How to choose a Quality sofa or corner sofa

Posted on August 25, 2012 by Mark Walsh

The main difficulty with choosing a sofa, is that you are depending on a lot of structural components that are hidden. Let me explain.

Because, what you depend on is inside, and by definition hidden, you want to know what the factory did and does to ensure a quality build.

The first thing you want to ensure that you don’t end up on the floor is the frame of the sofa. This should be made from solid wood, or even better, layers of solid wood glued together. The best sofa manufacturers will give you a long warranty (our supplier gives a lifetime warranty). The second thing to look at is the springing sytem on the platform ( where the cushions sit). You want strong springs, well attached to the side rails and in addition some strong webbing (Pirelli). The third element is the cushions – we think the best is to have a high density polyurethane foam wrapped with feathers. And the last bit is usually the fabric or leather. In fabric, for long lasting, hard wearingness look for polyester. It wears like rocks and there are great PE fabrics now which are soft to the hand with beautiful colours.

So that is the lot – 4 elements:
1. Frame
2. Springs
3. Cushions
4. Fabric

Happy shopping.

Mark Walsh, Montana

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How to get stains from White Leather

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Mark Walsh

Unfortunately, inspired by the experience of our customers, here is the ‘skinny’ on white leather.

1. It looks great

2. It eats up ink, indigo from blue jeans, and especially fluorescent dyes from kids crazy markers or highliters

How to solve:

1. Catch it very fast

2. Use a baby wipe

3. Apply leather cream after

Very few people get to do all 3, but good luck and thanks,

Mark

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Leather vs Fabric

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Mark Walsh

One of the major lines of product that we sell is sofas, and the battle between leather and fabric in sofas continues.

We are in our 8th year of selling both leather and fabric sofas and corner sofas – so I thought I would share my experience so far.

Every day we see young parents come through the door, trying to solve the problem of how to keep their living room looking respectable when they have 3 crazy little ones hell-bent on destruction. Naturally, their first instinct is to opt for leather. Most leathers are more hard-wearing than most fabrics.

However, over the 8 years of business, we have seen the gap in hard-wearingness ( I know – probably not a word) has narrowed. Also there are 2 other drawbacks to leather – comfort and price. It is difficult to get around the fact that on a cold February evening, when the wind is blowing and the sleet is falling, that a leather sofa is going to be a bit cold. And price, we have found that in order to get an equivalent quality leather sofa to a fabric sofa will cost approx x1 & 1/2 to x2 the price.

Those are just a few thoughts – and if you came away thinking I am a fan of fabric – you would be right.

Would love to hear your feedback.

Thanks

Mark

 

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Be bold when you are designing

Posted on February 4, 2011 by Mark Walsh

Ok.

So I may be overreaching here a little bit, but I am going to talk a little about interior design.

I am really not qualified at all but have watched the best work: Eoin Lyons, Ruth Kennelly, Sinead Kelly & many more.

The first thing to remember is that there is no right answer. You have to trust your gut. You have to spend a good amount of time searching magazines for looks that work for you. The test here is does the arrangement ‘move’ you.

Do you have an emotional reaction to the arrangement, rug, picture, cushion? If so you are on the right track.

The best amateurs I have seen are not afraid to get it wrong and have picked out some fabric or colour that really moves them.

So you have your cushion in hand, then experiment.

Don’t agonise over the difference between 2 choices too much, go with your gut.

And last enjoy yourself.

I hope I have helped a little.

Thanks

Mark

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Standard Irish bed sizes

Posted on April 1, 2010 by Mark Walsh

In the market for a new mattress or bed?

Standard Irish mattress sizes:

3′ x 6’3 (90 x 190cm)

4’6 x 6’3 (135 x 190cm)

5′ x 6’6 (150 x 200cm)

6′ x 6’6 (180 x 200cm)

People call these an assortment of names: double, queen, king, superking, full – we think that just confuses. These are the mattress measurements and all standard Irish beds are based off these (these are also UK standard sizes )

Continental (160 x 200cm) mattresses and beds can be got in most ranges, as can US, Canadian and Australian. Let us know the measurement and we will let you know if we can.

Cheers

Mark

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How to buy mattresses? The lowdown

Posted on January 28, 2010 by Mark Walsh

Or: How to get a good night’s sleep?

You have probably heard the one:  Choose mattresses and shoes wisely, because if you are not on one, you are on the other.

Well, there is quite a bit of truth in this. As a furniture retailer, I will avoid talking about buying shoes, and try to share whatever wisdom I have regarding mattresses.

