Choosing a Sofa Style and Fabric

The next step in designing my, “Someday Family room” is to choose a sofa. Now, I must be honest, I already knew exactly what sofas I wanted for this room.
I actually had this sofa for ten years and loved it. When it was time to get a new one I thought I would go in a totally different direction. I love my existing sofa style and comfort, but I'm tired of its pattern after about two years. This sofa is a Hickory White and it is covered in a beautiful linen fabric, but I have discovered that I am not a floral patterned sofa kind of girl.

  As all my faithful readers know I am a striped pattern kind of girl. That leads me to the sofa that I would like to buy again.

I will show you a swatch of the fabric that was on my previous sofa and that I plan on using again……

 

Before the floral sofa there was a blue and white ticking sofa in my life. It was cord welted in a pretty banana yellow and it made me happy for over ten years.  For the next sofa I am going back to my first love, the blue and white ticking sofa.

In purchasing a sofa there is a lot to think about. Budget of course, that is an unfortunate reality. What style of sofa do I want?? Am I going to want a contrasting cord welting again? Shall I use the yellow or should I use something different this time?

I tend to like a very comfy sofa since there is always someone laying on it to watch TV.

I think this time I might choose a sofa with a little deeper seat than the one I have now.

Here are some of the elements one will need to think about before buying a sofa:

Construction

The construction on a sofa is very important if you want it to last. A few construction features  that a well made sofa will have are

1. Kiln dried hardwood frame
2. Double doweled joints with corner blocks, screwed and glued.(this will prevent any creaking or sagging of the frame)
3. Sinuous wire spring backs.
4. 8way hand-tied spring system

My last two sofas have had these features and have held up beautifully. The only reason my last ticking striped sofa was replaced was because after ten years the upholstery became worn in spots.
The two sofa companies I have dealt with and have been very happy are Hickory White and Lee Industries
Here are three sofa styles that I really like……

Some of the choices in style that one will need to make are the following….

Arm Style

I like what is called a “R” roll panel arm. I like a soft low slightly rolled arm for comfort of whomever is laying down. It is a comfortable arm to rest your head or your arm. I also like that it does not take up space in the room by jutting out too far from the sofas edge, making the sofa longer, but not really adding any more seating space.

Bottom Treatment

I actually like two of the bottom styles. I prefer the “K” Kick pleat skirt base. I like that it has a pleat at each corner and two in the middle of the sofa. It makes for a nice tailored finish. You will notice the difference between the “K” kick pleat skirt and the “D” dressmaker skirt is where the skirt falls from. The dressmaker skirt falls directly from below the seat cushion where the “K” kick pleat falls from a panel beneath the seat cushion. This gives an extra area to showcase contrast cord welting.

The other style is an exposed leg as shown in the “G” Guilford foot base. If I chose this base I would use a dark wood tone leg.

Back Pillow StyleSince I am going for a tailored, but relaxed look I prefer the knife edge back cushion. I like a loose back so I can smoosh (technical term) into the back.

 

This time I will probably be going for a deeper seat depth. Our family room sofa is laid on more than it is sat on. I have a 38” depth sofa now so I will probably go for the 41” depth sofa. I also like what is called a “T” cushion. If you look at the sofa I have selected you will notice the cushion goes all the way to the side of the sofa, it does not stop at the arms edge. I am not sure why I like this better, I just do. It also gives you about 8in. of more space to place your foot when laying down. I prefer a foam cushion,double poly wrap with a down top cushion.  Can you tell I am all about comfort for myself and my guest?

So there you have it!! I will be choosing one of the three frames shown in a blue and white ticking stripe with or without contrast cord welting. My future decisions will decipher whether I use a contrast welt or not.

Next step is to choose  the two club chairs style and fabric color and design!!

Come back and join me for my next decision! What do you think so far??

“Enjoy the Process” Of:

Learning all the in’s and out’s of sofa styles and making a decision on which sofa style best suits your needs.

Kathysue