How to Shop For Furniture Online: The Living Room Sofa

Part One of our series on How to Shop for Furniture Online, focuses on the central piece in your Living Room: the sofa.

There are many benefits to shopping for furniture online. You aren’t limited by geography in your search, you have a wider selection to choose from, and you can shop at a leisurely pace from the comfort of your own home. But when it comes to purchasing large investment pieces like a living room sofa, it’s crucial to do your research before buying. We’ve compiled some tips and strategies to help get you started shopping for your sofa online.

Basic Living Room Setups

You must start from the beginning. Before browsing websites and Pinterest boards, make sure you know what you are shopping for.

The three most common, basic living room setups are:
1 Sofa with 2 Chairs
2 Sofas (often facing one another)
1 Sectional Sofa with 1 Chair

Each of these configurations can then be paired with coffee tables, end tables, and other accessories. Which layout makes the most sense for your space? Sectionals typically work best in larger rooms, whereas smaller rooms might only allow space for 1 sofa and 1 chair. If your room will have a television, consider where the new piece will go in relation to the TV. Determine if you need a couch that can view the television from all angles or if it will be placed against the wall. Do you want the room to feel open, or do you want the sofa to visually separate the space? Determine your layout first, so you can focus your online furniture shopping to just the pieces you need.

How to determine seat comfort:

Obviously, the biggest downside to shopping for furniture online is that you can’t test it out before purchasing. But there are ways to tell if a sofa will work in your living room without seeing it in person. It all comes down to measurements.

Generally, the combined seat depth and seat height should approximately match the combined length of your calf and thigh when you are seated. This will ensure that your feet will comfortably reach the ground, and your back can rest against the back cushion.

First, measure how you sit on a sofa. When you sit on any sofa, make sure your feet are planted flat on the ground, and your calves and thighs are at a 90-degree angle. Then measure the height from the floor to under your knee, and from your calves to the furthest point of your back.

This is your seat height and seat depth. Combine these 2 measurements and they should add to anywhere between 40” – 43” (give or take). This allows you to look at the dimensions of an online sofa/sectional or lounge chair and be able to tell if it will fit you well by simply combining its seat depth and seat height. A general rule of thumb is that you can vary by an inch or two from your total, but after that, the sofa might start to get a bit uncomfortable.

The construction of the sofa should also be considered in this measurement. For instance, if a sofa or couch has a feather based back cushion, the seat depth will most likely be increased a little due to the softness of the cushion.

Also take into account how many people you want to seat in the space. Generally, people are most comfortable with a seating width of at least 28” per person. Knowing this can help you determine the overall size needed for your sofa or sectional.

So make sure you really study the dimensions provided by the online store when shopping for a sofa, and make sure the distance from under your knee to the floor is more than your seat height so your feet can comfortably touch the ground.

Narrow Your Search: Style

How are you planning to use your living room? Is it a formal seating room and entertaining space for family gatherings and conversations? Or is this your family room meant to be a media and lounging space?  The function of the sofa can also help you determine the style you prefer. For example, a sofa with a deeper seat depth, and a lower seat height such as the Sunset is better for lounging. Something like the Monti which has a chair-like seat height and depth promotes an upright sitting position, so it will feel more formal and better suited for conversation.

Here are a few questions you can ask yourself to help narrow down some of your choices:

• What kind of style do you like? Contemporary, traditional, etc.
• What style are the other pieces in your living room
• Is the space generally clean and modern, or more detailed and traditional
• How are you planning to use your space?

In addition to the seat back height, you also should consider the height of the sofa legs. Things tend to look heavier when low to the ground and lighter when up on legs. From a design standpoint, there should be a combination of low and high furniture to balance out a space. For example, if you want both the sofa and lounge chairs to be up on legs, there should be a more solid coffee table to ground the space.

Now that you know what kind of style, type of couch you are looking for (sectional versus a sofa), and you know the measurements you need, you can now begin your online sofa shopping.

Fabric and Construction

Most sofas will have cushions made from either foam or a combination of foam and feather. This comes down to personal preference. If at all possible, try to sit on both types of cushions whether it’s in a store or at a friend’s house so that you can know whether you prefer foam, down/feather, or a mixture of the two.

When it comes to fabric, make sure to note the fabric content.  As a general rule, the more natural materials tend to wear faster than polyester and acrylic blends. Wool, linen, and cotton tend to fade more in sunlight and, depending on the texture, will pill faster over time.

Stay tuned for our next online furniture shopping guide! Over the course of the next few weeks, we will continue to bring you tips and strategies for shopping for furniture online, one room at a time.