Dear Dave,
What places other than RV dealers might I find replacement RV-sized furniture? The couch and recliners that came with our 5-year-old RV are not necessarily uncomfortable, but the leatherette material is a poor choice when you have pets. Plus it is not very breathable, meaning it feels hot when it’s hot and cold when it’s cold. And we don’t want to be without furniture for the time it would take to reupholster. —Jim, 2017 Keystone Cougar 33SAB
Dear Jim,
Most RV manufacturers request an inexpensive line of furniture for their new units as most shoppers don’t research what soft goods and cabinetry are in them. They just get stuck on the floorplan and the Wow factors like 6 slide rooms and full body paint.
We are working on a 2015 Thor Challenger that has a theater double seat. It was originally manufactured by a company called Lexington, then was bought by Lippert. The material is probably the same as yours and the headrest has deteriorate. I talked with a representative at Lippert who confirmed the request for a price point seating rather than their high line “Thomas Payne” collection.
It is a little hard to see, but the material at the headrest is flaking off pretty bad. I found an upholstery technician in Southern Iowa who specializes in either restoring or reupholstering. He stated the material breaks down when someone sits in the chair with sweat, wet hair, or even hair products like hairspray and gel. I have come across several “snake oil” products that claim to restore the material with a paste-like product, but most of the reviews are not very good. The technician indicated the darker paste will “bleed” onto your clothes and hair!
Three solutions regarding repairing RV furniture
He recommended one of three solutions. One is to have a custom cover built that will slide over the existing material. That would not work well in this situation due to the middle armrest and cup holders, including the side ones. The second option would be to have custom pieces cut that have a sticky backing and cover individual sections. This would not do much for your “breathing” issue. The last is a complete reupholster which you do not want to wait for.
We did some research and found several options for dual theater seating that did not have to be purchased from a dealer. One was Bradd and Hall out of Elkhart, IN, that specializes in all types of customer furniture. We purchased a sofa sleeper, customized computer desk/dinette, and driver/passenger chairs in leather for an upgrade of a 2003 Winnebago Brave. It was top-of-the-line furniture and also top-of-the-line price, plus shipping.
Our recent research found that Lippert does sell direct from their website at www.LCI1.com. Go to the furniture and mattress product line. They have quite a variety of products to choose from.
Furniture outlets for replacement RV furniture
Many manufacturers use Flexsteel furniture for the sofa, lounge chairs, and driver/passenger chairs. You can find these at most furniture outlets. Even some of the cheaper brands like Ashley will work. You just need to measure the space you have and look at the framework to see if it can be secured to the floor like your existing furniture. Some just have legs or blocks on the corners and cannot be secured.
Then we came across RecPro®,which has an impressive line of furnishings at about half the price of the other big-brand models! We are going to purchase the dual theater seats in leather from them, but we still have shipping which we have not calculated yet. We have 64” in the slide room the unit sits in. In addition, we had to make sure the backrests did not recline straight back, but rather did a glide away from the slideroom wall.
You might also enjoy this from Dave
I want to swap my sofa sleeper for recliners. How do I get the couch out?
Dear Dave,
We own a 2017 Winnebago Cambria 30J. Is it possible to change out the couch with a two-recliner-type couch? The current couch makes into a bed. We have never had any guests to use the couch feature and would like recliners instead. Is it possible to even get the current couch out of the living area? We would appreciate any information and knowledge you can supply. —Robert
Dave Solberg is a leading expert in the RV industry and the author of the “RV Handbook.”
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Recpro, camping world
Ikea is a great place to find furniture for your RV
When using the sofa on our 2000 Komfort 25′ 5er became unbearable I disassembled the sofa, throwing away the seat and back but keeping the frame. Then I fabricated a new seat and back using 1/2″ plywood and had a set of cushions using thick memory foam made, using Velcro strips to hold them in place.
The result is a new sofa that is not only more comfortable to sit on but is also to sleep on. It was also a bargain compared to the cost of a new sofa. We couldn’t be happier with the result and think the update will last us a long, long time :-).
In 2021 we wanted to replace our furniture that came new with our 2017 Ambition. We wanted the chairs and couch made by the Amish in Indiana but the waitlist was 6 months. I found Recpro and purchased recliners and a trifold couch to be delivered to rv repair shop. They arrived on time, fit perfectly, and easy to assemble. Both chairs have had a seam issue at different times and, with RecPro’s warranty, all they requested were pictures before shipping out replacements at no cost to us. Arrived quickly and, again, easy to assemble. Love RecPro and will continue to order items from them!
Dave…Flexsteel has been out of the RV furniture business for about three years now, so I doubt most mfgs today are installing it.
https://rvbusiness.com/flexsteel-announces-exit-from-rv-furniture-business/
Spike,
Yes, they did stop their RV distribution division but are still manufacturing for residential and commercial so many of their products will still work in RVs like the traditional sofa, theater chairs, and lounge chairs. You just can’t get the jack knife sofa, driver and passenger seats.
I suppose it’s because of the price point, but you forgot to mention Villa, who makes the top of the line furniture in many high-end DPs. Nobody makes anything near them in quality, but you DO pay for what you get…
Our 2017 Forest River 34 QS diesel has those flaking seat material syndrome! Within 2 years the driver/passenger seats started to peel off. About 2 years later they were a mess, I called C/S at Forest river & they sent me a set of new seat covers at no charge from the same manufacture but said these wont flake off. Last year the dinette seats are doing the same, but F/R said they are going to replace them! Since then I’ve found out that the material they used was defective & there was thousands of yards of that defective material out there, also a lot of upset customers who thought they had nice seating!
Ps, thanks Dave for your suggestions on getting better materials!
Snoopy
Has a laugh when you said “high line ” Thomas Payne” collection”. That is the junk my rv came with. The fake leather peeled right off in less than 5 years of intermittent use. Purchased a real leather replacement at a local furniture store.
We replaced two cheapo swivel chairs in our TT with Laz-e-Boy recliners. Best money spent in a long time. Going on six years now and they are still comfortable;e.
We have bought from RecPro twice now, once when replacing an uncomfortable jack knife sofa in our Mountaineer motorhome, and then once again replacing the very uncomfortable an useless jack knife sofa in our last TT( it was so small only a small child could sleep on it). Both times we bought powered reclining loveseats with a center console. They are sized perfectly to replace existing furniture and come broken down into smaller packaging making it easy to get it in the door and a simple system of attaching them together. They’re very comfortable and durable, I have a sinus condition that if I sleep on a flat surface bed I will cough half the night. There were many nights I slept in this recliner very comfortably with my body slightly elevated. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy again.
Both times we shopped at furniture stores looking for replacements, even without the center console they would be several inches to big to fit the space the original sofa came out of. RecPro has my business for replacement furniture in an RV.