If you are in the market for new living room furniture, I urge you not to be a zombie. You know, the zombie that follows the hordes of people that mindlessly purchase the ole sofa/loveseat combo.
Have you noticed that you don’t see a lot of sofa/loveseat combos in design magazines? You only see them in furniture stores, where they are trying to hock them as a set (matching set = easy commission for furniture store salespeople). The sofa/loveseat combination limits your furniture arrangement possibilities – the only way it looks “right” is to arrange them in an L-shape in a rectangular room. And it still looks like something out of a newspaper ad for a bargain furniture store.
It’s so much better to buy a pair of matching sofas – your arrangement options will be so much more flexible.
In a very large room, matching sofas back-to-back create two seating areas. I love this arrangement with a sofa table and a pair of lamps in between the two sofas.
The most flexible option is doing a sofa and a pair of matching upholstered chairs. You can arrange them in so many more ways – chairs facing each other (like below), chairs across from and facing the sofa, chairs side-by-side to one side of the sofa . . .
When shopping in furniture stores, don’t rely on furniture store salespeople who want you to buy a matching set so that they make a bigger commission in less time. Bring a trusted decorator with you to help you make the best design choice for your space and your individual needs. Your decorator has a vested interest in the outcome of the design once you leave the store – the salesperson doesn’t!
If you already have a sofa – loveseat combo, you might want to consider moving one of the pieces to another room and bringing in a few chairs to mix things up.
If you want to have the matching-sofa-look with your existing sofa and loveseat, try this designer secret from The Decorologist: place the sofa and loveseat facing one another, add a large side table and table lamp to one end of the loveseat so that the other end is in line with one end of the larger sofa. This evens out the arrangement – then add in an odd chair, a fun coffee table, and a sofa table with a pair of lamps behind the larger sofa. I don’t have a photo of this, but I did this in a client’s home and it worked great.
Here, here. Great article & I love the eye candy too!
Warmly, Michelle
I love all of the photos! I will be shopping for a new sofa and chairs very soon. Once I can figure out how to keep my kitty’s from thinking my ” now sofa” is their very own scratching post! UGH…
Oh, the travails of trying to keep a house nice with pets are ones I know well. From what I understand from my cat rescue friends, the most important factor is a really good scratching post – the expensive ones with, like, seven different types of surfaces. That, plus liberal use of the spray bottle, plus catnip for the scratching post and that cat-repellent spray for the furniture, seems to usually work.
Ooh, I like this series of photos (and I totally agree with the post of course – nothing more boring than a bunch of identical stuff, plus you get tired of it more quickly). Since you’re starting on my living room design this week, I figured I’d pop in here to point out my favorites – the Madeline Stuart (3rd photo) is number 1; what a showstopping mantle! Adore the art and lighting, but I prefer a bit more color. The House Beautiful (5th photo) is my close second favorite – those particular colors aren’t my cup of tea but they work together nicely, I like the mix of patterns, love the art, and most importantly it’s got the old-new thing going on that says “homey.” Mismatched granny furniture + contemporary fabrics = win. The Casa Cullen (4th photo) is 3rd – it’s got my favorite use of color out of these; I like the use of a couple of bright but not day-glo colors and an unexpected neutral like that caramel color. Honorable mentions for the first and last photos – I hate that stark white everywhere + tiny bits of ultra-vibrant color thing that’s so popular in design magazines (I find it not only ugly but also impractical), but I adore all the furnishings, especially those coffee tables!
Also, on the post topic, I just wanted to mention that it’s relatively easy to find nice living chairs secondhand if you like traditional or antique furniture. I’ve lost count of the number of lovely pairs of Queen Anne chairs I’ve seen in ReStores and consignment shops for $40-$200, depending on the fabric condition. Even antique sofas usually go for $150-500; they’re not nearly as common, but I see them periodically on Craigslist. You can buy quality antique furniture, have it upholstered and filled with down, paint the woodwork if you want, and hire a decorator to pick coordinating textiles for the same cost or less than an overstuffed sofa-loveseat set from a generic furniture store that’ll last 15 years if you’re lucky. Though sadly I’m in the market for slipcovered furniture these days (my upholstery suffers the unholy trifecta of dog hair, drool, and stinky paws), so I can’t follow my own advice.
