Buying a Sofa? – Avoid Making These Mistakes

So you have decided to invest in a sofa for your home. There are hundreds, if not more varieties available for you to choose from. While you may have had your heart set on a particular type or design, there are certainly important factors to consider before making your purchase. In the excitement of getting a new sofa, it is possible to overlook these small factors, which could ruin the satisfaction of your purchase.

Fabric and Color 

Are you expecting a lot of traffic on your sofa or is it going to be used sparingly? Do you have young kids who are likely to spill food/beverages on it? Do you have pets that snuggle up to you as you sit on the sofa watching your favorite show? The answers to these questions will determine your selection of fabric for your new sofa. While delicate fabrics and color may look good to you, if your sofa is going to be used heavily, it may not be a good idea to get a sofa featuring those. Jamie Fielden from SW James says that a Chesterfield sofa is a great family sofa because they are large enough for multiple people to fit, as well as durable enough to stand up to daily wear and tear.

The color scheme is another factor to look into before your purchase. Depending on your existing scheme, you could choose a matching color or even a contrasting one, provided you want the sofa to be a focal point in the room. Choose a color based on your personal taste – you have to live with it for years to come.

Size matters

Visual perception can be misleading – a sofa that looks small in a large store maybe just a little too big for your room. One of the most common mistakes, overlooking the measurement of both your room and the sofa, could lead to either rearranging the entire room or worse, having to re-sell the sofa. The other factor in play here is the scale of things – your new purchase must be in scale to the rest of the furniture in the room. Before you head out to the store, measure your room, space where you want the sofa to sit, and also the dimensions of the door and passageway. Buying a sofa only to find that you cannot get it in through the door would be a disaster for sure. If your passageway or door is smaller than the usual size, you could opt for a modular sofa design or one that can be dismantled and put together again. 

Try it Before you Buy it

You are definitely going to be spending a good amount of time on the sofa you purchase. We tend to sit on a sofa in many different ways – try out all of them before you buy. The height and depth of the sofa make a big difference to the comfort you get. Deep seats are a must for tall people; whereas those who are shorter or have knee problems would do well buying one that features a shallow seat. The firmness or softness of the seat and back are also a matter of personal choice. Ensure that it is exactly as you would want. If you, like a lot of other people, enjoy stretching out on the sofa, pay attention to its width and length – after all you do wish to stretch out, not get cramped.

Style Selection

Unless you wish to make a particular style statement, your new sofa should match in style with the rest of your furniture in the room. A Victorian design sofa in a room full of neo-classic design furniture will look out of place. However, if you wish to make the sofa a feature that stands out – well, then it would be okay. In most cases, however, a style clash is more of an eyesore than a focal point. Check the aesthetics of your home and try to match the sofa as close as possible to the predominant style. 

Quality is Forever

While budget constraints might not allow you to buy a very expensive sofa, it should not be the reason to compromise on the quality of your purchase. There is no truth in the fallacy that an expensive product is of better quality than an inexpensive product. While the quality parameters may differ for both, you need to ensure that your purchase matches the quality parameters in its price range. One of the important factors that most people overlook is the frame of the sofa. A poor quality frame can ruin your investment in a short period of time, along with the pleasure of sitting on your sofa. Always look for guarantees provided by the manufacturer of the sofa – some even provide a lifetime guarantee on their frames.