Choosing The Perfect Sofa - By: Catherine Olivia, Posted on: 2007-08-02

Wanna take a little quiz? I promise it's not hard. Ready? Here goes: What is the largest piece of furniture in your home? What item of furniture says volumes about your personal style? And what piece of furniture is the first thing that guests to your home usually see?

Did you guess the answer -- it is the same for all the questions. The answer? The humble sofa! Did you get it right? That little quiz highlights the critical importance of a sofa as a home furnishing. For yourself, your family and your guests, you need a good sofa.

This means that when it comes time to buying a new sofa, you must make your choice carefully and thoughtfully. A sofa can make or break your home decorating efforts.

As no two homes (or homeowners) are the same, there is no type of sofa that is 'right' for everyone, only the type that best meets YOUR needs. You can evaluate sofas from the designers perspective: how they look - their appearance. But you can also judge and categorize sofas based on functional criteria: their components and how they work.

From a functional perspective, you have many choices in sofas. One that is ever-popular is the sectional sofa. With a sectional, you can adjust the placement of the individual units in your room to suit your fancy. If you like you can also buy recliner sofas (my uncle's favorite - great for napping), sleeper sofas - and even outdoor sofas that will handle inclement weather out on your back porch or deck area. I think that you should examine the functional aspect first: what do you need your sofa for? What will you need it to do? Where will it be used? How often will you use it - occasionally when guests come, or every day?

Once you have a handle on the type of sofa that you need, you can now move on to some design considerations. Basically you have two choices: traditional or contemporary styling. There are, of course, endless variations on these two, but nearly every sofa you see can be placed into one of these two categories.

Let me give you some basic recommendations. The first is to always match your sofa style to your overall room decor. If you try to match a contemporary sofa in a room with traditional decor (or vice versa), the resulting clash of styles will look very out of place. Don't make that mistake!

Some further recommendations: If you occasionally need extra bed space (for guests and kid friend sleep-overs), I advise purchasing a sleeper sofa. And by all means get a very sturdy sofa if you need it for a den or playroom. Kids have a way of turning a sofa into a trampoline, and husbands can be very messy when eating during the big game, so make sure your sofa can take it. As always, buy furniture that is good quality - good materials, solid craftsmanship - from a reputable dealer. Make sure to get a good warranty (in writing). Do your best and pick the best sofa that you can afford. Maintain that sofa - care for it properly - and you will get many years of comfort from it.

Article Source: http://www.southerncaliforniarealestateagent.com/submit-real-estate-articles

About the author: Catherine Olivia is a sofa expert. To learn about sofas and sleeper sofas visit her ultimate sofa site.
Click here for other unique sleeper sofa articles.

Please Rate this Article

5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5 

Not yet Rated