When arranging a living room for a large family, it is optimal to complement the sofa with one or more armchairs. It is important to remember that pieces of furniture from the same collection are anti-trend. Designers advise combining models that are different in shape, style and color. But it is important to combine them correctly. In this article we have collected the simplest and most successful ways to create a harmonious soft group in the living room.
How to choose a sofa and armchair
When choosing a sofa, you need to consider that you will not only sit on it, but also use it as a sleeping place. If you plan to do this constantly, the sleeping place must have orthopedic properties. If it swells over several years and becomes lumpy, then even one or two nights spent on such a sofa can be remembered for a long time, causing pain in the back or neck.
When choosing a sofa, pay attention to the way it is folded out. Today there are different layout mechanisms, modern ones are very convenient and allow you to turn a sofa into a bed in literally one movement.
When creating a style, the color of upholstered furniture also plays a role. Therefore, when choosing a sofa (as well as armchairs and banquettes), pay attention to the shade and texture of the upholstery fabric. It is also important what size and configuration the furniture has in order to choose how to arrange it in the house.
When choosing a chair, they are guided by the same criteria as when choosing a sofa: orthopedic properties of the sleeping place, if it is a chair-bed, ease of use, color, model. The person sitting in the chair should not experience any discomfort, movements are free, changing positions is quick and effortless.As for using the chair-bed for sleeping, it is not suitable for nightly use. With its help, they solve the problem of accommodating guests for one or two nights. But even they can be sleepless if the unfolded chair-bed turns out to be uncomfortable. Often the cause of discomfort is an unsuccessful folding mechanism, when the joint between the seat and the bed puts pressure on the back.
Bean bags occupy a special place among upholstered furniture items. They are a shapeless bag filled with filler that you can sit on. You can’t sit on such a chair for a long time, but it’s quite possible to watch a movie or chat with friends.
Furniture mechanisms: from rocking chair to recliner
Furniture production in 2022 is focused on convenience and aesthetics, which explains the increased attention to non-folding sofas. And transforming models are becoming lighter and easier to use, due to smart mechanisms and thoughtful design.
Stand of the largest factory of furniture transformation mechanisms Via Ferrata
Rocking chairs
During the autumn quarantine period in 2022, the demand for this type of furniture has increased significantly, largely due to its main feature - rhythmic swaying, which helps to calm down and relieve stress. But if previously rocking chairs were associated with a bulky, creaking seat made of wicker, modern products amaze with the variety of design, materials and additional functions.
Wide range of armchairs from the Mebel Impex factory
A huge selection of such furniture was seen at the stand of the Crimean factory NTKO. Its products can be confused in appearance and feel with seats in business class on an airplane: comfortable fit, moderately thick fillings, velvety upholstery, soft armrests and the absence of the usual arc runners. A number of models can easily be transformed into a chaise longue, or come complete with a comfortable ottoman
Important : rocking chairs should not be confused with glider chairs, which have a pendulum mechanism at the base. Unlike the “skis” of the rocking chair, it minimizes damage to the floor covering.
Rocking chairs with business class comfort from NTKO
A chair manufacturer with ten years of experience, the Greentree factory from Voronezh, presented miniature rocking chairs for children's rooms. Despite the small size, the level of comfort and quality has not decreased. The strength and ductility of the products is ensured by bent-glued birch veneer.
Rocking chairs with business class comfort from NTKO
Advertisers
They have long become an attribute of modern premium furniture. But today, recliners are also installed in more affordable models of armchairs and sofas with manual adjustment. For discerning customers, manufacturers offer smart mechanisms with massage, heating and radio functions. It is becoming more and more difficult to recognize the presence of an advertiser: outwardly, such furniture shows practically nothing about itself, except that the electric drive can be seen from the side pocket.
Corner sofa with electric recliner
Ardoni modular sofas, in addition to convenient modules and comfortable seating, are “seasoned” with electric recliners on the control panel and tables with a phone charging function.
Ardoni factory stand
The bestseller of the Cinno Cillini factory is the Montana leather chair. Its highlight is the relaxation system with the Versa mechanism, it is hidden in the furniture body and allows you to easily adjust the headrest and footrest by simply pressing buttons on the side. Thanks to the glider, the chair rotates 180º and sways smoothly.
Multifunctional leather recliner chair Montana from Cinno Cillini
Corner sofas
Corner sofas occupy a special place among upholstered furniture. They are very roomy, easily convert into a wide double bed, the side part replaces an armchair. We can say that this is upholstered furniture three in one.
Corner sofas are stationary and modular. For stationary ones, the side part is attached to the main part with bolts. It is possible to have both left and right seating, or only on one side.
Modular sofas are convenient because their parts can be used to create any convenient design: a long sofa, a corner sofa, two small sofas, etc. It is not always comfortable to sleep on modular sofas, as you can feel the joints.
Beautiful examples
Two taupe armchairs with elegant patterns on the upholstery look very good in this option. They blend harmoniously with a rectangular sofa in discreet colors. Bright floral pillows are perceived well. All products combine perfectly with a squat table. The overall desaturated style of the room is diluted with rich curtains.
Fans of radical experiments will be more attracted to a set of red furniture. This photo shows how beautifully it goes with the light background in the room. The snow-white rug seems to connect all parts of the composition with each other. Thanks to it, as well as the dull wood color of the floor, the furniture loses its excess of emotional aggressiveness. The designers skillfully used the play of light. Overall, the selection leaves a pleasant impression.
To learn how to choose the right sofa and armchairs, watch the following video.
