10 tips for buying the perfect sofa for your living room
Lounging around is our business here at Amart. While selling high-quality sofas to the good people of Australia, we’ve learnt a thing or two about the criteria for choosing a couch that’s right for our customers. So, we’ve put together a sofa buying guide to help you on your journey to a sofa look and functionality you’ll love for a long time.
Things to consider when buying a sofa
Buying a new lounge seems simple enough. You like it, you buy it. Right? This might work for a few lucky people, but the best way to approach buying a new sofa is to consider a few key factors.
We’ve outlined some points to think about below:
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Sofa style - What is the style of your home? To love your new lounge, it’s important to choose one that fits with your current home décor. Putting a mid-century or retro lounge amidst your traditional-style furnishings will look out of place. So, work out your style first, then shop within that.
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Sofa frame - A sturdy frame is one of the key ingredients to ensuring your sofa lasts a long time. Look for a solid timber frame and try to get a sense of the weight of a couch. Something that you can’t move easily with a good nudge from your knee indicates a solid structure.
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Material - Consider the fabric you’ll need first. Is this a lounge to sit on while watching the tv? Or perhaps for a formal living room? Will food be eaten on the sofa? Will kids and pets be using it? Removable, washable slipcovers made from durable upholstery fabric are an excellent option if you have toddlers or pets.
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Size - Make sure you carefully measure your space so that you can include a coffee table, side tables and a tv unit (if it’s for a tv room) while leaving ample space to get around the room. The lounge shouldn’t dominate the space, it should be a cohesive part of the greater room.
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Positioning - Where will your sofa sit in the room? Will it be paired with another sofa or armchair? Will it face a tv, or a window or another lounge? Should you consider a modular or sectional sofa so you can choose where to put a two-seater or three-seater section, corner piece, end piece and chaise?
What is the difference between a lounge and a sofa?
What’s in a name? Have you ever wondered what the difference is between a lounge and sofa, or a couch and a settee? What exactly is a loveseat? And how should we pronounce chaise lounge?
Here’s the lowdown on naming protocols for the big padded 2 or 3-seater chairs we put in our lounge rooms:
Sofa - this is the preferred name for a lounge or couch in Britain. Brit’s also like to call them a settee.
Couch - taken from the Old French word “coucher”.
Loveseat - refers to a 2-seater sofa. We think that loveseat sounds much nicer.
Lounge - refers to... wait for it.... a “sofa or couch”. Calling a sofa a lounge seems to be an Australian thing. Everywhere else in the world refers to a lounge as a room e.g. a living room or other room for lounging around.
Chaise Lounge - while we’re here, let’s cover this one off, too! This is French for “long chair” and while it’s widely accepted to call it a chaise lounge it is also commonly (and correctly) pronounced chaise “longue”.
Matching your living room furniture to your home décor
The style of your home décor is the place to start when choosing the best sofa for your living room. There are many beautiful lounges in our range but not all of them will suit your home. Here at Amart, we’ve made it simple to shop our range of lounges and sofas online with our category filter. So, if your home décor is Scandi and you need a 3-Seater Sofa or you’re after a modular sofa for your Industrial-style space, you can easily drill down to find what you want.
Your next step should be to consider the purpose of your new sofa. Will it be for watching the tv? If so, choose something cushy that you can lounge around on and sink into. If it’s a formal lounge, choose a formal sofa with a high back and firm seat cushions designed for sitting rather than lounging. Or if the sofa is for a rumpus room and likely to be used for entertaining kids, consider whether you’d like a home theatre-style lounge with recliners for movie nights or a sofa bed for sleepovers.
Fabric sofa vs leather sofa
You want to get a long life from your new sofa. So high-quality upholstery is important. But should you choose leather or fabric?
Here are some details about their differences to work out which type of sofa is right for you:
Leather sofas: leather upholstery lasts longer than fabric upholstery. It is more tear-resistant than fabric and darker colours cope well with stains. Spills can be wiped up easily, too. This makes them well-suited to life with babies, kids and pets.
