After living with our imitation leather (aka plastic) sectional for about 14 years, it was time to get a new one. I received my meager annual bonus at the end of January and we were finally able to start looking. We spent a Friday night, several hours on Saturday and several more hours on Sunday driving from store to store looking over what they had to offer and seeing what we could afford. We have very particular taste and knew exactly what we wanted but weren't able to find our 'dream couch' at any price and the ones we could afford weren't exactly what we wanted. We never found one that we were above 75% sure on. Since we couldn't find anything at the stores, I went to searching online at a number of various websites and had the exact same problem: we could not find a couch that was exactly what we wanted at any price. We started to get really frustrated and we were not happy with the thought that we were going to have to settle for a sectional we didn't really want and would probably have to pay more than we could really afford for it.
THEN (trumpets sound), I stumbled on the Home Reserve website. It was like a dark cloud lifted off of our search. You mean we can design the exactly sectional we want AND choose the fabric AND it has built-in storage in each piece AND it's affordable? Of course, like many other buyers mentioned, it sounded too good to be true and we were skeptical whether it would look good, if it would be comfortable, if it would be durable, etc. I spent several hours browsing through the website looking at the videos, reading several hundred customer comments and trying to absorb as much of the info as I could. I felt like this could be the answer we were looking for and after going though the search that we had already gone through, we were willing to take a chance on Home Reserve.
I found the website on a Monday and tried to order several fabric swatches but there was a problem with the website. I called the next day and spoke with Sandy who explained the problem and placed my order for the fabric swatches I wanted and promptly had them shipped to my house in 2 days free of change. Thanks Sandy! We picked the fabric we wanted, decided exactly what pieces we wanted and in what style and the next day (Friday 2/5/10) I called in and placed my order with Sandy who was extremely nice and helpful. We got a 7 piece Tux sectional wrapped in Mission Federal fabric as well as a standard ottoman and several decorative throw pillows. All in all, we ordered 8 individual pieces and 5 throw pillows; no small order! I knew with such a large order, it would probably take the full 10 business days to get my order filled and didn't expect my order to ship until Fri 2/19/10. I was pleasantly surprised when I got an email on Wed 2/17/10 stating my order had shipped (2 days earlier than I expected) and was scheduled to arrive on Mon 2/22/10. I live in a condo complex and didn't want to have all of those boxes just sitting on my porch all day so I took the day off work so I could be there when the UPS truck showed up. Not to mention I was SO excited to get our new sectional partly because who doesn't love to get new stuff and partly because we had sold our old couch a week before for $50 on Craigslist to a college kid and we had been sitting in lawn chairs in our living room pending the arrival of our new sectional.
The UPS truck arrived at my front door about 1:30PM and I rushed to meet him at the door. FINALLY! It was here! He said he had 8 large boxes for me and started bringing them in. He commented, 'I'm not sure what's in these boxes but they sure packed them good.' I told him he had just delivered my sectional and he was blown away. I told him all about the Home Reserve website and showed him the fabric samples I still had sitting around. He said he & his wife had been shopping around for a new couch and would definitely be checking out the website. As soon as the door shut, I opened up the first box and started building.
As others have said, each piece was extremely easy to put together. The instructions could not be any clearer and all of the pieces fit together perfectly. I figured that with such a large order there would be at least one thing missing or messed up but nothing was. Every screw, every T-connector, every pillow, every piece of wood - it was all there and in 100% perfect condition. After I put together the first armless section, the instructions were so easy, I didn't even need them for the other 3 pieces; I just put them together from memory. Sometimes it was a bit of work to get the fabric on and straight in the right place but that just goes to show how exacting it fits. Once you do get it in the right place, it fits perfectly and looks great. Each section connected to each adjoining piece perfectly with the pre-drilled holes and supplied nuts & bolts. Once they are together, it makes for a nice, firm piece of furniture.
I kept working piece after piece and before I knew it, it was 7:30 at night and my wife was home from work so I took about an hour break for dinner. I only had one piece left: the modular ottoman. That took me about 30-40 minutes to put together, get the fabric on & attach to the sectional and then all I had to do was insert the pillows in the covers I had ordered and I was done. We stood back and looked at it and…………..were amazed! It looks so wonderful! It is EXACTLY what we wanted. I know if we were lucky enough to actually find this couch in a showroom, it would easily be twice the price we paid even with the shipping costs. In all, it took me about 7 hours to put together 8 pieces and bolt them together.
Are there any negatives? I really wish the ottomans and the front-bottom sections of each sectional section had some padding instead of being just fabric over hard wood. It's a stubbed toe just waiting to happen. The only other negative comment I have is that now I have TO much storage room! I'm trying to figure out what I can store in all of those extra compartments.
A few notes for prospective buyers:
(a) A power screwdriver/drill DEFINITELY helps. If you don't have one, borrow one.
(b) You will probably (almost definitely) need a hammer to get certain interlocking pieces to fit together.
(c) You will need a vacuum cleaner or a broom. Assembly leaves a fair amount of wood pieces on the floor especially if you have to sand.
(d) I would suggest sanding the corners of each wood piece that will come into contact with the fabric. It will make the fabric go on easier.
(e) I would also suggest sanding the edges of the lid to each storage area to avoid any future splinters.
(f) The cushions are pretty firm at first (as I had read) but I know they will soften over time and actually have already started to do so after only a week.
My final thoughts: THANK YOU to Home Reserve for designing such easy-to-build furniture and selling it at a super-affordable price. I am telling everyone I know about Home Reserve and are recommending them highly. Had it not been for Home Reserve, we would most definitely have paid much more for a sectional and had to compromise on both the style and the quality of what we wanted. With Home Reserve, we got the best of all worlds! With the money we saved, I was able to buy a new carpet steam cleaner so I could clean our carpets before the new sectional arrived. My wife used to be embarrassed of our old couch and avoided inviting people over solely for that reason but now she can't wait to invite everyone she knows over just so she can show off our new sectional. We are both thoroughly enjoying our new furniture and are sure we will continue to do so in the years to come. In a few years when we move into a bigger house, we will certainly return to Home Reserve to order more furniture to help fill the space.
Thanks again!
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A few notes for prospective buyers:
I love my new loveseat! It's comfy and looks like leather. It wasn't hard to put together. I didn't have a power screwdriver, so it took a bit longer and needed some muscle power, but not that much. The instructions were easy to understand. The only thing I had to do to make sure the back wood pieces fit together was to sand them first. I think it's worth it to upgrade the seat cushions to the better quality foam.