I know this is a ridiculous thing to admit, but I spent fifteen years wanting a sofa. Not sofas in general, one specific sofa, sitting in the reception of a consultancy I used to work for in London.
It was the classic leather Forum sofa by Robin Day, the kind of thing you'd sit on for ten minutes while waiting, feeling slightly out of your depth in a building that clearly wanted you to feel that way. I genuinely loved the design, and quietly hoped that one day we might actually own one.
My husband loved it too, so when we finally had a bonus to put toward something, the Forum sofa was already on the list. Not a new discovery, closer to a fifteen-year slow burn.
We went for it about two years ago now, in the green buclé rather than the classic leather, and it's sat in our kitchen diner ever since. This is the "is it still worth it" post, no gloss, just what two years of actual daily use looks like.
Why the Forum sofa is a design classic in the first place
It's easy to call something "iconic" without saying why. So here's why, briefly.
The Forum was originally designed by Robin Day in 1964. Case Furniture, in partnership with the Robin and Lucienne Day Foundation, brought it back into production decades later, working from original design drawings and an example of the original build to keep it faithful to what Day intended.
The detail that makes it, for me, is the frame. It's hardwood, joined with visible finger joints, sitting on chrome legs mounted to the outside of the frame rather than tucked underneath. Day didn't hide the construction. He exposed it on purpose, so the way the thing is built is part of what you're looking at. That's a very different instinct to most sofas, which are upholstered box shapes designed to hide their skeleton. On the Forum, the skeleton is the point.
the chrome leg, mounted outside the frame: the detail that makes it
Knowing that changes how you sit on it, a bit. You're not just looking at a shape. You're looking at a piece of furniture that's honest about how it holds together, which is exactly the kind of design decision that ages well rather than dating.
What it's actually like, two years in
Comfort-wise: genuinely great. It's a sofa we actually sit on, not one we've arranged around and avoid. I'm on it most days.
The buclé has held up better than I expected. We went with fabric over the classic leather, which felt like the "riskier" choice at the time. Two years of a kitchen diner (so real life, not a show home) and it still looks like it did on day one. No bald patches, no flattening, no obvious wear pattern from where we always sit.
The one thing I'd want to know before buying
The Forum isn't a sofa you disappear into. It's elegant rather than enveloping: low-backed, with structured sides that look brilliant but don't give you anywhere to sink. Cushions aren't a styling choice here, they're doing real work. We didn't realise this until we were living with it, and it's the one thing I'd tell a friend before they bought it, not after.
Was it worth £2.5k?
Yes, but I want to be honest about what "worth it" means here, rather than just saying yes and moving on.
It wasn't an impulse buy. It came out of a bonus, after years of sitting on one at work and knowing we liked it. That's a very different way to buy furniture than seeing something in a shop window and deciding in an afternoon. By the time we actually paid for it, we already knew the shape, the comfort, and the general vibe of living with it. We just hadn't lived with ours yet.
Two years on, nothing about it has made us regret that. It's not precious, we use it daily, and it's not showing signs of that. It's also not going anywhere when we move; if anything, I'm more curious than worried about how it'll look in a different room.
The next chapter
We're moving house, and the Forum is coming with us. I don't know yet where it'll end up, but it feels like the right kind of test for this sofa specifically: a piece designed in 1964, sitting in a kitchen diner in 2026, about to find out how it reads somewhere new entirely. I'll write about that once we're settled.
For now: two years in, still comfortable, still looks the way it did on day one, and the only real caveat is buy good cushions.
Still worth keeping?
- Comfort
- Genuinely good, once you've got cushions sorted
- Ageing
- Excellent: no wear, no flattening, no signs of two years' real use
- Would we buy it again?
- Yes, without hesitating
- Best for
- People who want a considered, sit-up-straight sofa, not a sink-in-and-disappear one
