Finding the right sofa for your home is not always the easiest process. It can take time to understand your living room and what really fits in it. In addition, you also need to understand how you are going to use the room and how you want to feel when you spend time in it. Therefore, many people end up with the wrong sofa for their home. To help you in avoid these mistakes, we will go through the most common mistakes people make when buying a sofa.
Mistake 1: Buying a too big sofa
Many people tend to not be aware of the actual space and measurements of the room where the sofa is going to be located in. It is therefore easy to end up with a too large or a too small of a sofa relatively to the space. This is one of the most common mistakes to make when buying a sofa.
Having a too large of a sofa can make a room feel cramped and not put together. It is like the the rest of the room disappears from the picture since the sofa is taking up all the attention and space. Do not try to make a 3-seater sofa work in a space where a 2-seater would work better.
What is key is that you measure your space before you buy a sofa. That includes both with and the depth of the room. Make also sure to measure the space where there is a window and a door. The key is to make it easy to move around in the room after the sofa has been introduced. This includes entering the room, sitting down in the sofa and accessing key areas like drawers and lamps.
Here are some measurement guidelines that you can follow:
- Make sure that you have around 30-36” around any furniture where you will need to have pathway to walk.
- To make it comfortable to sit down in a sofa. Make sure that you have 14-18” between a sofa and a normal coffee table.
- To avoid buying a too big sofa. Make sure that you keep around 18” between the sofa and the wall on each side.
- Pull out all drawers in the room to its limit before you decide on a sofa. Make sure you have an additional 10” of space to be able to use all your storage space.
Mistake 2: Choosing a safe color
Another common mistake when choosing a sofa, is to not think through which color that will actually work for the room. Most people choose a safe and neutral color when it comes to choosing a sofa. But this is not always the best way of approaching it. There are two elements you should address when you want to play it safe:
1. Already existing colors in the room. When choosing a color for your sofa, make sure that you really understand what is already going on in the room. A sofa will always look the best when it compliments the colors that is already in the room. Here are some approaches you can do when it comes to mixing and matching colors in a room.
- Colors next to each other in a color wheel.
- Oposite colors in a color wheel.
- Triangle colors in a color wheel.
- Different shades of the same color.
2. Emotions and feelings triggered by colors. Colors does also have an impact on how they make us feel, more that we perhaps realise. Black makes our mood darker, white opens up and makes a space feel bigger, red trigger romance, blue reminds us of the ocean and pink can make you bubbly.
Different colors can have different effect on people, therefore, make sure you are aware of this when choosing a sofa. If a color has a cool or warm undertone can also effect how you experience the color. For example, if the room naturally has a lot of light – a cool color can help with balancing the experience. And if a room is naturally dark, then a warm color can make it more inviting.
Mistake 3: Ignoring comfort
Sometimes, we can get so focused on how a sofa looks and works with the room that we forget a very key element. How good is the sofa to sit in. A sofa that looks good but is hard to sit on, tends to become an issue quickly when you actually start using it. Especially if this is a sofa in front of a TV or you are planning to take an afternoon nap in it. Make therefore sure that you do a sit test first.
Getting comfort right is one of the key reasons for why you should be careful to order a sofa online if you have never tried to sit in it first. It is the easiest mistake to make since you have only seen photos of it. Therefore, if you are buying a sofa online, make sure to read the comments and reviews from other people that has already purchased the sofa. You might get some indications of comfort from a comment section.
Mistake 4: Forgetting your existing furniture
In most cases when you are buying a sofa, you already have other pieces of furniture and items that will also be in the room with the sofa. Being aware of key items in the room and how they will play in with the style of your sofa, can really make an impact to how it all will come together. Here are a few key examples to use:
1. Avoid multiple items fighting for attention. If you have a coffee table or anther piece close to the sofa with a lot of character that you want to play a key role to the look of the room, then make sure that your sofa is neutral in its character. Be careful with noisy pattern and lots of different colors.
2. Stay true to style. If you have a certain style interior style already in the room, like midcentury modern, make sure that you also take this into consideration when choosing your sofa. The key is for it all to have a balanced a cohesive look in style.
Mistake 5: Spending too much money on sofa
Many people think that you should invest in an expensive sofa when buying a sofa, but that is not necessarily the truth. A sofa is a furniture that normally will be used a lot on daily basis and therefore, it will be difficult to keep it in pristine condition for decades. Many people will sit in your sofa and you will not always have control if any spilling happens. Be therefore careful of spending too much money on a sofa.
However, you should always make sure that the fabric of the sofa is of good quality. This is one of the key elements to check out to understand how long a sofa will last you. Make sure that you are informed of how easy it is to wash the fabric and how easy it is to replace easy. If you are on a strict budget, then I would recommend to check out out top 10 sofas from IKEA.
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5 ways to make your IKEA sofa look more expensive
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