How To Choose The Right Sofa

*This is a collaborative post on how to choose the right sofa

Buying a sofa is an important investment for your home. The sofa is the piece of furniture where our families lounge, read, eat and drink, entertain guests, watch TV, and take naps. It makes sense that with all these important jobs to do the sofa is something to invest in so it lasts for years to come. From taking measurements to choosing the right frame, here are the things you should consider before buying a new sofa.

Try Before You Buy

The average sofa has a seat depth of at least 60cm, which gives enough room to sit comfortably, even if you have long legs. However, seat depths do vary sometimes, so it’s a good idea to test it to make sure you’re getting enough back support. With seat height, most sofas are between 45cm and 50cm. There’s no right or wrong height, so try a few and see what you like best.

Think about how you like to sit on the sofa. For example, if you and your spouse both like to sit with your legs up, check the sofa is deep enough for you to do that. If you like to lie down on your sofa, check that it’s long enough for you. Taller people might like a higher back for better support.

Invest In A Good Frame

Spend as much as you can afford to on a good quality frame. Solid hardwood is a good choice but avoid particleboard or metal construction. Pay attention to the guarantee before you decide. Stick with a manufacturer who offers a guarantee of at least fifteen years. If you’re on a budget, look at the sofa sale on Furniture Island to find quality for less.

Check The Sofa Cushions

What’s inside the sofa is just as important as the outside. For the sofa back and seats, feather-filled cushions are very comfortable but will need plumping up on a regular basis. Foam or fibre fillings can flatten and lose their shape after time and use.

The best solution is a combination of feather and foam. The feathers are comfortable, while the foam gives structure. Back cushions filled with feathers and seat cushions filled with foam or fibre can work well.

Focus On Fabric

Whether you want a colour, a pattern, or a neutral, the upholstery fabric that you choose will make a big impact on the room, so make a careful choice to make sure it fits in with the rest of your scheme. Natural materials will fade in strong sunshine, so if your sofa will near a window, choose a synthetic fabric. If you have young children or pets, choose a fabric that is easy to spot clean. Loose covers can also be good for this, as they can be removed for easy cleaning. Some are even washable.

Measure Up

There’s nothing worse than choosing a sofa you love and then finding that it doesn’t fit in the space you wanted it to go in, or that you can’t get it in the front door. Before you decide on one to buy, make sure you measure up. Get out a tape measure and make sure you know the maximum dimensions that will fit into the space you have.

Note both the width (the measurement across the back of the sofa) and the depth (the measurement from the back to the front of the sofa). Pay close attention to the depth if you have a small from, as the depth of the seat will rarely change from the larger to smaller size sofas. Think about the height of the sofa if it needs to fit around radiators or shelves.

One good trick to make sure a sofa will fit is to cut out the shape of it from the newspaper and place it on the floor where the sofa will go. This means you can check that you have enough room spare to work around it and that there is enough room for shelves, radiators, other furniture, and the opening of doors, windows, or cupboards.

Check the dimensions of doorways, corridors, and stairwells that the sofa will need to come through when it’s delivered. This can help you to avoid scuffing the walls when you’re trying to get it in!

If there’s not much room to bring the sofa in, you might need to choose a style with a low back, removable legs, or that can be dismantled and delivered in sections. If the room is small, you might do better with a two-seater.