Choosing a sofa can at times be an overwhelming experience as there’s just so much choice out there in this video I’ll go through all the steps you need to go through from measuring your living room to choosing the best materials.

So you can choose the perfect sofa for your home and stay around till the end because I’ll be sharing some of my favorite sofa brands, step 1 measure, your living room, and sofa. The first thing you need to do when choosing a sofa is measure your living room, to ensure that the couch is not too big or too small for the space.

Space Planning

A sofa that is too big will dominate the space and make it look overcrowded, while one that is too small will look dwarf or like it is drowning in the room. The rule of thumb is to have a sofa that is roughly two-thirds the length of the room or the wall.

It is going to go against if you have an open plan space, the same two-third rules apply but to the living area. Do this by using imaginary lines or creating zones within the open plan space, you also want to consider how it will fit around others.

For existing furniture, such as side tables and coffee tables, take out your measuring tape and write down all the measurements of your room, as well as the ideal measurements of the sofa before going shopping measure.

Everything twice to be certain as a couch is an expensive investment and often the centerpiece of your room. So you want to get the size right. You wouldn’t think so, but furniture is often sent back to the showroom because the delivery man can’t get it through the front door.

That is why you have to measure the diagonal length of doorways and lifts and the narrowest points of hallways and staircases to ensure the sofa can be brought into your home when delivered also consider if there are any obstructions on the delivery path, such as shelvings or Heaters, the shortest of these measurements is the widest your sofa can be unless it is flat, packed if possible, bring your tape measure to the furniture store.

So you can measure the sofa itself, including the sofa depth, cushion depth height, and arms if you’re purchasing online double check the measurements in the details. Section sofa depth is the length from the front of the base cushion to the back of the sofa while cushioning depth.

Is a measurement from the front of the base cushion to the back cushion cushion depth is an important measurement, as they can often vary, which affects how you sit on a sofa. It is also important to consider the seat height back height, as well as the overall height of the sofa, a sofa that has a low seat height of 40, centimeters or less, is low sofa and can be difficult to get out compared to one that is 60 Centimeters high, you also want to consider seat height in relation to coffee table height, as a coffee table needs to be the same height or slightly lower than the seats.

Finally, overall height should be considered, especially in open plan living rooms. Lower couches tend to look better in open plan spaces because it allow your eyes to glide through the space. Without the couch breaking up the space step 2 choose a sofa style that matches your home.

Visual Design Style

It may seem like an obvious thing to do, but many people go to a furniture store to see a sofa that they like bring them home, and then realize that it doesn’t match the style of their home. Personally, I like to use Pinterest to gather images to set up a visual language and then use it as a style reference.

This way you can figure out what type of sofa you want, as well as the color and upholstery. For example, if your house is near a beach, you may want a Hampton-style, sofa with cream linen upholstery or light brown leather sofa for a modern industrial.

Look if you live in the city in terms of color, my general advice is to go for a solid color. This could be a bold color or neutral. It is much easier to dress up or down a solid-colored sofa with pillows.

Consider your lifestyle and the function of your sofa as there are so many different types of sofas. These days, which are built for different purposes, you really need to consider your needs in terms of your lifestyle and what function the sofa will have in your home.

Function Of The Sofa

You might want to ask yourself some of these questions. Are you going to watch tv on the sofa every day? Is it for a formal seating room? Are pets allowed to sit on the sofa? Is the sofa where the kids will have friends over? Do you like to sleep on the couch? Do you like to eat or drink on the couch, how many people are going to sit on this sofa at once these days there are many different types of sofas to choose from including traditional, three or four seaters sleepers or sofa beds.

Two cedars are also known as love seats as well as modular or sectional sofas, which are multi-pieces sofas that can be arranged in many different ways. If the sofa is mainly for tv watching, you would want something that has good cushioning, so you can sink into it.

In contrast to a sofa for a seating room that you want to be more structured and more upright, a modular or sectional couch is good for large families or people who often move as they can be rearranged to fit into different rooms.

