Thinking of a new custom sofa for your home? There’s more to it than just comfort. You probably know that choosing a pretty fabric is in the cards, but did you know that there can literally be dozens of decisions to make before a new sofa is ready to be delivered?

Here is a step-by-step guide to learning the lingo and building your dream sofa:

1. Size Matters

Caps cannot help me emphasize this enough – MEASURE YOUR SPACE! Can your room accommodate a large sectional, or is it better suited for a love seat? You need to make sure you have at least 30″ and preferably 36″ clearance for people to walk by on either side.

2. Pick a Style

Once you have your room measurements in mind, it’s time to pick a style of sofa. You’d be surprised at how many choices you actually have – sleepers, love seats, sectionals – and each come in a variety of sizes and separate styles. This is where function is key and very specific to your situation and space.

3. Choose your Cushions

The aqua colored sectional above, for instance, has T-shaped cushions (see how they hug around the arm?), while the gray couch above has square cushions (they are the length of the arm). While these kinds of decisions may seem minuscule, they do impact on the look and feel of a couch. Ultimately, it’s personal preference.

4. The Fun Step

Next, is picking a pattern and finding your fabric. It might be tempting to just think of aesthetics, but durability and functionality are just as important. If you have kids, pets, or a messy spouse, you should probably skip the white fabric (unless it is a slipcover) and instead shoot for a fabric more likely to stand the test of time…or enlist a very durable stain guard. We love using indoor / outdoor furniture on furniture that is going to be USED.

5. Arm and Back Styles

Want to learn a little designer lingo? Let’s talk Track Arms. These are straight and narrow and are great to use when space may be limited. They are a little more contemporary because of the sleek lines (the gray couch BELOW has wide track arms). Or if you’re more traditional, the rolled arm (as seen in the gray couch ABOVE) would be a safe selection.

There are so many options to choose from that we will barely scratch the surface today But here are some options for you to check out: if you want a contemporary look, you may want to go for a Track Arm with a Box Edge Back, but for a more traditional look, try a London Arm with a Loose Back.

6. It’s All in the Details

Next is fun task of choosing the hardware and smaller details. These include your leg type, WELTING (kind of like trim – you can match the main sofa fabric or select something to accent it).

Check out how many leg types there are just in WOOD:

Alibaba.com

7. Accent It

The “last step”, so to speak, is choosing your accent pillows. It’s important to make sure the fabric and colors work well with the overall design of the sofa, but most importantly, just have FUN with it. Pillows are much easier to change out than the actual sofa, as you can imagine! I love changing my pillows every autumn and springtime.

Oh wait, one very (very) last important detail: make sure the selection is COMFORTABLE. The sofa must be nap worthy!!!

If you need help with your design vision, give us a call! (972) 248.4733.

XOXO

Michelle

We put the FUN in Glamorously Functional Design News!