Fabric sofas: fabric upholstery offers more scope for creativity than leather with a larger range of colours and textures. So, they’re easier to pair with your interior style. Fabrics sofas are soft and can last a long time if you choose a heavy domestic fabric in a neutral colour that won’t date.
Choosing the right colour swatches for your interior design
If you’re like most people, you will regard buying a new sofa as an investment and would like it to last for many years. Over time, trends come and go, and lifestyles can change.
To decide on the right colour of lounge, ask yourself a few important questions:
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Will your lounge be a focal point, or will it work in with the rest of your room? Answering this question will help you decide whether to look at bold colours or neutrals.
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Do light or dark-coloured upholstery fabrics suit your interiors and lifestyle? If you have light-coloured flooring and want your sofa to stand out, choose a sofa that is darker than the floor. Will your lounge receive direct sunlight? If so, a lighter shade will show less fading. Do you have children or pets who are likely to use the lounge? If so, a darker, textured fabric will be more forgiving to spills and scuffs.
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Do you want a look that’s “right now” or something that will endure for the long run? Trends and colour palettes change. If you’d like your sofa to remain stylish for the long haul, go for something neutral and add seasonal colour through artwork and soft furnishings.
The right style & shape sofa for small spaces
Small room? If you’re like most people, you want to buy a new sofa that seats as many people as you can fit in your room. However, this can mean that, instead of getting the right sofa, you end up with an enormous couch in a small space that will look cramped and won’t have room for other furniture.
You should work with what you’ve got, meaning that your room size needs to determine the perfect sofa for your space. For a small living room, consider a layout that includes a two-seater sofa and an accent chair instead of a corner sofa. This layout should leave you with enough space to include a coffee table and/or side table, lamp, rug and tv unit (if it’s a tv room) along with other decorative accessories.
Guide to cleaning and maintaining your sofa
To keep your sofa clean, we recommend vacuuming it regularly and attending to any stains and spills quickly.
For extra protection to ensure your lounge stays ship-shape for years, Amart sells a range of SmartCare Fabric System fabric care kits which include a 5-year accidental protection plan along with a fabric care kit that includes a Fresher Mist, Spot Cleaner and a Microfibre cloth.
Mix and match cushions for your sofa
Have some fun with finishing touches - new cushions for your new sofa! Begin by choosing a few accent colours influenced by your artwork, soft furnishings, and the style of your home décor. Next, decide on the number of cushions you’d like to add. For an armchair, try a single cushion and for a 3-seater sofa, use five cushions.
When mixing and matching cushions, vary the shapes and sizes to add visual interest. Try pairing a large cushion in a bold print that includes your accent colour/s, with two slightly smaller cushions in complementary colours but in different sizes, shapes and textures. Combining different yet complementary prints and textures adds depth and visual harmony to your living room.
From home theatre lounges to sofa beds, we have pieces of furniture to match all your needs
Lounges are a significant piece of furniture in the home that can bring many years of enjoyment. Every Australian home is different, that’s why Amart has catered to the many different needs of Australians with our huge range of sofa styles.
Create your own VIP movie experience at home with a home theatre lounge or electric recliners that combine entertainment and relaxation with optimal backrest support and USB connectivity. Surprise guests won’t be a problem with our sofa beds that look so good you’d never know there’s a bed hidden inside. And for large families, our huge corner lounges will ensure everyone gets a good seat in the family room.
Pair your new sofa with a sofa table or coffee table
So, you’ve found your perfect sofa, but it’s missing something...a place to rest your cuppa. You’ll be needing a few more pieces of furniture for optimum functionality and style. Interior designers say that a living room isn’t complete without a coffee table, side tables, rug and lamp. Not to mention wall art and some homewares that inject your taste and interests into your space. Shop for the rest of your living room essentials in-store or online at Amart.
