you’ll be able to take to online retailers like Wayfair with must more confidence and poise. To really increase your chances of success, wait until a major holiday to make a purchase. Labor Day, July 4th, and Memorial Day are all big sales days for most furniture retailers, online and local.
