Buying a sofa online in the UAE: what to check before you order

Most online sofa regrets start with a tape measure that stayed in the drawer. Before you browse, note:

• The length of the wall, and where sockets, switches and windows sit along it.
• The depth you can give the sofa, from the wall to where people walk, keeping about 60 cm free in front.
• The way in: the width and height of your front door, and of any narrow corridor or tight turn on the route to the room.

Then mark the sofa's outline on the floor with masking tape and leave it for a day. You will soon see whether it blocks a door or a walkway. On every Pufflo sofa page, the Will it fit? tool lets you type your wall and see the sofa drawn to scale against it. For proportions, see what size sofa for your living room.

A serious listing gives more than width and depth. Here is what each number tells you:

If seat depth and seat height are missing, ask before you order: they matter as much as width for comfort. For example, our Brioche 2-seater measures 206 × 102 cm, 83 cm high, with a 46 cm seat height and a 64 cm seat depth. Our guide to sofa seat depth and height explains what the numbers feel like.

Use what you already know. Measure the seat depth and height of the sofa or armchair you find most comfortable today, and compare them with the listing. A difference of 2 or 3 cm is small; a difference of 8 to 10 cm changes how you sit.

Then read how the seat is described. Soft seats let you sink in; medium seats hold you up and make standing easy. On Pufflo sofas you choose between Cocoon, very soft, and Classic, medium, at the same price, and each sofa page has a How it feels guide for the seat and the fabric. If you are still unsure, ask us on WhatsApp: tell us your height, how you like to sit and what you think of your current sofa.

Screens change colours, and daylight in a UAE living room is far stronger than studio light. Look at every photo of the colour you like, including close-ups and room shots, and read the colour description. A warm off-white can look grey on one screen and cream on another, so the words help as much as the picture.

Then look past the photo to how the fabric behaves. Check the abrasion rating, ideally over 30,000 Martindale cycles for family use, a pilling grade of 4 or more, and light fastness of grade 6 if the sofa sits near a big window. A good seller also tells you how each fabric lives day to day and how to care for it: a fabric shaver for bouclé, a soft brush along the ribs for corduroy. Compare our two fabrics on the fabrics page.

Online, you cannot press a cushion or rock the frame, so the listing has to do it for you. Look for named materials:

• Frame: kiln-dried hardwood or quality plywood, glued and screwed, with corner blocks.
• Suspension: sinuous springs rather than webbing alone.
• Seat foam: high-resilience foam with a stated density, ideally 35 kg/m³ or more.
• Fabric: the grades above, stated as numbers.

The reasons behind each one are explained in what makes a sofa last.

The price to compare is the sofa standing in your room, not the sofa on a web page. Before paying, check:

• whether delivery is included, and to your emirate;
• whether carrying the sofa in and installing it are included, or charged on the day;
• the delivery date, as a day rather than a vague number of weeks;
• the seller's after-sales terms, in writing.

Pufflo sofas are handmade locally by our workshop when you order, then delivered and installed across the seven emirates, included in the price. Your sofa arrives three to six days after you order, and the delivery dates are shown when you order. Read more on our delivery page.

A little preparation makes delivery quick and calm:

• Clear the route from the entrance to the room: shoes, plants, rugs and anything fragile in the corridor.
• Empty the spot where the sofa will stand, and plan where the rug and coffee table go once it is in.
• Check your building's rules. Some buildings and gated communities ask residents to tell management in advance about large deliveries.
• Be there, or ask someone to be, so you can choose the exact position and look the sofa over before the team leaves.

Once the sofa is in place, look at it in daylight: the seams, the fabric, the feet and the cushions. Any question is easier to settle on the day than a week later. Our guide to sofa delivery and installation in the UAE walks through the day step by step.

A seller who answers clearly before you buy is far more likely to help after. If a listing leaves you with questions, ask them before you pay, and keep the answers in writing.