Guide: How to find the right sofa

The sofa is one of the most important things, not just in the living room, but in the whole home. You have probably heard many people say that the kitchen is the heart of the house, but we are quite convinced that it is the living room (and the sofa). This is precisely why it is important when choosing a new sofa that you find one that suits you and your family's needs.

It is not always easy to furnish a room with a sofa, because the sofa is a piece of furniture that takes up a lot of space and attention. However, it is also one of the most important pieces of furniture in the living room, so it will not be left out anyway. The sofa is absolutely central, because this is most often where the whole family and friends meet and spend half and whole evenings.

The most important thing is that your new sofa is the right match for your family. The right sofa for you is not necessarily the right one for your neighbour.

So how do you find the perfect sofa?

I will try to help you find the answer to that below, by looking at what considerations you should make.

Where should the sofa be placed?

The placement of the sofa plays a big role in the expression that your living room ends up having. The sofa can be placed in many places, but the classic sofa placement is with the back against a wall and the front against the television – try a different position to create a unique expression.

It may come as a surprise to many how few hours you actually spend on your sofa after all. Sure, the sofa is Friday's primary piece of furniture, but how many hours do we spend on it? It is therefore both a lot of money, but also many square meters of the living room that are used in a few hours a week.

Think creatively and excitingly in your interior design. Try creating a creative living room by turning the rooms around. For example, the living room can be thought of as a workplace and the workplace can be thought of as the living room.

Does it make sense?

By swapping and creating a "working room" in the living room rather than the traditional TV room, you get a unique and creative space where there is space for rent, reading and work and everything we do together.

In 9 out of 10 homes, the sofa is placed vertically against one wall and the television is placed on the opposite wall. In many cases, it will actually provide even more space in the living room if you do not use the classic sofa-to-wall arrangement.

Are you not interested in creative interiors?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with keeping the classic sofa placement against the wall. The decor in the living room must fit in with the rest of the house's decor, so a completely classic and simple decor can easily be the best solution for you with a sofa against the wall and a couple of armchairs next to it.

Advice for positioning your sofa

• Try to avoid placing the sofa against a wall to create space and creativity
• Choose a sofa with a high back if it is placed open (e.g. in the middle of a room)
• Think view – the sofa must have the location with the best view
• Movable TV arm – with a movable TV arm, the TV does not determine the position of the sofa
• A small sofa can create coziness in the kitchen if space allows

What functions should the sofa have?

What is the sofa used for? It is one of the most important questions to ask yourself when looking at alternatives to your old sofa. The sofa's function plays a big role and is of great importance to which type of sofa is right for you.

For example, do you have children or grandchildren who require a very hard-wearing sofa - for example a genuine leather sofa. Or do you often have overnight guests who use the sofa, requiring a sofa bed?

But how do you find out what the sofa's function is in everyday life? Think through a classic week and consider what the sofa is actually used for, by whom and how much

Fabric or leather sofa?

The material will often be a "matter of religion", which basically depends on what you find most comfortable to sit in. There are, however, some essential differences which, from a practical perspective, you should take into account in your considerations.

Especially for families with children, the new sofa is difficult to choose because it is probably the family's gathering point, but it is also the obvious and often used playground for little people. If you are a family with children, the sofa must be able to cope with a bit of everything. Here I mean a lot of mess, pencils/markers, liquid and food stains.

Fortunately, there are sofas that are both attractive, durable and practical in relation to stains of various kinds.

Leather sofas

The leather sofa gets my biggest recommendation for families with children.

Why?

One word: stains.

Stains are incredibly difficult to avoid in everyday life with children at home. It happens sooner or later. The practicality of a leather sofa is that they are very easy to keep free of stains because in most cases it only takes a damp cloth to wipe the stain away.

A leather sofa is not only stain-friendly. Leather is a strong material that is incredibly durable, so even though a leather sofa will often be a little more expensive, you will also have a sofa for many years. Leather is of course not immune to damage, but the hard-wearing material is guaranteed to at least last the average life of a family with children and almost a lifetime in homes without children.

