Furniture should not just be an item in your room that you use from time to time. It should be a part of your home that makes you feel comfortable and at peace just by looking at it. Indeed, there are more than a few benefits from buying furniture that fits a homeowner’s specific needs. And that goes for literally every single piece, from armchairs and stools to chairs and coffee tables, from armoires to shelves and from rugs to floor lamps.
Sofas and couches, in particular, should be purchased with care, as they will often be the biggest piece in the room.
So, if you are aiming to buy a brand new sofa, there are several things you need to keep in mind. This article will cover 7 of the basic sofa-buying ‘rules’, and if you follow them through, your new piece of furniture will be elegant, fashionable, and comfortable.
List of Rules for Buying a New Sofa
Size Matters
It should come as no surprise that sofas come in a wide variety of sizes. Generally speaking, a sofa can fit as little as two and as many as four or even five people on it. But that’s not entirely what we mean when we say ‘size matters.’ Any sofa size will fit the decor of a room. The problem is that not all sofas will fit the room’s space.
Before buying a sofa, measure your room out. That way you will know if your desired sofa will not take up too much space. In addition, it helps to know if the sofa is too big to fit through the door during transport and setup.
The Perfect Fit
If a sofa doesn’t fit you perfectly when you sit or lie on it, don’t buy it. It should be that simple. However, most people don’t immediately know how to test the new sofa for comfort. There are plenty of different ways to do it, but a lot of those are not allowed directly in the furniture shop.
So, if you’re at the furniture store and the shopkeeper allows it, you can test your potential sofa by:
- Sitting on it
- Lying on it
- Sprawling on it
- Checking for the depth of the seat (if you’re tall, choose deep; if you have knee problems, shallow)
- Measuring the height of the arms
If any of these tests give you a negative sensation, then maybe that particular sofa just isn’t for you.
Fabrics and Colors
There are plenty of sofa fabrics to choose from on the market. Some of the more popular choices include linen, cotton, chenille, velvet, leather, and microfiber. Each of these options has their own advantages and disadvantages. In the end, it really depends on what fabric makes you feel comfortable. You also need to think about durability; if you own pets or intend the sofa to be in a room where a lot of people sit often, you will not buy a velvet-covered sofa. Your best bet would be to look for something durable then, like leather settees Stockton and elsewhere.
Sofas are available in a choice of colours and materials so you can choose the perfect seating combination. Choosing a sofa color is just as crucial as finding the right fabric. If your sofa stands out drastically, it will make your room somewhat difficult to spend time in. Should the salesperson allow it, bring the color swatch home and compare their options with the rest of your furniture, as well as the walls, the carpets, etc.
A Durable Frame
A sofa is as good as its frame, hence getting the best one possible is a must. We suggest getting a decent, solid hardwood frame, as it will keep the sofa upright for a long time. Metalwork and particleboard construction frames have a lot of issues, so we advise avoiding them.
Cushions with Comfort
Generally speaking, you will get one of three cushion options with sofas. Some will use feathers as filling. Feathers make the cushions soft and comfortable, but one such pillow will require regular fluffing, and that can be somewhat irritating. On the other hand, foam cushions don’t need to be fluffed. They do, however, lose shape over time, becoming flat and worn.
Your safest bet would be the third option, a combination between foam and cushion filling. That way you will have the benefits of a permanent shape and soft, fluffy sensation.
Sofa Arms, Legs, and Backs
The anatomy of a sofa will also play a vital role in your comfort. With that in mind, you need to learn a bit about different sofa arm, leg, and back styles.
Sofa arms are usually classified into the following types:
- Flared arms (each arm flares a bit outwards from the base)
- Scrolled arms (usually scroll downward to give the sofa a classical, historical look)
- Square arms (self-explanatory)
- Howard arms (short, low arms that don’t go past the cushion length).
Classifying sofa legs is just as simple, and more often than not you will pick one of these variants:
- Stiletto
- Turned legs
- Plinth
- Bun feet
- Sabred or splayed legs
- Glides.
Finally, there’s the sofa back to consider, and you will be considering one of these options during a purchase:
- Fixed-back sofas (the back is fully sprung and upholstered and it’s a part of the whole frame)
- Scatter-back sofas (the upholstered back of the frame is bare, covered by loose cushions)
- Cushion-back sofa (the most common option, with two or three equal-sized cushions hiding the upholstered back of the frame).
Warranty is Key
Yes, even sofas have warranties, and it would be wise if you asked for one when conducting your purchase. More often than not, stores will offer warranties for cushions, the frame, and the filling for up to a year. However, you can get a sofa with a lifetime warranty for the frame and up to five years for the cushions. The store itself might offer additional warranties for various accidents or unexpected events, so you should inquire about those, too.
Buying a New Sofa: Conclusion
A sofa needs to feel as much ‘at home’ as you do. Therefore, you will need to look into everything we’ve listed in this article before you decide on your sofa of choice. Remember, once you buy that perfect sofa, you and your loved ones will want to spend as much time lounging on it as possible. Of course, you can feel free to apply some of these steps when buying other types of furniture too, such as armchairs and stools.
