Advice on building a couple sofas

[Bill Berner]

I am going to build a couple sofas to sit alongside a walnut slab table I built last year.

I have never built a sofa before, wondering if anyone has advice on a few things:

1) I'm trying to decide between building it as a bench with a wooden slat bottom or as a more traditional upholstered sofa with webbing mounted to the frame with clips. I anyone has done one or the other and has feedback to help with the decision, that would be great.
2) I will need some cushions made. If anyone has had custom cushions made, I would appreciate a referral
3) If I use the webbing, do I still put some cross member in the middle of the couch between front back? or stretch the webbing across the ~5'5" length of the couch?

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Patrick Kane]

Hey Bill, where are you located? That will dictate referrals. I have a good upholster ive used, but hes in Pittsburgh.

I think webbing across 5'-5" is going to sag quite a bit under load concentrated in the middle.

[Roger Feeley]

Shop around...a lot. Upholstery can be very expensive. My upholsterer is this old guy from eastern Europe. He is in a sort of incubator and is very reasonable.

[Bill Berner]

Thanks for the information. I think I'll give up on the webbing, go with bench-style slats. For upholstery, I am near Madison, WI. I did input the dimensions on an online site yesterday 'just for fun.' Those were about 3x what the wood cost (with me providing the fabric). So I'll definitely look for someone local and hopefully a bit more reasonable.

[Charlie Jones]

I just made some cushions for our camper. I cut my own foam and ordered the custom sized covers online from “ Covers and All” . It took about a month to get them . They were very nice. I got all four for around 100.00.

[Patrick Kane]

Depending on the material, the upholstery can be many times over the wood costs. The leather for two morris chairs and ottomans was like 5x the price of the walnut lumber.

[Richard Coers]

I made a sofa when we were first married. It sat like a torture device. Custom upholstery is no cheaper than custom woodworking, or hand made suits. Good quality foam rubber is expensive too. Do yourself a favor, buy a sofa and use your time on another project.

[Doug Dawson]

I made a sofa when we were first married. It sat like a torture device. Custom upholstery is no cheaper than custom woodworking, or hand made suits. Good quality foam rubber is expensive too. Do yourself a favor, buy a sofa and use your time on another project.

Tell that to the ghost of Frank Lloyd Wright. Build what looks good to you, and adjust to the consequences. :^) Our time on Earth is temporary.

[Richard Coers]

Tell that to the ghost of Frank Lloyd Wright. Build what looks good to you, and adjust to the consequences. :^) Our time on Earth is temporary.

Despite my love of Wright's Prairie style work, I have researched his life enough to hold no respect for the man.

[Doug Dawson]

Despite my love of Wright's Prairie style work, I have researched his life enough to hold no respect for the man.

So you won’t improve on his work even as a starting point? I think this could be a lot of fun.

[roger wiegand]

I would suggest talking to your upholsterer in advance and getting her advice on providing the supports needed for a good job. I'd be sure to do a sit test on sofas made both with slats and webbing. I think you'll find there's a reason that better quality, more comfortable furniture pretty much always uses the more flexible support system.

Only a masochist would build one of those FLW torture devices. They are the very definition of style over substance. (as a student I used to occasionally work in the Robie house, so long ago that we were allowed to sit in the chairs-- not that you would want to.)

[Bill Berner]

I just wanted to post a picture of one of the two couches and also say thank you again for all the advice.

I ended up going with the webbing and a sort-of-traditional mission panel design. It is an "extra high back" so that the two couches will somewhat enclose the space around the slab table, giving some privacy to the arrangement that is in the middle of a sort of "great room."

I'm still looking for an upholsterer (so many people swamped with work and not taking more business), but I do have some leads in Milwaukee & Madison.

Thanks again!

couch back.jpgcouch front.jpg

[mreza Salav]

It looks well built from woodworking angle but errr....hmmm are you sure that 90 degree back would feel comfortable for sitting?!

[Zachary Hoyt]

I have made my own cushion covers for Morris and rocking chairs, it's not too hard with rectangular cushions and a sewing machine with an all metal drive train. Mine is a Singer 403A that Ib got on eBay. Cushion foam cuts very well on a bandsaw, and is by far the most expensive part. I got heavy duty rubber (or something like it) backed upholstery fabric for $1 a linear foot off the roll at our local surplus/salvage type store so that was very cheap and will last a long time.