Buying a new sectional or sofa? Read this first!

Hello everybody! It’s us again. After a huge break, we are back with another #blogpost. We don’t want to bore you with all the details, but our break was due to: work, projects, moving and vacation. It was a great break though to allow us to refresh our creativeness and an opportunity to see family and friends who were such a great help with recharging our “"creative batteries,” if you will. Although, honestly, thinking about it makes us tired again, haha! Rio, our furr-puppy, is 9 months and we’ve never seen so much energy in one dog in all of our lives. He is a really sweet puppy though and he is enjoying his new home so far. We’ve placed new rugs down and so far so good with Rio and no damage……(crosses fingers in hopes it stays like that). Before we start talking about our topic, we have a sneak peek of our new home. When we were discussing about our place we really wanted a home that is modern but at the same time cozy and welcoming. Achieving this look and feel we thought about the use of dark walls for our living room (we will be playing with lighting soon that will also help achieve the warmth we are looking for).

As you can see in the picture, we painted a half wall or as we like to call it a “pony-wall,” in matte black to create a nice frame and create a cozy warm space. We are still putting our place together and will share the final result with you; however, until then, please enjoy seeing our process as we will be documenting our progress as we go. Today we want to talk about the use of big furniture, for example, sectionals. We have been getting a lot of questions on how to buy the right sofa for living rooms. To answer this kind of question would be easy to us because we know how to put the right sofa or sectional in any space. But before we do that we will clarify some important requisites you need to know before you commit in your next sectional or sofa. These requisites are the same that we follow every time we source for furniture. When we are in need of a new sofa, the first thing that comes to mind for most of us is: “I need it to be comfortable,” and for a lot of us, comfortable means big. Big sectionals can be found in every retail store and they are really comfortable most of the time. But the bigger the sectional, the bigger the space it consumes. As we mentioned before in past posts, a room will always look complete when it is fitted with the best proportioned furniture. Even sectionals can look perfect in a small space if they are the right size for it. Sectionals can be very tricky to work with, so before making that purchase on a new sectional ask yourself these three very important questions:

• Should I buy the chaise on the right or left?

• Will I move from my house soon or not?

• Which color sectional will best fit with my chosen color palette within the room?

Should I buy the chaise on the right or left? Sectionals comes in many shapes or sizes. In the last few years big furniture stores as West Elm, Create and Barrell, Restoration Hardware and others started offering customized sectionals for all their customers giving more options in fabrics, sizes and shapes. But the main concern for anyone when they are buying the sectional is which side to put the chaise of the sectional. If you can fit a sectional in your place, the best way to decide about the chaise is in a way to not close off your living room. As you see your living room from the front, you need to make sure the chaise is not in the way by protruding into the room, which in turn demands to be in the spot light, when it is important that you want the chaise to flow with the sectional and allowing to blend in with it’s surroundings, doing this allows form and functionality to work together. Some people use the chaise to divide the room which can work aesthetically; however, functionally doesn’t make sense as it is best to keep the room open as much as possible, especially if you are working with a smaller square footage. Tip: You need to face the sofa that you plan to purchase and envision on where it will be placed in your room (this is where taking pictures of your empty room comes in handy). Always remember that if the chaise is needed on the right, you’ll want to choose a left facing chaise and vice versa.

Will I move from my house soon or not?

Sectionals are a big commitment, and if you have plans to move soon, you can have a big piece of furniture that might not work in the next place. Your new home may not have the available space to allow your sectional to fit comfortably in the room to make sense. Now you’re stuck with a large sectional with the chaise sticking out into the room. This issue can cause a ripple effect within your design by splitting the room in half and not allowing the room to be harmonious both functionally and aesthetically. If you are moving soon or if you don’t own your new place but renting then a reversible chaise to your sectional would be one of the best options for you. The cushion of the chaise flips and can be positioned at the right or left side as the ottoman moves underneath the cushion. This way you will have a sectional that can be used in any layout and can be moved anywhere without the stress in being stuck with a “one use only,” sectional. Another way to be sure that you have a living room that could fit in any layout is the use of a large sofa paired with an ottoman. Using the same fabric or leather for the ottoman as the sofa you would have a “chaise” in any position of the sofa and a “coffee table” when you are hosting. This option can bring style and function at the same time; in addition, this works really well with rooms that provide smaller square footage. Which color should be my new sectional?

We get questioned about that from our clients all the time. Colors are one of the most important pieces for the design in interiors. They are vital in creating the ambiance within the space. When it comes to colors for furniture, especially sectionals it can become very tricky. If you are scared of colors, go with a neutral one. If it is in fabric, you can go with greys and beiges and even bring some texture with use of velvet or linen. If it is in leather, go with a light saddle or grey. Doing this way you can bring your color scheme with pillows, rugs, throws and wall art around the sectional. It’s easy to play with colors when the sectional is neutral. Bold colors for sectionals work beautifully when it is very well thought together and can be easily executed with the help of your designer. These are many of the questions that you can ask yourself before committing with a new sectional or sofa. When shopping for that perfect sectional or sofa, always keep your project at the front of your mind and never lose focus on your final look for your project. Most, if not all, tend to get too wrapped up in just shopping for comfort or how beautiful it looks on the showroom floor, and quickly realize that you made a mistake in your purchase once it is delivered. This is why it is always good to have an expert opinion before committing with a big piece of furniture. Sofas and Sectionals are made to be used for more than five years and you do not want to have a headache of buying a sectional that you will get bored with in two years, right? We hope we have given you a little help for you next sectional/sofa hunting. If you still have some questions, please call, text or email us and we will be happy to further assist you. Till next time! Daniel, Rome and Rio.