We spend quite a lot of our lives around sofas – watching TV, sitting around with our friends or family, or taking a nap after a long day. Our sofas are a very important part of our furnishing, so of course, choosing the right new sofa is a major decision. 

Let’s look at some factors to consider when choosing a new sofa.

Lifestyle

Before you go about picking out the kind of sofa you want, consider your own lifestyle and what exactly you want from the sofa itself. Are you using it to entertain guests, or would you mostly use it for lounging about? How many people will be using the sofa? 

For a more sophisticated but comfy look, you might want to go for something like the Seren Sofa at 6ixth Sense, while for an elegant sofa meant mostly for formal guests, the Conce Sofa might be a better choice.

Orientation

After deciding what kind of overall vibe you want for your living room (or whichever room you’re sofa-shopping for!) you have to consider the orientation of the sofa. Which way is it facing and where are you going to place it? How much of it will be exposed? Will it be against the wall? These details can help you decide which sofa would work best for the room.

For example, the Ronan Chaise sofa is best for areas where the back of it isn’t exposed, while the Deanna Chaise is best for placing in the middle of the room.

Size

Of course, size is a very important consideration to make. You can only have a sofa that fits in the room – or through the door! If your door isn’t wide enough for the sofa to make it through, you’ll be in trouble! You also don’t want a sofa that’ll take up a lot of room and make the space look smaller.

To find the right size, take measurements of how much space you want to keep for sofas and make your decision accordingly.

Upholstery

Not every sofa works for every room. Sometimes, given the rest of the room’s décor, you need a specific type of upholstery for the sofa to blend in with the rest of the furnishing. Otherwise, it will just look out of place and awkward.

Onda Sofa has lovely velvet upholstery that makes it look elegant and formal, so it can easily blend in with rooms that you show guests in, but are usually out of reach of children and pets. 

Arm Style

Arm styles on sofas are usually an afterthought – and sometimes not a thought at all, even though they should be! The arm style really does add personality to the sofa itself, but the question of practicality comes up much later when it’s already been added to your furnishing.

You don’t want sofas with uncomfortable arms for your living room, for example, but uncomfortable arms that look formal may not be an issue for drawing rooms.

The Pablo Sofa has relatively common arms, but it does have a very fancy back that makes it stand out from other sofas.

A sofa can definitely change the overall appearance and vibe of any space, so be sure to choose carefully!