Larger Furniture Recommendations

[OnMyWay]

Follow on to RBM's Lazy Boy topic, which I read with interest.

It is difficult and expensive to buy quality and larger furniture here, but I will have to bite the bullet now that we have our new house.  I have several questions mixed into this long post.

I have been happier than expected with the cheap sofa we bought 3+ years ago but it is not right for our new room and it has always been too small for me to sit in except for one spot.  We only paid p21,000 for it and had them change the feet from those cheap "just waiting to break" chrome feet you see everywhere, to solid wood feet.  I think I paid them p500 of so for that.  The leatherette has held up well but is cracking in one small spot.

We would like to get a 3 seater and 2 seater sofa (sofa and loveseat in the U.S.), or an L-shaped sectional.  And possibly a recliner.  Or maybe a double recliner instead of a loveseat.

Originally we were thinking about getting cloth fabric but that really narrows the choices and now my wife thinks that with the kids, leather will be better than cloth.  Thoughts?

It seems like all the L-shapes I see are wrong for our room.  If you are looking at it from the front, we want the long part to be on the right, and most have the long part on the left.

In RBM's post I noticed BLIMS mentioned several times.  We don't have one nearby, but does anyone have any experience with the quality of their furniture?  Not Lazy Boy, but what appears to be their in-house lines.  They have a good web site:

http://blimsfurniture.com.ph/index.php/

We went to Wilcon warehouse in Pampanga yesterday and they now carry Natuzzi.  They are phasing out their old line but had a few pieces left.  Natuzzi is great but very, very expensive here.  The whole sofa is leather which adds a lot to the cost, as opposed to just having leather on the parts you touch, which is common and ok for me.  I had a Natuzzi double recliner in the U.S. and it was good.  The leather on the foot rests started to wear after about 5-6 years but I kept it for 10 or so, until I moved here.  The styles they have at Wilcon are over stuffed, which is what I want.

Any other thoughts on where to look for larger quality furniture outside of Manila up north.  Angeles and Pampanga are ok for us.

[Dave Hounddriver]

I can't help with 'up north' but anyone in this part of Philippines would do well to check out Mandaue Foam for better quality furniture at a reasonable price.

[Jack Peterson]

12 minutes ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

I can't help with 'up north' but anyone in this part of Philippines would do well to check out Mandaue Foam for better quality furniture at a reasonable price.

 Seems there are a couple up that way maybe worth checking out;

 

https://mandauefoam.ph/store-finder

[RBM]

We also were considering leather or fabric, the latter won us for two reasons. Firstly it was considerably less expensive, second just feels cooler in this climate, even if not.

Regarding Blims and quality, sorry we just researched and so far are happy with the lazyboy, no idea there other itiems. 

As mentioned Mandaue foam have an excellent reputaion and would be my first choice. Yes good choice to buy the quality we can afford, so many work all their lifes and want to take it all with them once passed over.

[intrepid]

OMW, When I was at Blems at Sta Rosa last week looking at the recliners, I noticed Lazboy also makes other furniture. Blems also sold a few other brands of funiture which after my wife and I set in several noticed the quality seemed to be on par with Lazboy.  That said any brand sofa they sold was between 45k-58k. But many to choose from . All what I call US man size where my wife 5' can't touch the floor when setting?  When we asked the sales boy about matching pieces or colors, he showed a large book with many options.  Said just 3-4 days to order it in and delivered. However I have no experience,...yet. 

[Dave Hounddriver]

14 minutes ago, RBM said:

We also were considering leather or fabric, the latter won us for two reasons. Firstly it was considerably less expensive, second just feels cooler in this climate, even if not.

Thats another good discussion.  I prefer a tough vinyl for 2 reasons.  Its easier to keep clean and this climate produces a lot of sweaty bodies (mine and my guests).  When sweat gets into the fabric its hard to get the smell out.  So I prefer vinyl with a throw cover on it.

[OnMyWay]

4 hours ago, Jack Peterson said:

 Seems there are a couple up that way maybe worth checking out;

 

https://mandauefoam.ph/store-finder

Mandaue Foam looks like a good place but unfortunately there are not any around here.  A few in Manila but I would rather have a kidney stolen than drive to Manila.  You can order online but they only have local delivery or branch pickup.

We went to a couple of places today.  Western Appliance has a sister store inside or sometimes outside, call Ambiance I think.  They have some recliners that are interesting, for 18-20 k, 1 year warranty on the mechanism, made in Malaysia for them.  I think it is "bonded" leather and the comfort level for me is so so.   They had a few larger sofas but nothing you could buy as a pair; 2 seater and 3 seater.

Any experiences with Victoria Mondial?  We have been there a few times and always laughed at their pricing / marketing scheme.  Everything is always 50% off.  Today and until the end of the month they have another 30% off.  So, for example, they have a 2 seater double recliner, "original" price p125,000.  50% off gets you down to p62,500.  An additional 30% off gets it down to 43,750 and then a 2% cash discount would make it a bit less. 

[RBM]

4 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

Thats another good discussion.  I prefer a tough vinyl for 2 reasons.  Its easier to keep clean and this climate produces a lot of sweaty bodies (mine and my guests).  When sweat gets into the fabric its hard to get the smell out.  So I prefer vinyl with a throw cover on it.

Yes agree totally,  this why we decided it's for evening TV and wine drinking when not so humid. At least that's the theory Dave. Further a cover would also be nice.

[OnMyWay]

4 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

Thats another good discussion.  I prefer a tough vinyl for 2 reasons.  Its easier to keep clean and this climate produces a lot of sweaty bodies (mine and my guests).  When sweat gets into the fabric its hard to get the smell out.  So I prefer vinyl with a throw cover on it.

But, where could I find a high quality big sofa in a tough vinyl?  Our current sofa is a leatherette of some kind it only has some small cracking in one spot.

Leather can be hot and sweaty if the room is hot.  I had good leather in Florida but I had central air con 24/7 that kept it nice and cool.  Here I don't do that but I do have good air con that we usually don't turn on until late morning, so I do work up some sweat sometimes before my morning shower.  I'm worried that if we had fabric I would get up and be leaving a body print of sweat!

[OnMyWay]

8 minutes ago, RBM said:

why we decided it's for evening TV and wine drinking

I'm going to have a big problem with a nice recliner.  I rarely am able to finish a movie on my comfortable spot now unless we have guests.  I'm usually done before it gets half way done!  If I get even more comfortable, I probably won't last 20 minutes.