6 Tips for Choosing a Sofa

6 Tips for Choosing a Sofa

Not so long ago, my wife and I sat down to watch the concluding episode of “Olive Kitteridge” on HBO. The series set me thinking about the meaning of words and their pronunciation. Toward the end of the shoe, Olive goes to dinner with Jack Kennison played by Bill Murray. Jack is driving a Porsche 911 Carrara Cabriolet. I’m betting that Jack knows how to say his car’s name. Porsche, he will tell you, is a two-syllable word. Por-sha! Here is another word you will encounter as a new homeowner: sofa. Here are 6 tips for choosing a sofa, not a couch.

6 Tips for Choosing a Sofa 

1. A couch is a sofa.

   Sofas have gone by many names: Chesterfield, divan, settee, davenport, daveno, and couch, but now the only word is sofa. Never heard of a Chesterfield? This is a Chesterfield:



Here we have a Chesterfield sofa and two Chesterfield chairs. Note the tufted back and rounded arms, and the back and arms are at the same height.

Domaine says, “Sofas are arguably the most important piece of furniture in the home. We do a majority of our lounging, entertaining, reading, and, of course, napping, on our sofas.” So what are some tips that will rock your sofa world?

2. . “No couch, sofa!”

   the soup-nazi from Seinfeld might say. You want to project an image of knowledge, sophistication, and clued-in to your friends? Use sofa when describing the thing where you want to take a nap.



3. You don’t need to spend a fortune on a sofa

   for the living room. How often do you use the living room? The TV or family room is where the teenagers flop. In the room that gets the most use, buy a sofa that is made using kiln-dried hardwood for this area. A sofa that uses eight-way hand-tied construction. Then a good sofa is layered with burlap, horsehair, cotton, a down pad, and covered in muslin.  In the living room, use a less expensive sofa that will look good and will get very little wear.



4. How’s the “sit?”

   Always sit on the sofa. There are many types of cushions, and some are just plain uncomfortable after any length of sitting. Sitting on the sofa reveals a lot. Like the pitch of the seat. It should be graduated, 20 percent from front to back. If you are short, you want a sofa that has a shorter depth from front to back. Otherwise, your feet won’t touch the floor.  And then there’s the fill. You might find the most comfortable cushions are 80 percent down, 20 percent feather. Down is very easy to sit on, but does need occasional fluffing. There’s also spring down seat cushion, a choice that will last a long time. The back of the seat is 100 percent down.

5. Choose leather!

   Leather will last years and years. We owned a red leather sofa that outlasted a drooling, golden retriever.



Our golden has passed on, but the sofa still works as well today as the day it was brought home.

6. Stay away from fad sofas,

   unless it really fits the room:

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PHOTO: Chesterfield: coolshire.com

PHOTO: Little girl asleep: found on anthropologie.com

Teenagers: found on 31.media.tumblr.com

PHOTO: Photo by Mark Zamora on Unsplash

PHOTO: Cow Sofa: Found on designbuzz.com