HOW TO FIND THE PERFECT SEATING
This month is officially the kick off to the end-of-year holiday entertaining season. And whether you’re planning a Halloween extravaganza with family and friends, or you’re all about curling up in front of a roaring fire on those cooler nights, comfortable seating is a must have - for you and your guests. Especially since we’ll all be living pretty much exclusively indoors for awhile, you definitely want to make sure your home is cozy and inviting. So today, I’m talking all about how to hone in on the perfect seating for your space - with the right combination of size, scale, comfort, and quality, you’ll enjoy your furniture for years to come.
XO,
Laura
SIZE
Have you ever fallen in love with a sofa or chair, only to bring it home and find out it doesn’t fit? It’s the worst. But the good news is it’s a super simple problem to fix. Before you plop down payment for something that seems perfect, make sure it’ll work in your space. First and foremost, you’ll want to measure your room (including doorways, halls, and stairs) to make sure the piece can fit inside. Then, I always recommend taping out the size of your furniture pieces on the floor so you get a good idea of how it’ll all fit together. And finally, you want to think about the needs of your space - will the arrangement work for the room’s traffic flow? Do you have pets or kids to consider? All of these will definitely impact the sizes you choose.
SCALE
Right on the heels of sizing is scale. While an oversized sofa may sound like perfection for your kiddos, if you’ve got a small living room, it’s going to feel cluttered and cramped. Similarly, you want to make sure each piece complements the surrounding pieces - a tiny armchair doesn’t work next to a traditional overstuffed sofa, and a postage-stamp sized rug underneath a giant sectional is all sorts of unbalanced. Instead, remember that everything - the room’s volume, your seating options, and any side or coffee tables - should work together holistically with similar sizes and heights. As a basic rule of thumb, the larger the room feels, the larger the scale of the furniture should be.
COMFORT
Ok, so you’ve got your scale and size down...now what? Comfort, my friends! You want your seating to work for you, so knowing which height, seat depth, and firmness/softness factors make you swoon is essential. Love that structured mid-century accent chair, but prefer something you can sink into and cozy up with your pets or kids? Then your best bet is to look for another option. If you’re unsure what you like, head to your favorite store to make sure the pieces you love fit your comfort levels, and to give you an idea of what to shop for in the future.
QUALITY
Have you ever heard the phrase “put your money where you put your butt?” It’s silly - absolutely - but also so, so, so true. With seating, the last thing you want to do is skimp on the quality - if you do, you may end up with a chair or sofa that either has to be tossed after a year or one that’s so poorly made that it’s more of a corner decoration than an actual used piece of furniture. So, how do you figure out the quality? Consider the construction - everything from the frame materials to the springs, and the cushions to the durability of the fabric options should all be taken into consideration. Also, look into where your piece is made (US versus imported) and how much attention to detail there will be (custom order versus mass-produced from a warehouse). Typically, the price is an indicator of quality and a little research will go a long way!