Custom Sofas, Made to Measure

Comfort starts with three dimensions. Seat height decides whether your feet rest flat on the floor with your knees roughly level with your hips. Too low, and getting up becomes an effort, which matters for older family members. Too high, and shorter people sit with their feet dangling.

Seat depth is the distance from the front edge to the back cushion. It should support most of the thigh without pressing into the back of the knee. Deep seats suit tall people and those who sit cross-legged; shallower seats suit upright sitting and shorter frames. Loose back cushions can be made thicker or thinner to adjust effective depth after the frame is built.

Back height and pitch complete the picture. A higher back supports the head for reading and dozing, while a lower back keeps sightlines open across a room or towards a view. We usually ask you to sit on a sofa you find comfortable and measure it, which is more reliable than choosing from numbers alone.

Foam is described in two ways that people often confuse. Density is how much material is packed into a given volume, and it predicts durability: denser foam resists breaking down and keeps its height for longer. Firmness is how hard the foam feels when you sit on it, and it is a matter of preference.

A soft seat does not have to mean a short-lived one. A high-density foam can be made in a softer grade, then wrapped in fibre for a gentler top layer. What shortens a sofa's life is low-density foam, which feels fine at first and then hollows where people usually sit.

For seat cushions we specify high-density foam in the firmness you choose, and for back cushions either foam or loose fibre depending on the look you want. We bring samples so you can press and sit, rather than choosing from a description.

Timber moves with moisture. A frame built from wood that was not properly dried will keep drying in the room, shrinking and loosening its joints. Kiln-dried hardwood has already reached a stable moisture content, so its joints stay tight when monsoon humidity rises and falls. Glued and screwed or dowelled joints, reinforced with corner blocks, hold far better than stapled ones.

Termites and borers are part of life in coastal Goa. We treat frame timber and any board before it is covered, and we prefer naturally durable hardwoods. Legs and plinths that sit on stone or tiled floors are sealed so they do not wick moisture up from a freshly mopped floor.

For the suspension, the choice between webbing and serpentine springs is mostly about feel and weight of use. Springs suit a heavily used family sofa; webbing suits slimmer designs. Both are sound when properly fitted.

Choose fabric by use first. A family sofa used every evening should be heavy domestic at 25,000 Martindale rubs or more, and a homestay lounge should be treated as contract seating, at 30,000 to 40,000. Then choose by fibre: near the sea, polyester, solution-dyed acrylic and performance blends resist damp and fading better than untreated cotton or linen.

Removable covers change how a sofa is looked after. Loose cushion covers with concealed zips can be taken off and washed or dry-cleaned. Fully loose covers, which slip over the whole frame, can be removed entirely and are well suited to rentals and houses with children. Fixed upholstery looks crisper and more tailored but must be cleaned in place.

For washable covers, ask for the fabric to be pre-shrunk or washed before it is cut, so the covers still fit after cleaning.

We measure the room and then everything the sofa must pass on its way in: gates, front door, internal doors, stair width and headroom, and the turn at every landing. The frame is then designed so each piece passes the narrowest point.

If a one-piece sofa cannot make the turn, we build it with bolt-on arms, removable legs or a back that detaches and refixes in the room. These joints are designed into the frame from the start, not improvised on delivery day, so the sofa is just as rigid once reassembled.