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Sofa Buying guide: Size, Style and Fabric

What’s the one thing you can’t afford to get wrong in your living room? It’s your couch. Your couch might be the most expensive piece of furniture that you own and one of the most important pieces of furniture that you’ll buy. If you’re in the market for a couch, I’ve got three tips to buy the right sofa.

Read to the end, because I’m going to tell you one kind of unpopular piece of advice about sofas that I like to give. 

1. Sofa Size

I’ve got three tips to help you pick out the right size couch for your space.

sofa size
sofa size

When you’re talking about sofa size, it’s not just about the length. There’s a lot of variation in the length, depth, and height. You should also really think about how you like to sit on your couch. For me, I’m short so there is no couch where I’m sitting with my feet on the floor. I like a deep couch so I can pull my legs up on a couch.

person lying on a couch

Maybe you like to sleep on your couch. Do you like to sit up straight? Do you like to sit with your legs tucked up? Do you like to lay down? How you will use your couch is important to factor into your sofa buying decision.

Let’s understand more about standard sizes. If you live in a smaller place, consider love seats. Love seats typically range from 48 to 72 inches in length. Standard sized sofas range from 72 inches to 96 inches. Larger sized sofas just go up to around 120 inches. 

Tip #1 Space Plan

Figure out your floor plan. I’ve done several posts about how you can do space plan online and on paper. Pottery Barn has a free floor planning tool if you like to use an online tool. It doesn’t mean you have to buy your couch at Pottery Barn. It’s a great software to use. You can put your basic dimensions in and try out the different sizes. You can also play with the arrangements. 

If you’re more of a pen and paper person, I have tips on exactly how to space plan on paper. I have a free downloadable PDF that has all the different size sofas so you can try it out on a piece of graph paper.

When you’re planning where to put your sofa, sometimes you need to think outside the box. Don’t always look at where the person before you had your couch. Try it out in all the different places and see what’s going to work best. 

Sometimes sitting against the wall is not the best option, even though it’s one that you see most frequently.

Tip #2 Balance and Travel Paths

When you’re looking at your space plan, you want to make sure it checks two boxes. One is called balance. You want to make sure that your room has balance to it. All of the furniture should not be on one side of the room. If you use a space planning tool, it will be easier to see how a layout is balanced.

You want to make sure your floor plan checks the box for travel paths. Look to see with your layout if you can get around the room. You need to allow for travel paths. The rule of thumb is three feet if there’s a travel path through your living room. You don’t want to feel like your sofa is getting in the way of the travel path.

Tip #3 How Many Seats on Sofa

Consider how many people are going to be sitting on your couch before you buy it. If you get a couch that has one bench seat, it’s more likely that more people can sit on it because nobody wants to sit in the crack.

three cushion sofa

Think about the number of cushions you get on your couch and try to match that with the number of people that you want to sit on it. With two cushions, probably not more than two people are going to sit on it.

two cushion sofa

Sofas For Large Living Areas

I’ve had a lot of people ask me about how to pick a sofa if they have a great room or a very large living area. The best way to pick a sofa if you have a large living area is to pretend like you don’t. Pretend the area is separated into different seating areas. 

You want to try to define the seating areas. The absolute easiest way to do that is with a rug. Pick out a rug for your great room and get a sofa that fits that rug. This method is the easiest way to separate a living room into seating areas.  

Unpopular Advice: Don’t Buy a Sectional

The reason I don’t like to use sectionals as often as a regular sofa is because sectionals are often really specifically sized to a room. If you’re planning on living in your home or your apartment for many years, try getting a sectional. But if you’re thinking, ‘Hmm, I might move in the next four or five years,’ I don’t recommend getting a sectional because they often don’t fit when you move.

Before you go shopping for a sofa, make sure that you look at your space plan, make sure that you consider travel paths and balance in your space, and make sure you think about how many people are going to sit on the couch. 

