One of the undisputed protagonists of any living room is the sofa. he is very important knowing how to choose the most suitable sofa for our living room since it is an element to which we are going to give a lot of use. since buying a sofa is a significant financial outlayIt is better to play it safe and not play it.
To begin with, the ideal sofa does not exist, but there are sofas that can go to our living room and better adapt to our needs and those of our family, so to find our sofa we must follow a series of guidelines.
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You may have taken the measurements and a three-meter-long sofa will fit, but keep in mind that “big horse, walk or not walk«, it is not enough that it fits but also it is necessary to consider How much useful area of the living room is it going to occupy, if it is going to have space around it to breathe (between 70 and 90 cm) and how many people are going to use the sofa.
We must take into account the proportions of the living room and determine the dimensions of the sofa according to the space we have. It makes no sense that a single sofa occupies more than half of the area used as a living room. If so, you will be forced to reduce the size of the rest of the elements in the room and the sofa will look even more disproportionate, negatively influencing the decoration.
On the other hand, if you have enough space, before placing a huge sofa it is it is better to opt for combinations of 3-seater sofas with other 2-seaters or with reclining armchairs and armchairssince in this way conversation is more favored at family gatherings and the coffee table can be better reached.
Precisely the number of people who are going to use the sofa regularly is also important. Is a 3-seater sofa and a 2-seater really necessary for a home where 2 people live and where few family gatherings are held? No, and I say this from my own experience.
For these cases, it is more practical to combine a 3-seater sofa with a reclining chair or a comfortable armchair and complete the decoration with extra seats when there are visitors. For example, you can use the chairs in the dining area or buy furniture with a double function (pouf with storage capacity).
Good pretty and cheap
In decoration you can save on some things but there are others that you should not skimp on, the sofa is a clear example of this. The first rule is that you buy the highest quality sofa that your pocket can afford. eye! With this I do not mean that you buy the most expensive you can afford because sometimes you are not paying for quality but other concepts (brand, design, exclusivity…).
Think that it is something that you are going to use practically every day for more or less time. In addition, it will always be cheaper to buy a good sofa and reupholster it if it wears out, than buying a new one every 5 years.
Therefore, to find out if a sofa is of quality You have to take into account a number of aspects. First of all you have to have a robust appearance and some weight that provides stability. You can try lifting it from a corner and shake it a bit, if it wiggles easily… bad sign (or you’re too strong).
The inner frame better if it’s made with a Solid wood of those considered hard (oak, birch, etc), since it will be less likely to deform and will suffer less over the years. The frames of iron, aluminum or steel They are also very resistant, but you have to be careful with iron ones if you live in a humid climate, as they can rust.
The frame of a sofa is the surface on which the seats rest, causing them to sink more or less over the years. The highest quality frames are those with interlocking elastic straps with springs and metal ones.but it is more common to find them with a criss-cross elastic strap, tightened and stapled to the frame, and this tension must be reinforced over the years.
The seat padding It is usually made of polyurethane foam, feather or a combination of fibers, the latter being the cheapest. A polyurethane foam seat is of higher quality if it takes a short time to recover its shape once we get up. For this, the polyurethane foam must be of high density (a minimum of 25 kg per cubic meter). Feather-filled seats are softer than foam seats and require shaking to return them to their original shape.
There are many types of fabrics to upholster a sofa but you must always opt for one that is resistant to wear. The nylon and polyester They are the most resistant since they do not fade, they withstand sunlight and humidity well, they repel moths, they can be washed with detergents and treated with anti-stain products. The polyurethane and PVC They are waterproof fabrics and an interesting option when there are children. Other fabrics such as linen, silk, cotton or leather are also resistant but much more delicate than the previous ones, so you have to think twice before buying a sofa upholstered with this type of fabric.
Plain, patterned, colored…
As is often said, for tastes there are colors and I’m not going to get into that, but there are a number of considerations that you must take into account when choose the color of the sofa.
In the first place, a very common question is “I have the furniture in the living room in the color “whatever”, the walls are the color “whatever”, what color should I choose the sofa in? Personally I do not think that the color of the sofa has to be chosen based on other elements of the room since these can vary over time and then what do you do with the sofa? It is clear that it can always be reupholstered, although it is a shame to spend that money if the upholstery is well preserved.
On the other hand, Nor should we choose a sofa that conditions the decoration of the living room. Its color or pattern must offer us enough margin to be able to renew the decoration of the living room without the sofa looking like an addition.
Printed sofas tend to limit the decoration quite a bit and they also get tired in the medium term. They can be well combined with other prints, but you have to have some skill to do it. In addition, patterned sofas do not easily adapt to all styles of decoration.
The vibrant colored sofas (red, green, blue, orange…) although they limit the decoration less than prints, they can also be tiring, although well combined with the rest of the decorative elements they can add a lot of character to the room.
On the other hand, neutral colors (white, gray range and black) and the naturals (cream, beige, brown, sand…) are the quintessential wildcard tones for a sofa, as they adapt to any type of decoration and style. We can liven them up with accessories (cushions, plaids, etc.).
We must also not forget who lives here, since buying a sofa in light tones if we have children is quite reckless. On the other hand, buying a dark sofa if we have animals is condemning you to spend the day with the lint remover in hand. If we have both (children and animals), better have a blanket or protective cover on hand, you will gain health.
And of course… make it comfortable
If we want our sofa to be a good companion in our naps and breaks, we cannot forget that in addition to being of quality, with the right size and in a color that we like, it must be comfortable. To do this, take your time when trying it, a few seconds are not enough.
Try to sit in all its seats (you can be very well on the sides but sink in the center), check that the arms are of the correct height, lie down and rest your head on them. Also check that there is enough distance between both arms so that your body feels comfortable when lying down.
The sofa depth It is also important, to determine which one is the most appropriate, we must find a chair or armchair in which we are comfortable and measure the distance between the inside of the knee until our back rests on the backrest. That will be the internal depth that the sofa should have, although for families with members of different heights we can make an average with the distances of adults.
Lastly, the hardness and flexibility of the seats It is also decisive when it comes to feeling more or less comfortable on our sofa and, although this factor is very personal, it is not advisable to go to extremes since a very hard seat can be uncomfortable if we spend a couple of hours sitting and, on the contrary, , a very soft one can also make us feel uncomfortable.
As I mentioned at the beginning, the ideal sofa does not exist, but by following these tips it will be easier for you to find the sofa that best suits your needs and those of your family. Do not forget them and make your sofa a good investment in the short, medium and long term.
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