When purchasing a sofa, it is easy to get confused or frustrated at the sheer range of colours, materials and styles, not to mention the various levels of quality and pricing. Be careful not to make a decision on impulse or out of frustration. Here are a few tips to make the process simple and ensure that you don’t end up regretting your purchase.
- Buying a sofa in the wrong size & proportion
It is crucial that you measure your space and work out the ideal size that your sofa needs to be. Think about how many people you need to seat regularly and where the best placement in the room would be (keeping in mind doorways and other furniture pieces). It’s a great idea to measure your current sofa to get an idea or alternatively, measure out on the ground with masking tape or newspaper different sizes. This will help you visualise the item in the room and how you move around it. Secondly, even though it may fit within your required space the overall proportion will impact the look within the room. A sofa with chunkier or heavier overall proportions will appear larger in the room, whilst a sofa that is raised from the floor and has slim arms and seat proportions will appear lighter and visually consume less space. Use this to your advantage, look for heavier styles if you are looking to fill a large room and vice versa, and be aware of the impact the showroom has on the look of the sofa, in general showrooms will be very open and have high ceilings, making all sofas look smaller than they are.
- Choosing looks over comfort
You may come across the ‘perfect’ sofa – the one you’ve been searching for – but if it is not comfortable, you will wish you went for something cozier. Although it may look great, is it deep enough if you’re tall or too deep so your feet can’t touch the floor? Is it too firm or so soft that you have trouble getting up? If you like to lie down on your sofa, are the arms at a comfortable height? Think about your requirements for the sofa prior to purchasing, if it is for use in the television room buy something that is comfortable for the family, https://www.premierfurnituredirect.com/ and think about durability if people are going to have their feet on the sofa or it is high use, for a formal living room the look of the sofa will have greater importance, select something that is comfortable to sit on, but it does not necessarily need to be comfortable to lie down on.