In the last couple of weeks, we’ve talked all about ‘what the room wants.’ Is it a loft, a family room, or a great room? Does it have a focal point or not? Where does the furniture want to sit? etc…
Now, we need to ask ourselves, “What do I want to do in this room?”
Considering Lifestyle…
Remember, a sofa or sectional is about how we want to use the room and this means taking into consideration ‘our lifestyle’. So while we have covered what a room wants, your choices between sofa and chairs or sectional are about what ‘you’ want to do in this room.
This is an excellent time to go back to your lifestyle exercise, a few blog posts back, and harvest your preferences for the room. Is your lifestyle traditional or modern? Home and hearth traditionalist (family gatherings) or historian traditionalist (reading history)? Techy modern (high tech a/v) or zen modern (yoga)?
Home and Hearth Traditionalist
Historian Traditionalist
Zen Modernist
Techie Modernist
What and How to Choose.
It can be challenging to lay furniture in a living space! You have to keep going back and forth between what the room wants and what you want to do in it. But just to keep things simple at first, I recommend you list it out. A few things to consider/choose from:
- Conversation with friends and family (how many? What occasions? How casual or formal?)
- Watching tv/not watching tv
- Viewing nature/indoor-outdoor living (sliding doors onto a patio, etc)
- Yoga /working out
Get as specific as you can with your considerations, such as, what times are you doing which activities? How do they overlap with other activities in other rooms (dining, outdoor space)?
Now… Look at your furniture options (sofa and two chairs, sectional and ottoman) and see what makes the best sense. You’ll want to bring out your Picture Board and reconnect with your Soul Style and ask again, “what do I want to do in this room?” “How do I want to feel in this room” and “What matters to me?” Is this room for entertaining? Then you’ll want to break up chairs. But if you want this room for family gathering around the TV, then a sectional may be the choice for you.
Once you’re clear with your type and style of furniture it’s time to make your purchase or refurbish, successful
Sofa Considerations…
A sofa allows lounging luxury, yet gives ample room and flexibility for chairs and ottomans so that people can choose their seating, which is ideal for entertaining. A sofa can move around in a room, and You can easily add or subtract other furniture from it a sofa, and you can more easily move from one home or room to another. A good sized sofa or two chairs can still offer a lot of lounging luxury. However, If you live in a loft and need more seating or lounging than what a sofa can offer, a sectional may be a better solution.
Sectional Considerations…
A sectional offers maximum lounging luxury – two people can stretch out and watch TV at once; a whole family can spread out on it. If you live in a small space, a Sectional can maximize the seating in a room. If you buy a sectional that is “equally sized” on both ends, or modular (can break up and reconfigure in different shapes), then it can be flexible from room to room, and from home to home. But keep in mind that sectional that is long on one side and short on the other (or has a chaise on one side) may fit the house or room you’re in now, but it may not fit in the next one.
If you’re in the middle of gathering facts about how to fill your living room with furniture, you can sketch out your floor plan, using the information from the last blog, and then sketch in some “sofa versus sectional” layouts, just to try them out. You’ll be better off selecting the right furniture, from there.
NEXT UP – Layers: How to work with color.