Of course you know all that about antique living room furniture, but I thought it was worth mentioning because new living chairs are kind of expensive. Just for the folks who may be thinking, “Yeah, but I could buy a new sofa with that amount of money.”
Speaking of which, I love your posts about decorating with antiques, mixing old and new, stuff like that. This reader wants more!
Old+new is my fav, too, Carole! I’ll try to keep it coming
I’m a vintage chair junkie, and i find them at estate sales in near-pristine condition for around $100. Works great for me, but most people don’t want to bother with the all the steps and time that reupholstering takes – all the more for me!
Totally agree!
Your post is so right Kristie! My last client wanted a sofa and love seat. I talked her into loveseat and two chairs for her space. Much, much better! Great post!
Well said Kristie….I couldn’t agree more!
I’m loving your Blog!!
Sounds like my house!
Great post! I love how you gave examples with photos
Have a great week!
I love this post! So true and the same rule applies to the dreaded sectional! And yes, I love mixing the old and new. I started looking around the house recently to realize that most everything is as old or older than me! I’m in good company!
I need to write a post about sectionals, as well!
Great topic – I made this mistake and have lived with it for too long. And now ready to move on. Any way while on the topic can you suggest a lounge seating layout that would work for say 10 couples when entertaining, ie pre/post dinner drinks and fire side chats?
When we moved to our current home I had a friend who was a designer come over to give me her thoughts on what furniture pieces I should choose. She, like you, urged me not to buy a loveseat. Her words: They are a designer’s worst nightmare!
Karen,
I actually like a loveseat as a get-away kind of seating – in an alcove, a bay window, or an entry hall. It’s the sofa/loveseat combo that looks a bit dated. I usually try to get people to break them up and use one of the pieces in another room.
I would for sure rather see a couple of club chairs with a sofa rather than a loveseat, but that isn’t always functional for family living. When you have 3 kids, a dog a mom and a dad, have a sofa and a loveseat really meets their needs for lounging in front of the tv. I know I dread when I am left with the club chair and want to spread out on the sofa. So I agree, but not 100% {oh by the way, I am an empty nester, so now I get the sofa to myself 24/7!}
I have just found your site – great advice and ideas here. I am with the idea to nix the matchy matchy of sofa and loveseat – ours is leaving this weekend! We will move another loveseat into an entry side nook. I like the look of chairs, but we are loungers and have to have something big enough to stretch out on, sofa or daybed (I like mixing old and new = eclectic) Empty nesters have opportunity to ignore some of the rules.
My problem is a long room with lots of windows, one wall for tv and a corner woodstove – - not going for club chairs – the “it looks like a showroom’ thing is just bad.
Maybe you can break up the room into a couple of clustered seating areas – that can help get rid of that “bowling alley” feeling.
Hello Kristie,
I love this post, being myself an eclectic decorator mix mach decor is my favorite!
Have a great day! xo
Thank you thank you thank you for this great article! I’ve been desperately trying to figure out what to do with my sofa-loveseat combo and you’re right…didn’t see one in any of the design magazines out there! I’d love to see a picture of the client’s house that you did the sofa-loveseat combo.
How do you arrange furniture in an open concept Kitchen/FR where the entire rear of FR and kitchen is a bank of windows. In FR specifically this window wall connects to a wall that has a Fireplace (which faces to the kitchen) and wall opposite of the window wall is blank. (blank wall is 19′ long opposite the wall of windows). Do we put TV arrangement on blank wall with sofa opposite? Now back of sofa is ~6′ off the windows not against the wall. Down side here is that when you sit on sofa your back is to the rear window wall. What would you suggest in this environment (lesser of all evils)? We want to be able to view TV, FP and rear window wall in the seating arrangement. If we use an L shape sofa set I envision we can have one side facing the fireplace and the other side facing the TV. The side facing the TV will mean your back to the windows. I imagine we will have to compromise somewhere. Plus, we refuse to put TV over or to side of fireplace. So, long blank wall opposite windows seems like only option here.
We definitely want to add chairs but would love a comfy couch directly in front of TV. Do we stay away from L shape and go for single sofa with chairs? We were thinking of adding chairs behind sofa against window walls as well as 1 chair off side of sofa near FP wall facing TV. Seems there are many
options. Our taste is transitional combining some tradition with contemporary elements.
Thanks for listening and for any suggestion.