Store Customizes Sofas, Personalizes Service

In Santa Monica, there’s a double-whammy deal on home furnishings that makes the drive on the 405 worthwhile.

Simply Sofas manufactures its own furniture, which allows it to customize the design of a sofa, chair, love seat or chaise at no extra charge, a definite plus for anyone with a difficult size to fill or shape to accommodate.

The store can also turn any piece into a sleeper for $150.

There’s a certain flair to the transitional styles that one usually finds in more expensive pieces. One 8-foot sofa with a graceful curved back and arms and covered in cotton velvet is $400. The matching love seat is $350. You can get both pieces for less than you would at many stores.

All the pieces are made of hardwood frames and glued and doweled rather than stapled, like much of the inexpensive furniture now in the marketplace.

Two-week delivery is the norm, but one customer who was expecting house guests was upset that her sofa wouldn’t be ready in time. So owner Marilyn Nelson offered her the loan of any floor model. The woman was so pleased, she bought an additional sofa for another room. And why not? That kind of service and the excellent prices are hard to resist.

Case goods from the Philippines are handsome and well-priced, especially the herringbone woven rattan chairs for $470 that look so much more expensive.

Next to the sofa showroom is Lona, where antiques and other home furnishings are placed on consignment, some at excellent prices.

A large brass upholstered bench was $100; a charming pale pink print love seat was $200; and a huge (5 1/2-foot by 7 1/2-foot) Monet-like lily pond painting was a steal at $250.

Even the delivery fee here is a bargain--$25.

Simply Sofas, 2316 Lincoln Blvd., Santa Monica. Lona, 2314 Lincoln Blvd., Santa Monica. (310) 581-5566. Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Weekend Supersale: Steinway, Baldwin, Kawai, Petrof, Mason & Hamlin and Bechstein are among the big names in pianos that will be offered this weekend at the Sixth Annual Parking Lot Sale at the Piano Factory Outlet. New and used, some grands, uprights and digitals, along with organs and keyboards will be available to the public for two days only, Saturday and Sunday, at 25% to 70% off.

The Piano Factory Outlet, 1033 Hollywood Way, Burbank, (800) MY-PIANO and 15722 Tustin Village Way, Tustin, (800) 597-PIANO.