How to Make a Sectional Sofa Work In Your Room

Sectional sofas are making a comeback. Despite misconceptions of them being unsightly and bulky, these sofas can enhance your space and allow for more comfort and versatility. With sectional sofas, you can create an arrangement in your living room that lets you entertain guests, spend time with family, and relax—all while making your room look modern and chic! Here’s a deep dive into this amazing sofa.

The hero in your living room

Although sectional sofas found its fame in the mid-20th century, its origins date back to the early 1800s in America. As the name suggests, these sofas are comprised of sections that can be arranged in a variety of positions and that can generally accommodate any shape room. Oftentimes, sectional sofas come in two pieces that are arranged at a ninety-degree angle, allowing one piece to be more like a conventional sofa, and the other resembling a lounger. Longer sectionals might have a three-seat love seat, instead of two, and can also include a pull-out sofa bed, middle console for cup-holders, remote controls, and small storage.

Sectional sofas are a beloved living room furniture piece, giving people a spot to wind down and spend late nights watching Netflix in their favourite pajamas.

Where should it go?

You might be thinking that only large rooms can accommodate sectional sofas. This isn’t true. Sectional sofas come in a variety of designs: some of which are love seats with a smaller lounger attached, making it ideal for apartments and smaller dens or family rooms. With the right amount of design elements, you can make these sofas work in any room size. Here are three tips to help you out.

1. Choose a focal point: Due to its relatively large size, your sectional sofa will likely be the centre of attention in a room. In order to find balance, position the sofa opposite to the desired focal point of the room. In a family room, the TV is generally the focal point, or sometimes it can be the fireplace or even a large window. Placing the couch opposite to your focal point will allow for optimal viewing for those on the couch, and it’ll tie the room together.

2. Maintain flow: Maintaining the flow of the room allows for movement and space. Many people place their sectional sofa along the longest wall in the room. However, this doesn’t always work well. In some cases, placing the sofa in the centre of the room with a table or ottoman in front would give you more space to move around.
   

3. Find visual harmony: Arrange your furniture in a way so that there’s a balance of small and large furniture pieces. If there’s another large furniture piece that visually obstructs your sofa, try putting it on the opposite side of the room. As well, since sectionals are often the largest furniture piece and usually comes in a solid colour, use that as your base colour; then create a colour scheme around it by bringing in accents with pillows, throws, and accessories.

3 Things to consider before making a purchase

Buying furniture can be a big decision. That’s why it’s important to conduct some research, plan and understand what you’re getting into before you purchase something expensive, such as a sofa. If you’re looking for a sectional, below are three things to consider.

1. There are types of terminology you should familiarize yourself with before taking the plunge. “Right arm facing” means that when you are facing the sofa, the widest/largest piece is on your right“Left arm facing” means that when you are facing the sofa, the widest/largest piece is on your left.This is easy enough to think about, but critical to remember when purchasing your sectional, as the placement of the arm of the couch will determine how it fits in your room.

   

2. Don’t assume that sectionals only work in large spaces. Sometimes they work better in small spaces, as too many individual pieces tend to make the room look overcrowded and busy.
   

3. Beware of rounded or wedge sectional sofas. In certain spaces, they can look amazing, but because of their rounded design, they tend to take up a lot more space than you might anticipate. Be prepared with your measurements and configurations.

There’s a sectional sofa for every room size and shape

There’s no need to fear the sectional sofa. With the right style and design elements, a sectional sofa can really make the room come together for convenience, style and comfort.