Does a leather sofa sound like an expensive solution? It doesn't have to be.

Durable fabric sofas

As previously mentioned, the material is a matter of religion, so if you just can't stand sitting in a leather sofa, then you should turn your eyes to durable fabric sofas.

Fabric sofas usually have a fairly long life, but therefore you shouldn't just take the first and nicest one without doing further "research". Fabric has very different wear resistances, so it is not completely unimportant whether the fabric is durable enough for 5 or 20 years of use.

All our fabric sofas are made of absolutely top-quality fabric, which will last for many, many years.

Do you want to sit upright or lie down and float?

If you have a preference for seat height and seat depth, which most people do, then it is important to take into account the shape of the sofa, which determines whether it is comfortable to sit in or comfortable to lie in - or whether it is complete and good for both sit and lie in.

But what do you actually use your sofa for most?

A lower sofa that has plenty of depth is good if you lie and float on a daily basis. If, on the other hand, you sit upright most of the time, then a sofa with a high back and firmer cushions and pillows will be right for you.

Are you looking for the complete sofa, which is good and comfortable to sit on with your guests at the weekends, but which is also good during the weekdays when you just want to lie down and float when you get home? Yes, then you should find a sofa that is neither too hard nor too soft, neither too high nor too low and neither too deep nor too narrow.

A sofa can be very difficult to assess online, so I recommend you assess the appearance online and then visit one of our dealers to try out different sofas.

What color should your sofa be?

Colors can affect us humans in many directions. The right color can put us in a better mood, but a completely wrong color can have a negative effect. Colors can affect much more deeply than we think, and therefore colors are also one of the important considerations when you have to find a new sofa.

The temptation to choose the classic gray sofa is great. So large that the gray sofa (in various shades) can be found in the vast majority of living rooms. It is not so strange when it is precisely the gray sofas that are highlighted in various home magazines.

Maybe you are looking for something completely different?

Something different.

Do you think, like many others, that their homes have gradually become too white and too conservative? You might want to find a new piece of furniture that is a real eye-catcher with exciting colors. You can be sure that a red, yellow, green or turquoise sofa will catch the eye of every guest. Also the 2nd time they come. Nevertheless, these are all colors that go well with white walls while also providing a nice contrast.

It is not an easy choice to go from the classic gray color to a lighter contrasting color for a new piece of furniture. This requires that the home has interior and furniture that can compliment the new and strong color in the living room. It is also important to consider that you will have the sofa for many years. Is having a completely turquoise sofa a long-term solution for you? Maybe it is, and maybe it isn't. But it is important to include in your considerations.

Red sofa

Red is a strong and warm color that radiates passion and positivity – and not least courage. It is a strong person who has a bright red sofa standing. The red sofa can seem exciting, beautiful and brave to many, but to just as many it can seem too dominant. And it is dominant if the rest of the interior is white and grey.

Yellow sofa

Yellow radiates positivity and joy. A yellow sofa creates excitement with a nice contrast in many living rooms. The yellow sofa can appear very lively with its sharp appearance in the room. The yellow sofa gives a unique expression and gives a very clear picture of who the person in the home is.

Classic and neutral sofa

If you read home magazines, you will see that 9/10 sofas shown are a neutral color like various shades of gray and blue. It is no coincidence that the choice falls on the fact that these are precisely the colors to be displayed. The classic and neutral colors are also the colors that give the greatest freedom when it comes to furnishing the home with the rest of the interior.

The gray sofa fits into any Scandinavian home, and is a color that does not limit other interior colors. The gray color also goes well with almost any wall color, whereas the turquoise, red and yellow go well with a few wall colors.

The gray sofa can be decorated with contrasting cushions without making a mark, but a red sofa is a completely different story.

Find the perfect sofa

Now you are well prepared to begin the hunt for the perfect sofa.

If you would like to take a closer look at our sofas or other furniture, we certainly have a dealer near you.