apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Hi there,
I own a retail store near R&B called Funky Furniture, and we sell sectionals, sofas, etc. We pride ourselves on offering good products at a reasonable price with great service. I have one line of sofas that's made right here in the bay area and another thats made in LA. So if you buy from me you'll be supporting one, and possibly two locally owned businesses. Thanks.

I went by the SF store a couple of weeks ago to sit on this very sofa as it is perfect for my needs. They didn't have it in stock yet, but probably do by now. I may go by this weekend and see. If I do I'll post here and let you know my thoughts.

I have ordered other things from them and have had good experience.

BTW,if you click my name "reg" you'll be taken to my store's website

My husband and I recently spent quite a bit of time at Room and Board searching for a sofa and I can tell you that almost w/o fail, their furniture is quite comfortable, very attractive, and seems well constructed. That being said, the staff at their SF store ignored us almost completely and then acted like our questions were a hassle. The lead time on the sofa we wanted would have been 12+ weeks and cost us almost $3k! In the end, we couldn't stand the attitude and chose to spend our money at a local business where we were treated well and got exactly what we wanted for 1/2 the price. Check them out at www.bayareasofas.com

Reg, cool website, I wish I was in the Bay Area and may hopefully come and check you out when I am there. On that note, it's "upholstery" and "zinc", typos on professionally done websites drive me nuts.

R&B had our custom color Ian sectional done and in their local warehouse before the 12 week turnaround (more like 8 weeks).

They delivered 1/2 hour earlier than the 2 hour window provided and were very conscientious about not scratching our wood floors. They even provided thick felt adhesive pads for the legs.

I would also recommend paying R&B to install the connectors which joins the sectionals together.

Our Ian is well constructed, comfortable and roomy. We have a sleeper sofa and love that feature as well. .

I love this sofa and was thinking how fine it would be even if I just bought the section without the arms for my eating area.

I bought a seafoam sofa from Ashley. It was exactly the right size for me. Being a short person, finding a sofa where I can sit down with both feet on the ground and my back firmly on the back cushion with the need of a pillow was EXTREMELY difficult! Most, if not all, the upper end furniture makers have gone to a much deeper seat so even the sofas I could afford didn't work for me.

If you buy this sofa, please post about, okay? I know it looks great but I want to know how comfy it really is.

I've been sectional-shopping at R&B in Soho lately, and have found the staff to be unobtrusive but knowledgeable, and very willing to give out fabric swatches while I dither.

I also ordered the R&B Ian sectional in a custom fabric from the Soho store... it arrived in 5 weeks (a week early!) and I love it. They also let me hang on to the stock sofa I had purchased first (but hated the instant it arrived at my apt) until my custom one came in, and issued me a full refund for it.

I thought the sales associates were helpful, not pushy, and from my experience very patient - I'm so indecisive, I personally own what would probably constitute a satellite library of R&B swatches.

Hi Liberty--

My boyfriend (a 6'4" modernist) and I (a 5'4" traditionalist) just test-sat the Clarke at R&B in Costa Mesa and we both liked it a lot. It was firm enough for him, soft enough for me, clean enough for both of us. It felt a lot more substantial than the (slipcovered) Jasper, which we also considered. (The cushions on the Jasper mashed down a lot under my bf; when we stood up, his seat cushion remained flatter than mine, which looked weird to me. Clarke's cushions were supportive and returned to their original shape when we stood up.)

In two months of looking, this is one of the few sofas we've enthusiastically agreed upon--for both comfort and style. It's a little pricey, but at least the delivery fee is reasonable (flat price, no matter how much you buy from R&B).


Good luck in your search.

in nov. i ordered 2 jaspers in a custom fabric. they said it would be 12 weeks to arrive which was fine by me. however a day after they were delivered we noticed the legs on one of the sofas were a different color than the legs on the other sofa. (one mahogany, one more pecan) The one with the mahogany legs are very wobbly and thus they don't stay straight and the sofa sits tilted on the floor.

my first call to customer service went well. they are setting up a time to send a repair person out to replace the legs on the wobbly sofa, in the color that matches the other one. nothing has happened yet, could be a couple more weeks.

other than that, i love the look and comfort of them and i bought them off the website, never having visited a showroom.

Hi all, Thanks for your comments and insights. I am happy to hear that most people have had good experiences with Room & Board.

I actually went ahead and ordered the Clark Sectional... Custom upholstery, I chose the Delane fabric in Charcoal. So far I have been really happy with customer service. I was sent swatches quickly, when I order the agent was extremely helpful, and I also have received an update call regarding delivery. It was to tell me that is may be delayed by a couple of weeks, but I was impressed that the same girl I ordered it from called me and that they even gave me an update... I have a home furnishings store and I know how difficult it can be to keep people up to date regarding orders.

LP - Thank you for your review. I was feeling really confident about the style and the size, but was hoping that it wouldn't be totally uncomfortable when I finally did receive it! So I happy to hear that both you and your bf found it comfortable!

Reg - I appreciate your efforts to support your store, as I have a store too in Seattle. I like to support small privately owned stores too, but I have looked for pieces that fit this specific space and could not find one in the style I was looking for. The Clarke is perfect. I also like that if I move in the future that I can use the two pieces seperately.

I will keep you all posted when I receive it and include photos!