If there are mainly tall people in your household, they would appreciate deeper seating, while younger, shorter children would prefer a sofa that is lower, so they can easily climb onto it. If you have kids or pets, you need to carefully consider the upholstery opting for a sofa that can withstand wear and tear where spills, stains, and pet fur can be easily cleaned off.

You might also consider getting a sofa that has cushions that are not attached to the base or ones that have removable cushions for easy cleaning. Step 4 choose the best materials.

Materials Of The Sofa

Now that you have considered your lifestyle and the function of the sofa use this to narrow down the type of materials that are best suited for you, first consider upholstery couches come in many different finishes, such as leather linen polyester, wool, blends, boucle, twill, velvet canvas as Well, as specifically engineered performance fabrics, leather is highly durable, easy to clean and good for shedding pets.

However, it can easily be scratched if you live in a hot and humid climate. A leather sofa may work against you, especially if you sweat a lot of linen along with other natural fibers, which is fantastic for hot and humid climates.

However, it is highly absorbent and not structured, which makes it prone to stains and wrinkling like leather and other natural fibers linen is much more expensive than synthetics. A cheaper alternative will be canvas which is a sturdy fabric, yet gives a relaxed vibe synthetics such as polyester or poly blends are the most affordable as they are manmade.

They are usually very durable, depending on the weave, as well as stain resistant as they’re hydrophobic. There are other types of weaves such as twill valve boucle, that can be made from various types of fibers, but most commonly synthetics or cotton.

Twill is the same width that is used for jeans and is a very durable fabric that gives a casual look. Velvet is a cut pile loop weave that is very soft with a low sheen. That gives a luxurious look while it can hide stains under it easily.

Due to the ray surface, it attracts pet hair, which is very difficult to remove. Boucle is a loop yarn that has an uneven thickness, so when woven, it creates a knobbly soft texture. This fabric is very easy to maintain and gives a casual fun vibe.

The workmanship of The Sofa

In addition to upholstery fabrics, you need to consider the quality of the frame or base of the sofa. You want to look for a high-quality base because it will last a lot longer and can be reupholstered.

A quality frame is made from solid hardwood. Some examples are a kiln, dried hardwood in oak ash, or beach. Unfortunately, hardwood frames are very expensive and you’re unlikely to get one for under 1 000.

So plywood may be a decent choice, but of course, if you’re spending, 5 000 or more, you don’t want to get plywood step 5 consider the quality of the construction. Nowadays, there are many budget option couches, but this comes at the expense of good construction.

Before purchasing make sure you evaluate the frame, joinery springs, and upholstery to ensure that it is top quality. The weakest part of the frame is usually the legs. Cheap couches often have legs that are glued on which are not secure.

Look for couches that have legs that are secured with screws or dowels or legs that are an integral part of the frame. Ideally, the joinery throughout the couch should be a mix of different types. As wooden dowels corner blocks, metal screws, and brackets glue, staples, and nails are very weak if used alone.

Finally, check the upholstery to make sure that the buttons are sewn on well and that seams and piping run straight. If there are patterns on your couch check that they match at the seams, otherwise it will look cheap. You don’t want seams, breaking, or buttons falling off

Price Of The Sofas

Sofas can range from 700 to 2500 and onwards for luxury brands. The general rule of thumb is that cost correlates to the size and anything electronic such as recliner lounges is much more expensive.

You can always get a vintage or secondhand couch if you’re on a tight budget, they’re usually 70 to 80 cheaper and can bring character to a room. It is very important to inspect them in person, make sure that they are not damaged and are clean, and if they are beaten down, you can lower their price even more, where to buy couches and some of my favorite retailers.

If you are purchasing online, do your research and read reviews look for return policy and delivery options, and check out nearby showrooms or pop-up stores, if they’re available, if you’re not sure where to shop someone’s favorite retailers include article crate and barrel and cb2 which ships to the Us and Canada, room and board and interior define which ships to us castlery, which ships to the US, Singapore, and Australia. These are all budget to mid-range price points, so you’ll be getting the best bang. For your buck, the article has so far set an affordable price point with good reviews.