An inviting living room starts with stylish furniture, so it's important to pick a sofa or couch that suits your personality and design aesthetic. This handy guide offers a few tips and tricks for finding the sofa or couch that is just right for your living room. When shopping, consider function, color, print, fabric, style, and size.
Function
As you start your quest for a new sofa or couch, decide how you plan to use it. If you and your housemate enjoy watching TV, a recliner sofa may be the perfect pick. Are you a book lover? Consider a sectional with a chaise lounge you can park underneath a flexible floor lamp. Do you have a family? An L-shaped sectional offers enough space for parents and kids for game night or pizza and a movie. If you're the most popular host or hostess on the block, make comfort a priority, and pair your sofa with two chairs and a coffee table for a cozy conversation area.
Color
To find the right sofa color, use a color wheel. This handy tool helps you find hues that either match or complement your current color scheme. If you have a dark floor or carpet, offset it with a light-colored sofa and vice versa.
Print
The key to choosing a pattern or a solid print is to consider what you currently have. If your living room already has plenty of patterns, stick with a solid print. Too many patterns can make a living room look busy and cluttered. Remember, you can always add patterns and texture with throw pillows.
Fabric
Sofas come in a wide array of fabrics, and it's important to pick one that speaks to your design aesthetic. If you have young children or pets, you may want to trade delicate upholstery fabrics like velvet and silk for more durable or stain-resistant fabrics like canvas, denim, microfiber, and leather. Before you purchase a sofa or couch, ask for a swatch to see if the fabric complements your existing decor.
Style
To fit in with your current decor, choose the right style of sofa or couch. If your existing decor is traditional, go with a three-cushion sofa featuring rolled or padded arms. For a modern or contemporary space, consider a vintage, two-cushion couch or a sectional with clean lines and solid, neutral fabric. Classics that suit many living rooms include a Chesterfield or a camelback sofa.
Size
To find the proper sofa size, assess the scale of the room. According to Home Life New England, this means considering how furniture fits into the room and how it looks when grouped together. Sofas that are too large can block the natural flow of traffic throughout a space, and sofas that are too small can get lost in a large room.
A measuring tape and a few design rules can help. For proper flow and accessibility, leave 18 inches between your coffee table and sofa. Allow six to 10 feet between your sofa and television and four to 10 feet between your sofa and other furniture pieces.
Choosing a sofa can be complicated, but this handy guide can help make the process easier. To find stylish, high-quality sofas in all shapes, sizes, styles, colors, and prints, check out the assortment available at CORT Furniture Rental.