The temptation now is to launch into a detailed explanation of the specification on each type of mattress (I will get to all that stuff later) However, that is the kind of the mistake I constantly see with folks coming into our shop.

The most important thing about a mattress is that it supports you comfortably for a good night’s sleep. So I will lead with that.

And if you think about it, sleeping is all about your body’s comfort. And every body is different. So everyone’s favourite mattress will be different. That is really important. So it is practically impossible to select a mattress without lying on it.

So spend time (we recommend about 30 minutes) lying on your mattress before you choose it.

Technical discussion of mattress specifications to follow.

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Hammock & Outdoor from Fatboy

Posted on April 21, 2011 by Mark Walsh

We have been doing the Fatboy range in store www.montana.ie or at www.fatboy-ireland.ie for about 6 years now and we love them.

In particular, there are hammocks http://www.fatboy-ireland.ie/index.php/Fatboy-Hammock/View-all-products.html and outdoor fatboys or buggle-ups http://www.fatboy-ireland.ie/index.php/Outdoor-Fatboy-Beanbags/View-all-products.html which are proving really popular this season.

I am 6’2 and weigh over 15 stone and the Hammock is perfectly strong enough for me.

Have a look and see what you think.

Thanks

Mark

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Heights of kitchen stools

Posted on April 1, 2010 by Mark Walsh

If you are in the market for kitchen stools there is one piece of simple information you will need. Which height is your counter, bar height or kitchen counter height?

There are 2 different standard seat heights: 65cm or 80cm.

If you leave 20cm for your legs then the underside measurements of the counter are 85cm and 100cm respectively.

Hope this helps.

Mark

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Fabricguard, fabric protection, scotchguard – is it worth it?

Posted on April 1, 2010 by Mark Walsh

Been out shopping for sofas (and carpets, curtains etc)? You have probably come across the product which eager salesmen want to sell that is fabric protection. (Also known as Scotchguard, which is a registered trademark of 3M, I think, or fabricguard). This product is a chemical spray which bonds to fabric and makes the fabric more stain resistant.

And if you get to sit with someone from the furniture industry, buy them a beer and loosen their tongues and ask – is it worth it? You will get a host of answers from: Yes, best since sliced bread, to No, it’s a rip-off.

My straight answer is it definitely helps.

A customer of ours bought a beautiful cream fabric sofa from us, the Hayley. The sofa was delivered last September with our fabric protection applied. Then, in January, they came in to us to buy the extra footstool/ottoman that goes with it.

They related to us how happy they were to have added the fabric protection to their purchase.

The husband had left a glass of red wine on the arm of the sofa at Christmas, and during the night the glass of wine fell on the sofa, and was left. So, in the morning, they were greeted by a glass of red wine on a cream sofa that had probably been left there for 6-8 hours to dry.

Honestly, I would have thought they were goosed.

Not so. They wiped and applied Vanish and within 10 minutes the stain was gone. Really gone.

I was delighted they came back and shared this – nothing like real stories from the field. If you have any more to share please do.

Cheers,

Mark

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What is in a mattress?

Posted on March 4, 2010 by Mark Walsh

The next, but less important thing, to remember about mattresses is how they are made and what they are made of.

There are many, many ways to make a mattress. The list of products that have been used through history to make them is a long one. However, nowadays, mattress manufacturers have focussed around a few (winning?) technologies.

The first bit to understand is the springing system. In this area there are 2 major categories: sprung (also known as open coil, regular sprung and lots of other names) and pocket sprung.

A sprung mattress consists of a lattice of springs tied together with wire – the kind of thing you see rusting in a land fill or on top of skip. This a simple and less expensive structure. Life span of between 3-7 years.

A pocket sprung mattress has each spring wrapped in a pocket of fabric. This gives a slower,  softer bounce and also extends the life of the springs. Usually a pocket sprung mattress will last between 7-12 years. Every so often we get a couple coming into the shop with  stories of great lifetimes on their mattresses – the longest I ever heard was 23 years.

So that’s the major spring categories.

After that it is just a question of what padding is layered over this spring mechanism.

From more traditional cotton and horse hair, to memory foam and latex.

Memory foam maintains its popularity – and as the name suggests it holds the shape of your body. There are different layers of memory thickness and density that are applied – so when comparing make sure you are comparing like with like.

Latex is a rubber that we at Montana really like on mattresses. It is a little more expensive, but, from personal experience, it does the trick for this 15 stone lump.

Remember, though, from the previous post, the ‘best mattress’ is the one that lets you have a comfortable, good night’s sleep – and that really is different for every one of us. Let me know if you have any questions, always available here to help.

Cheers

Mark

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