There are certain "good upholstery" basics you want to look for regardless of your budget, whether it's ready-made and off the showroom floor, or custom-made.

It's a soft life when it's hard to imagine a home without a sofa, or any other upholstered pieces to keep it company in your living room, den, and lounge. This isn't a modern concept or convenience. The Turkish Divan, commonly used in Middle Eastern countries starting around the 18th century, was a long low bench placed against a wall and covered with rugs and pillows. It may have been the inspiration for the origins of the sofa as we know it today, although the idea of integrating cushions with the framework, as part of the design didn't come until later. The first modern all-upholstered chair was made in France, around the middle of the 19th century, and was called a "comfortable."

Until fairly recently the one reliable route to the quality upholstered furniture of your dreams was to have it custom-made. It was the only way to be assured of good construction with the added benefits of a made-to-measure piece of furniture in your choice of fabric. Times have changed. Retail furniture stores are ready and competing to answer the needs of a more sophisticated buying public.

There are certain "good upholstery" basics you want to look for regardless of your budget, whether it's ready-made and off the showroom floor, or custom-made. For starters, you want to "try on" a prospective piece of furniture as you would try on clothing before buying. Is the arm height comfortable for you? What about seat height and depth? Seat cushions should be 24" to 26" deep. More than that is great for tall people, but others will need an extra pillow at their back to be comfortable.

Inquire as to what fills the cushions. Unless your purchase is a custom made piece, the usual filling is a foam cushion with a poly-dacron wrap. Not usual, but also seen, are individual muslin covered springs wrapped in foam, then wrapped with poly-dacron. Both constructions make for firm but comfortable seating. The latter type, with springs, is a cushion with a very long life. Another type is a foam cushion with a goose down wrap. It's softer, very comfortable and needs no fluffing. The most luxurious way to go is all feather/down filling, (80 percent white goose down and 20 percent white goose feathers). Though exceptionally comfy, it must be fluffed up all of the time.

Don't make assumptions about the actual framework construction of a prospective piece of furniture. If it "talks" to you when you sit on it, something is amiss. Also, notice the little things like whether the seams are straight and finished well. Make careful inquiries of the salesperson and consider the reputation of the store where you are considering purchase. In this case, if it's cheap, it's probably because it's poorly made with cheap materials.

If your budget will hold it, custom furniture is a wonderful option and still the best way to go.

Here's what you want - top of the line kiln dried hardwood like maple both glued and screwed at the joints, and eight-way hand tied coiled springs to minimize warping. Some companies use what's known as a "sinuous coil" (sort of a coil stretched and flattened long ways) and that's also satisfactory. The main idea is stability. Heavy and solid is good.

If your budget will hold it, custom furniture is a wonderful option and still the best way to go. You can customize dimensions and finishes and you can have any suitable fabric you want. However, this wonderfulness will cost you a lot more than buying a stock item and will take months, not weeks to deliver.

A very good deal is the semi-custom route, which is offered in stores like Hildreth's in Southampton, Sylvester & Co at Home in Amagansett, and Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams in New York. The furniture is reliably well made and stylish. Select a stock frame design and then choose from a wide variety of fabrics at various price points. You can also order "COM," which means "customer's own material" and supply the fabric from your own source. The delivery time runs in the eight to 10 week range.

You probably didn't know (and why would you?) that it only takes about 10 hours to fully construct and upholster a sofa from scratch. So why the long delivery times? Not surprisingly, it has to do with the economics of the furniture manufacturing business. Most furniture factories produce their orders by assembly line. This means your order could wait until a number of other orders with similar frames are in the cue with yours, so they can all be produced at the same time. Another slow-down can occur if your frame, or any other needed construction material, runs out of stock and must be re-ordered before construction can proceed. This alone could slow your delivery down by weeks. However, thanks to the Internet, we now have high expectations of immediate delivery, which in turn, is forcing furniture makers to speed it up.

Another factor is that China is now in the game too, serving up stiff competition by filling orders for low cost sofas with little turn around time. In response, some of the largest furniture makers have now switched to producing upholstered goods by hand in teams, from start to finish, replacing the assembly line that worked on countless specified parts.

Take this with you when shopping for upholstered furniture and buy the highest quality you can afford. A well-made piece of furniture will hold up for many years, versus looking ready to be kicked to the curb and replaced within five.

Don't forget - if you are buying new furniture, check clearance dimensions for getting the piece into the building, into the elevator, and through the doorway. It's an Urban Legend that hoisting the sofa up the side of the building and through the window is an easy alternate solution.