Sofa Sizing

Picking the right furniture for your budget, your sense of style, matching already purchased furniture or antiques as well as fitting it into your home and being long-lived is a lot to think about when shopping. This is an exciting time—either designing a new home or redesigning your current space, an empty area stands out to you almost as it would a blank canvas waiting for that first daub of paint. You can turn any room into a captivating, comfortable work of art with the right form and function sofa.

It just so happens you’ve picked the exact sofa you’ve had in mind and are about ready to purchase it when you think: How do you know if a sofa this small or large will work with a room that has an open entryway between the dining and living rooms?

How can you find a sofa that looks right in a tiny one-bedroom apartment? A wide-open floor plan. And now that you think about it, how do you fit a new sofa to your Antique French coffee table?

Your sofa will end up being the main focal point of the entire room. All these questions and more we can cover to hopefully steer you to not only the right choice for you but also the right choice for your home, budget and needs.

1. Your needs: Take into consideration the needs that you want to be met with your new sofa. Is this the final piece to a years-long awaiting antique collection in a special spot with gentle traffic use? Are you looking to balance both ultimate Victorian elegance with comfort, delicacy and sturdiness as well? If your couch is highly decorative but not for functional use or both, how you want to use your new sofa is vastly important in choosing the right one for you.

   Tips:
   • Painters tape can be used to mark the dimensions of a potential sofa to draw the height, length, and depth right into your living room. This is a near foolproof way to check if the size of the sofa is right for you.
   • Measure your doorways and halls if there are any that you may have to carry the sofa through. Otherwise, your dream sofa might become a nightmare trying to get it through smaller passageways that are more common in apartments and older homes.

2. The size of the room: How large is your living room, the space you will be placing the sofa, or the area you must work with? A large, luxurious Victorian Camelback Sofa may be the style you are looking for, but if you live in and with very little space it may take up too much room. For very small apartments or spaces, perhaps an Empire Swan Settee would fit perfectly into the space you have to work with.

   The larger sofa may look more comfortable, but if you have no space left over or very little for the rest of your furniture you can easily go from a cozy, warm living room to feeling and looking like a cluttered space.

3. The shape of the room: Not every home or apartment is built in the same style, the same year or even the same shape. Some homes do have round rooms, some are completely open floorplans and some older homes have beautifully trimmed entryways between the living and dining room. The shape of your living room or the space that will be your living room will be important to understand and know when picking out your sofa’s size.

   Any special features in this living room or room which you are going to place your sofa in should be taken into consideration as well. A sofa that is too tall in front of a beautiful pane window will end up blocking some or more than half of it. A low backed sofa would be a better choice for in front of a window.

   For wide-open spaces, choosing a loveseat or sofa that is too small may lead to a sense of something uneven, incomplete, or off about the entire room and make it feel too empty. Having a sofa that is too large and blocks an entryway is also something you don’t want to do, as it interrupts the visual feel and flow of a room. Keep a sofa to a size that will not block or obscure windows, fireplaces, built-in-shelving or other pieces of your décor to avoid a cluttered and mismatched appearance. Many designers choose a sofa large enough to become a room-divider in wide-open spaces.

4. Traffic Flow: How much use and traffic your living room as well your sofa gets or how much it could get should factor into what size you choose. The way you, your family and future guests will move through the room, as well as your home, should be given a thought or two in the sizing of your sofa before purchasing. A sofa that the kids, pets, guests, and possibly even yourself start tripping over or having to move out of the way quickly becomes a hassle instead of a comfort. Your new sofa should neither box in your space or you.

   Make sure your new sofa’s dimensions and placement will not physically block any entryways or paths people in your house will use to get around.

   Last and never least, consider it’s intended use. And be honest about this part to yourself. Will this sofa be a place for you to have tea, read a book, and watch your favorite T.V. series? Will it be for the whole family to use and do the same? Or will your new sofa be part of a much more formal living room, perhaps a favorite stylish spot for you to entertain when guests come over?

   Consider all of these options before choosing your sofa size for the ideal purchase for your home.