Sofa is always the centerpiece of a living room even though someone thinks TV is more vital than it. However, can a TV create your home style and add the unique tone to your living room? Certainly not and a comfortable sofa would provide better experience for watching TV if you sit on it. How to buy the right sofa for your home is the big problem, especially for those inexperienced and those with limited budget. This sofa buying guide lists some tips to consider before choosing a couch or sofa for your living room.
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7 Aspects to Buy A Sofa for Your Living Room
1. Types of Couches and Sofas
The couches and sofas are currently selected for living room while single sofas or accent chairs are right for bedroom. The sofas can be roughly divided into those types:
- The 3-seat sofain standard size is the traditional type.
- Sectionals is combined from two or more section You can use the sections separately or together flexibly, which depends on your need.
- Loveseats are equipped with two seats in close distance, which fit for small living room or bedroom.
- Sleeper, sometimes called sofa bed,can be used for both sofa and bed. It is great for guest stay or taking a break.
Generally, owners would select the right sofa type according to the measurement of the living room and the lifestyle.
2. Dimension of the Sofas
The size is the most important factor to select a couch or sofa, since none of furniture in your home can be bought without considering the dimension. Confirm and write down the width and length of the living room and lay out the furniture position of the room. Don’t forget to reserve enough space for walking and playing if you have kids. Those dimensions below are the standard values but you are able to custom the unequal size of the couch based on your family’s need.
- The standard 3-seat sofa generally is measured 84 inch long or most of them is 70 inches to 87
- The standard depth of the couch or sofa should be from 32 inches to 40 inches.
- The height of sofa ranges from 26”to 36 ”.
Browse the deep seated sofas or loveseats here.
3. Functionality (Single-Solution or Versatile)
Due to the different daily requirements of every family, the sofas are set with more functions than the traditional ones. You are able to look for the sofa with certain functions online or offline. If there is no guest room in your home, a revertible sofa bed will create a guest-room-like space.
As you own a cozy living room, here suggest to select a sofa with hidden storage. Nowadays, many couches are featured with drawers or compartments. Besides, a sectional sofa is changeable for different layouts in narrow house because the sections are apart and some sofas with footrests can be used separately in living space. Furthermore, some sofas come with a built-in side table, which is space-saving and will save your time and money to research on side table buying.
4. Construction– frame, joint, seat cushion
Construction ensures the durability and comfort of a sofa. As for the frame, try to select the natural wood, also called solid wood, which is sturdier than MDF, which is made by breaking down natural wood residuals into wood fibres, and formed by applying high temperature and pressure to a combination of wood fibers, wax and resin.
Try to select the sofa that is connected by the mix joints of dowels and glue or with screws to make sure it is not easy to loose.
You will tend to spend more time on the seat cushions with high-qualified and high-resilience filler due to comfortability. Feather down filler is the best material for inside cushion while the foam and fibre fillers would be easy to lose the shape. Some manufacturers still can produce great sofa with the premium high-density foam. Spring oil often comes to the sofa with cushion filler to well keep the shape and spring back after sitting or jumping on the sofa. The flexibility of the spring oil should be considered.
5. Upholstery Fabric or Leather
Couches and sofas are usually upholstered with leather, velvet, linen, fibers and wool blend and those materials can form the pretty pattern of sofas.
- Leather is widely-used for upholstering the sofa and try to select the full grain and top grain, which are durable and qualified. However, it is not friendly for pets since it is easy to scratch.
- Performance fabric is great for kids and pets due to its stain, water and oil resistance.
- Wool will make the sofa elegant and comfortable but it is difficult to care for.
- Velvet is also able to create classy and stylish vibe to your living room and it ensures durability and affordability.
- Linen upholstery can bring aesthetic look of the sofa but it is not anti-water, oil and stain.
Before buying, select the materials based on your situation and do not only focus on the beauty of the furniture. Try to select the sofa that is pretty and practical.
6. Style & Design
If you have painted your wall with colors/patterns, or installed TV stand, coffee table and more before, the home style has been established. Thus select the sofa matching with that style. Modern style is the most popular, so most sofas come with simple design for matching it. The traditional sofa is usually equipped with tufted design and curved lines. And the contemporary sofa with clean lines and traditional accents brings elegant vibe to your living room. The style selection depends on your lifestyle and interest.
7. Budget
Before purchasing a couch, make sure the price range that you can accept and do a research across a wide variety of online homestore to look for the right piece for your living room. If you have pitched on a sofa but stuck in the pricing due to limited budget, please keep an eye on the those online furniture stores or coupon websites for buying the ideal couch or sofa. In general, Black Friday or Cyber Monday sale of most furniture stores would provide the great price or many gifts. However, most online stores would offer daily or weekly discounts for users, so you can purchase the affordable sofa on any budget.
Extra Tips for Buying A Sofa
1. What should I prepare to install the sofa in the living room?
Once you have ordered the right sofa for your living room, please measure the entryway of your house to make sure the sofa can be moved into. If you are not sure about the dimension of sofa package, contact the customer service of the homestore.
Besides, clear the space for the couch or sofa if you have placed other stuffs there.
2. Which kind of upholstery material should I choose for my home with a cat?
Since cats are born to scratch, it is necessary to choose the upholstery material that is scratch resistant and not easy to lose the shape. Generally microfiber, faux suede, denim, synthetic polyester look good for cat parents. Moreover, microfiber is greater than others as it can create comfortable touch and fashionable shape, which is not only for cats, but also friendly for other pets.