Now that we have covered what to consider with the size of a sofa. Let’s go over in depth how to choose the right style of sofa and the right fabric for your sofa.

2. Sofa Style

There’s so much more to picking a sofa than just sitting on it. A sofa is one of the most important pieces in your living room and one of the most expensive. Here are tips on choosing the right style sofa for you and the right fabric. 

Let’s talk about the big five styles of sofas (and there are more than five, but these are the main ones): 

  1. Traditional
  2. Modern
  3. Mid-century modern
  4. Chesterfield
  5. Tuxedo

First, let’s take a look at some traditional sofas. Many of them have a rolled arm. They can either be skirted or have a wood leg, and they can have pillows or a tight back.

traditional sofa

Modern sofas typically have more straight lines, a lower profile, and exposed legs.

modern sofa

Mid-century modern couches almost always have an exposed leg, but they also have a very minimalist style to them. It’s usually a squared shape.

mid century sofa

Chesterfield sofas are very luxurious feeling. There’s often a tufted back and sometimes a tufted seat.

chesterfield sofa

The last one is Tuxedo. This one gets its name because it’s very minimalist, clean, square style, and the upholstery is often very tight fitting.

tuxedo sofas

There are a million different sofa styles. If you are looking for a sofa that can stand the test of time, stick to one of these main styles. It’s unlikely that it’s going to go out of style. 

I didn’t include sectional sofas because you can get a sectional in every kind of style. I have an unpopular opinion that you shouldn’t get a sectional unless you’re going to live in the place you’re buying for more than four or five years. They often do not move well with you to a new space.

3. Sofa Fabric: Natural and Synthetic

Let’s go over selecting a fabric for your sofa. There are two main categories: natural fibers and synthetic fibers. Natural fibers are things like cotton and linen. Synthetic fibers are things like polyester, olefin, and nylon.

When you shop for sofas, you’re going to start seeing the term ‘performance fabric’ a lot. That often means that there’s a synthetic fabric that’s been used with a natural fiber. This combination makes the fabric more durable and stain-resistant. 

For example, you’ll sometimes see Chenille as a fabric option. Chenille can be made from a weave of polyester and cotton. There are also velvet sofas, which are traditionally made from silk. Most of the velvets now are made of a synthetic material.

Natural Fiber Vs Performance Fabric 

You need to think about lifestyle issues. I think one common misconception is that natural fibers do not perform well. They can be cleaned just like synthetic fibers, especially if you have a slipcover. If you have a lot of pets or children, sometimes a performance fabric can be better suited to your lifestyle.

Solid Vs Pattern

After fabric material, think about solid versus pattern. I like to make the argument for a solid-colored sofa. That doesn’t mean that I don’t like patterns. I do. But, I like to use it on smaller pieces like an upholstered chair or throw pillows. We tend to get tired of patterns faster than we get tired of a solid color. Chairs and pillows are less expensive to switch out over time if you get sick of your striped couch.

pattenered sofa

Slipcovers

Slipcovers used to be thought of as something that only belonged in a shabby chic kind of style. That is not the case anymore. There are now slipcovered sofas in almost every style. 

The reason why I like a slipcovered sofa is it makes the natural fiber couches into performance fibers since you can take the cover off. A lot of slipcovers now are very tight-fitting. It’s almost hard to tell that they’re slipcovers. 

TIP: Don’t dry slipcovers completely

In fact, they’re so tight-fitting that when you wash them, you have to be careful not to dry them fully or you won’t be able to fit them back on your couch.

I’ve lived with a slipcovered couch for 20 years. I don’t take the slipcover off that often to wash it. When I do, I always put it back on damp. The advantage to me of a slipcover versus a performance fabric is that certain stains that cannot be washed out without being soaked.

If you’re trying to choose a sofa, I would try to get one that fits with the style that you’re trying to go for in your room. Stick to these five main styles, you can use them in almost any style of living room. If you are not sure of your style, take this design style quiz.

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