I’m on the quest for a bean bag chair. It a quest driven by equal parts nostalgia and practicality. Nostalgia for the red bean bag chair I had as a kid, practicality because I need a chair that’s comfortable and easily stow-able for the game room.
Update 12/17/2017: I found my bean bag chair. It’s a Sumo Sulton. Read the review.
Truth be told … I’m not really looking for a bean bag chair. I’m looking for something that looks like a bean bag chair, but these days such things are filled with memory foam and are covered with finely upholstered. Less Jamesway special, more real furniture. And with that furniture comes a real price day … good quality bean bag chairs can run you north of $200, $300, even $500 depending on how big you go.
Here are some of the companies I’ve been looking at:
My friend Cory had (maybe still has?) two huge Sumo Gigantors (I think they were Giagantors) but while comfortable, they were far too big for my game room. The Sulton seems more reasonable and is closer to my budget at $279.
I stopped by the Lovesac story in the King of Prussia Mall in KoP, Pennsylvania to see their chairs. Their name is … unfortunately … but the chairs were super comfortable. Unfortunately they were also supper expensive — the one I was looking at was over $500, which is just too much. Then again, the reviews I’ve read say Lovesac’s product holds up remarkable well even after years of ownership. I don’t know if that’s worth the price premium, but I was sorely tempted after seeing one in the store.
Comfy Sacks, Ultimate Sack, and MonsterSak all pitch themselves as cheaper alternatives to Lovesac. Frankly, it says a lot about Lovesac that everyone’s gunning for them (and about Sumo that they don’t feel they have to make those comparisons). I don’t have practical experience with any of them; I’d appreciate hearing from someone who has.
My biggest dilemma is less the company, and more the material. I’m not sure what will hold up best with pets (two cats and a Labrador) and two kids (11-year-old girl, 8-year-old buy): Microsuade or corduroy? I feel like the microsuade is likely to be a pet hair magnet, but I can’t say that I’ve ever had any furniture made from it. In my experience corduroy was more durable and easier to clean, but I’m going off of 30-year-old memories of pants I wore to middle school.