Pottery Barn York Sofa Review

Since the day I hit the ‘Place Order’ button on our Pottery Barn York Sofas last September, I receive emails and messages weekly asking about them. And likely for good reason!

It took me several months to finally decide to go through with them and I did a lot of research prior to that. In fact, you may remember I had a whole post dedicated to white and neutral sofas when I started searching last spring. However, at the time, I couldn’t find many reviews specifically on the Pottery Barn York sofa that I had my heart set on. I read review after review on sites like Houzz about the quality of various PB sofas (and the fabrics, specifically), so I knew what not to order. After taking a big chance, I ordered two of them last September during their buy more, save more sale (which I noticed happens to be running this weekend as well!).

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Now that we’ve owned our sofas for over three months, I thought I would publish my first Pottery Barn York Sofa review. My plan down the road is to continue to update this post at various milestones (six months, a year, etc.) so it can be a constant source of info.

Because of the layout of our living room, we’ve always had two sofas. We prefer to lay down when we are watching TV because of the angles, so keep in mind several of our decisions were based upon how we use the space.

Our Pottery Barn York Sofa Specifications & Environment:

• Before I get into the general pros and cons with the sofas, I want to share the exact specifications of the sofas we ordered. We currently have the Pottery Barn York Slip-Covered Slope Arm Sofas. We went with the 95″ Grand Sofa with the bench cushion. The fabric we selected is the Performance Everydaylinen by Crypton® Home in the Oatmeal color.
• We do not have kids but we do have four cats. We underestimated how much the cats would love the pillow backs (after having tight back sofas previously). I’ll share more details later in the post on how this has impacted wear.

Pottery Barn York Sofa Pros:

• Gorgeous design. After looking through hundreds of sofas, there weren’t any that I loved as much from a design standpoint. I now get more comments and questions on the sofas than anything I have owned in the past. It definitely has that “look” that everyone loves so much!
• Wears well. The Performance Everydaylinen by Crypton® Home fabric is amazing. I actually took two samples home from the store before placing my order to test colors. I was going back and forth between the Oatmeal color and the Stone (which was on display at the store). I was worried the Oatmeal would be too light but in all honesty, I think I would have felt the Stone was too dark for our home if I went that route. Before I returned the samples, I actually poured red wine on the Oatmeal sample. It beaded up and wiped right off without any work! So, I got a little crazy and poured more on and really pushed it into the fabric. It still came out with water. After three months, we don’t have any spots, pilling, or any other signs of wear.
• Flexibility. The version I ordered is a slipcover and I’m not sure I would have ordered it at this price if it wasn’t. But, it isn’t the old-school ill-fitting versions of the past. It fits well and the best part is, the Performance Everydaylinen by Crypton® Home is dry cleanable. Several other fabric options they offered are actually machine washable, as well. There is so much flexibility because you can re-use the frame and totally change your look with new slipcovers (Pottery Barn sells them separately as an option). I was also told you can order any of the cushions separately down the road if need be. I’m assuming they’re not cheap, but if one gets ruined, at least it doesn’t mean I have to buy a new sofa.
• Comfort level – and it passes the ‘husband test’. My husband was actually against me ordering new sofas because he loved our prior Bernhardts so much. However, I agreed to get him to a local store to test one. I could tell, aside from the price, he begrudgingly loved it. Prior to writing this post I asked him his thoughts. He said it is a lot more comfy and spacious than our last sofas. He said it’s really nice to take a nap on (a critical factor for him). He still claims we didn’t “need” them but he does love them.

Pottery Barn York Sofa Cons:

• Lead time. I am not a patient person so the wait nearly killed me. Especially when I was told they would take 5-7 weeks at time of order and it was closer to 11 once they were delivered. I ordered them on September 4th, with an expected arrival date of 10/9-11/2. They were finally delivered on 11/25.
• The cost. The sofas are not cheap. However, the quality is apparent and each one is custom made to your specifications. I personally believe that Pottery Barn has frequent enough sales (from 15-30% off) that you should never pay full price for this sofa. If it’s not on sale when you want to buy it, chances are within a few weeks it will be on sale. Because we ordered two during the buy more, get more sale, ours were 30% off. When you’re spending that much money, the discount adds up in a hurry!
• We opted to go with the deep version since we are both on the taller side (I’m 5’8″ and my husband is 6’2″). Additionally, we mostly are laying down when we use our sofas so we preferred the extra depth. However, without the lumbar pillows in position, it makes it a bit tougher to sit up comfortably on the couch. So, if you opt for the deeper version, just know going in that you will likely always need the included lumbar pillows to sit comfortably. Not a major con, just something to be aware of.

Pottery Barn York Sofas at Delivery:

I took some iPhone images as our sofas were being delivered. The delivery guys were great and very careful. You can see the slipcovers were a wrinkled mess upon arrival though and honestly didn’t fit great (especially on one of the sofas). Clearly we were in the middle of painting and decorating for Christmas

I never ended up ironing or steaming mine and most of the wrinkles have naturally fallen out over time. I’ve had good intentions of getting rid of all of them, but just haven’t gotten around to it. The slipcover on the frame was a bit loose on the one the way it was delivered. See the photo above (specifically the left arm). I worked on it for about ten minutes (tucking in the fabric tighter) and it now looks tight and as good as the other sofa.

Month 3 Wear Report & Maintenance:

For the most part, the sofas look like new. Typically every week, I rotate and fluff the cushions. You can see how they look here without any update (with a week of laying on them and the cats smashing the upper cushions). I took these with my iPhone on a Monday without making any adjustments (other than moving throws) just so you can see real life. Nothing horrible, it just looks sloppy. With the the bench cushion, it’s a little more noticeable in areas.

After less than five minutes of fluffing and rotating, it basically looks like new again. I basically lay the cushions flat, press on them in a circular motion with my hands, and then shake upside down and they’re good. The rotation probably isn’t necessary in most homes, but I’m trying to rotate which cushion the cats sleep on. This is the beauty of the down cushions. They can be re-shaped back to normal, unlike cheap poly-filled cushions.

And again once the lumbar pillows are added back on.

And a final shot with my “real” camera to show you how it looks with other throw pillows. My husband makes me store “his” lumbar pillows in the basket on the side of the couch. Basically three less pillows for him to throw on the floor when he’s ready to lay on it to watch TV In the picture below, I actually left just the middle lumbar pillow for balance. You can see I really do need to steam the skirt on that one, as that’s where most of the wrinkles remain.

I would argue the cats are harder on the sofas than most people. There are days two of them (at nearly 15 pounds each) will be on one cushion for eight hours straight. But, they clearly think it’s the best seat in the house because they never move!! Since we know they won’t leave the cushions alone, I usually have blankets on the backs of the sofas now to at least contain some of the fur.

Closing Thoughts

Overall, we are extremely happy with our Pottery Barn York Sofa selection! We have had zero issues (other than dealing with the cats that are obsessed with them). Because we use the sofas while laying down, the bench cushion was definitely the way to go and is so comfortable! We would argue it’s even more comfortable than our bed.

If you are considering multiple fabric options, do your research! I found lots of complaints on various fabrics (although I think most were older on a fabric no longer offered). The Performance Everydaylinen by Crypton® Home has so far lived up to its hype and seems like the perfect fabric for us. We get the look of linen without the maintenance!

If you buy them on sale, I think they are worth the investment! We couldn’t be happier with them!

I hope you found this review helpful! Again, I’ll plan to update this review at various milestones to make sure we are still loving the sofas. If you have any questions at all on anything I didn’t cover, please feel free to leave a comment and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible!

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