Upholstery fabric
Upholstery fabric will help to correctly combine upholstered furniture in the interior with wall and floor decoration, as well as cabinet furniture. It varies in composition, texture and color. Tapestry, silk, velor, velvet, wool, leather, eco-leather, suede and other materials are used to cover sofas, armchairs and chairs.
Leather sofas are elegant, presentable and stylish. They are used in living rooms, studies, offices. Such furniture is very expensive, and leather is quite capricious in care and use.
Eco-leather is a more noble name for ordinary leatherette. Externally, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between natural and artificial leather. The difference between them is in price, and in terms of durability, artificial ones are inferior to natural ones.
Original cases
Sometimes a lot of people gather in the living room. Relatives come for special events or guests for holidays. Elegant covers will add solemnity and brightness to the atmosphere. They will protect the upholstery from various stains, which are essential for any holiday.
Covers are also a great way to add variety to your decor in different seasons. On summer days, bright cotton and linen textiles will bring freshness and cheerfulness to the interior. And for the winter period, covers made of plush, corduroy, and velvet are better suited.
Covers will help protect your furniture from various types of damage.
Fillers
The most popular fillers for upholstered furniture are synthetic winterizer and foam rubber. Today, they are increasingly abandoned in favor of more durable and beneficial ones for the musculoskeletal system. Such, for example, is latex, both natural and artificial.
If the price of products with latex filling is scary, you can return to foam rubber, but multi-layered. If the sofa is planned to be constantly used as a sleeping place, it should have not only filling, but also springs to reduce the load on the sleeper’s spine.
Arrangement options
A good sofa in combination with armchairs will always fit into the interior of the living room, but they need to be placed correctly. It is not advisable to place it too close to the window or with its back towards the entrance - this will be psychologically uncomfortable. When choosing a place for a sofa, you need to focus on its model, which is selected according to the parameters of a particular room.
Another way to decide on the arrangement of furniture in the guest room is a drawing made on a piece of paper or on a computer, which will help visualize the future premises. Let's consider several classic options for arranging upholstered furniture in the guest room.
Symmetric
This is the most common way of arranging furniture in the living room and beyond. It is also used for large residential areas. The whole point of this method is that, relative to some selected point, the double pieces of furniture are at an equal distance. With this method of placement in front of the fireplace or TV, one sofa can be placed in the center, and on the sides 2 armchairs, floor lamps and other decorative elements
It is important that the right and left sides differ from each other as little as possible. When entering a room with this method of arranging furniture, the central point should be immediately visible to the eye
Cabinet furniture should also be placed symmetrically. If there is a chest of drawers along one wall, then there should be the same one on the other wall. This type of furniture arrangement will appeal to very pedantic people who value neatness and strict lines.
Asymmetric
This method of placement does not imply furniture chaotically scattered around the room. This is a type of arrangement in which individual interior elements are arranged based on visual balance. This method of arranging furniture is typical for asymmetrical rooms. In this case, the arrangement of products should be as convenient and functional as possible, without the use of paired items.
Circular
This method of placing furniture focuses all attention on one single item located in the center. This item could be a large chandelier or table
This method can be implemented both in a simple living room and in any other living space. In this case, the arrangement of objects can be symmetrical or asymmetrical. If you want your set to look harmonious with furniture of various shapes, then large and visually heavy objects should be placed around the central object close to it, and those that are lighter should be placed a little further away from the walls.
This method is used if there is a need to arrange a living room combined with a dining area.
Color of upholstered furniture
In order for a sofa or chair to fit perfectly into the interior, you need to choose the right upholstery color. It can match the finish of the walls and floor or contrast with them.
You can choose colors that seem completely different, but do not contrast with each other, for example, beige walls and a gray sofa. Also, calm tones of the upholstery will restrain and dilute too bright colors of trim, curtains, and decorative items.A bright sofa, on the contrary, will enliven the interior and become a central object that attracts attention.
The right combination of upholstered furniture and the rest of the furnishings will not only bring harmony and comfort, but also visually correct the shortcomings of the room: size, configuration, lack of natural light. That's why it's so important to get the color right when buying a sofa.
Color solutions
The color should fit well with the color spectrum of the interior. The correct choice of colors saturates the air and light with color, giving a feeling of freedom and spaciousness.
In a small room, the dark upholstery of the soft corner visually makes it feel cramped. This color is great for a huge room because it visually makes the room smaller. The dark tone of the soft corner is in harmony with the bright and light tones of the surrounding objects. Light upholstery fabric looks stylish in a miniature room. It gives the appearance of additional space.
Often use a mixture of color palettes
It is fashionable to draw attention to a specific bright part of the set against a background of a plain neutral color. The emphasis can be placed on an object located opposite or nearby
You can diversify the color scheme by adding accessories in the form of blankets and pillows.
Some people prefer an accent chair with a neutral sofa color. Others, on the contrary, opt for the accent color of the sofa and neutral armchairs. Striped or checkered upholstery of armchairs goes well with a plain sofa, on which striped or checkered poufs can be placed. The highlight is the different style of multi-colored soft corner items.
Beige armchairs go well with a brown sofa, and gray items go well with white and black items. The combination of green and blue tones, as well as other shades located nearby in the color palette, helps create a calm atmosphere.
Pairing opposite shades helps achieve impressive contrast. The room is given cheerfulness and brightness by a combination of a greenish tone with a lemon color, a pistachio or yellow tint with a purple color, a combination of coral and turquoise colors. Contrasting colors are typical for youth style
A bright sofa and a pale armchair involuntarily attracts the attention of guests
