About Barker and Stonehouse

A family-run British furniture retailer founded in the north east in the 1940s, now trading nationally through showrooms and online. It buys and commissions rather than manufacturing everything itself, and the range leans towards natural materials and considered design.

It is not a discount retailer, and the value proposition is longevity rather than price. That only works if you buy the right thing.

What they sell

Sofas and armchairs, dining tables and chairs, beds and bedroom furniture, storage, rugs, lighting and accessories, across a mix of contemporary and traditional ranges.

Upholstery is the heart of it, and upholstery is where the difference between a five-year sofa and a twenty-year one is decided.

How to judge a sofa online

Start with the frame. Kiln-dried hardwood is what lasts; softwood and particle board are what fails at the joints. The product specification states it, and if it does not, that is itself informative.

Then the seat fill. Foam holds its shape and feels firm; feather and down is softer and needs plumping constantly; a foam core wrapped in feather is the usual compromise. None is better in the abstract, but they feel entirely different after a year.

Then the fabric rub count if it is given. A high figure matters in a family room and is irrelevant on an occasional chair in a spare bedroom.

The measurement people forget

Measure the route, not the room. Doorways, the turn on a staircase, the height of a landing ceiling and the width of a lift are what stop a sofa entering a house.

Ask about the access survey before ordering, and check whether the arms or legs come off, because a detachable arm turns an impossible delivery into a routine one.

Using a Barker and Stonehouse discount code

Lead times on upholstery run to weeks because much of it is made to order, so apply the code when you place the order rather than waiting for a better one. Clearance and ex-display pieces are normally excluded.