I fully believe in the concept of ‘spend’ and ‘splurge’ when it comes to purchasing furniture and styling for the home. The items you use most often just warrant spending a little more time and money on, in order to get the biggest bang for your buck over time!

One of the most important areas I believe you should budget a little more for is your lounge seating. Now, there’s a little more to it than simply how it looks… colour and material choices aside, this list covers some less obvious style considerations.

Before you go and drop some coin on a new couch (especially if shopping for an apartment!), here are a few things you should keep in mind… Most of these will be relevant to everyone, though there are definitely some extra things to think about if shopping for an apartment!

Read on…

Put your best foot forward with feet selection.

Long human legs may benefit from sitting on couches with slightly taller legs- that little bit of extra height helps us beanpoles to sit comfortably, enabling the legs to lie flat and supported across the seat, rather than raising our knees and letting the base of the spine carry our weight.
From a design POV, higher legs extend your view to the open area below the couch, giving the illusion of more floorspace.
Metal legs are generally more contemporary, with wooden legs keeping to a more traditional vibe- often lending themselves to a more Scandi / mid-century look with the more skinny, tapered styles.
Some people prefer taller legs for being able to easily clean underneath, while others prefer a lower style for not needing to worry about such things! …Which camp are you in? A raised couch can also allow for additional storage underneath if required, using low baskets or under-bed storage boxes to contain blankets and other lesser-used lounge paraphernalia out of sight.
If you need to be able to easily move your sofa to accommodate different room purposes, consider looking for a leg with a wider surface area and adding felt pads to the bottoms for easy gliding. (Bonus- these also help to prevent any surface damage to wood flooring!)

Overall design / back height & style; how low can you go?

In addition to the legs, the overall height of your sofa is one to consider- especially if your couch needs positioning in the middle of the room, as you’ll need to watch out that it’s not so tall it visually cuts the room in half.
In general, lower styles are more contemporary and those with higher backs are more traditional.
Lower styles are generally better-suited to more relaxed spaces or for those who like to lay down while watching TV. If your sofa is intended to be more multifunctional in that it will serve as a TV watching / reading / eating space (shout out to fellow TV-diners) a slightly higher back with some more support could be the better option.

Arms wide open; another width to consider!

While the overall width of your couch so it can fit in the space is a super-obvious (and probably most people’s only) consideration, another measurement to keep in mind is the arm width of whichever sofa you select. This is especially important for those working with small spaces as you want to be able to absolutely maximise your available seating area.
More traditional rolled arms or even contemporary chunkier style couches are no doubt super comfortable and allow for ample room to rest a coffee, but they can come at the cost of almost a full seat(!) compared to more slender arm styles.
If day drinking (coffee… obvs!) is your jam, but you love the look of the more ‘sturdy’ / chunky styles, aim for a middle ground between the two with a slender, straight arm option.

Which positioning works best? / Might you be better to have chairs?

Going back to the point about cutting room in half, the same consideration needs to be made for sofas blocking the directional flow through the room to doorways and windows etc.
For example; if your lounge layout means you could end up with a bulky sofa across wide doors to the garden, a better option could be to buy a couple of chairs instead. This solution would offer the same seating, but with a more visual openness / ability to walk ‘through’ the furniture to the space beyond, which is more practical and can also make your room feel bigger!

Weight. Do you need to be able to move it?

This one is mainly for my fellow apartment-dwellers, though if you are working with any kind of space that requires flexibility of purpose (e.g. you need to switch up from a lounge to a yoga studio at the drop of a hat), then listen up!
The weight of your (in particular larger) furniture is not only a consideration for when moving in or out. To be able to easily move furniture around while living in your space, and not combine it with a hefty weightlifting session each time, be sure to do a little lift test before purchasing (especially if you don’t have the ability in your home to slide furniture across smooth floors!)
Some couch frames weigh a helluva lot more than others, depending on what frame they are designed around (generally hardwood amongst the better-quality options). Sofa beds tend to be much heavier due to all the metal components inside. Sectionals are generally lighter and being in parts, are easier to manoeuvre.

The double down. Need spare room for guests?

If you had planned for your lounge to double up as an extra bedroom for guests staying over, then a sofa-bed is a great option. If you can’t find one you like off-the-shelf, then many custom-made couches can be made with this addition- talk to your designer. These generally aren’t like the creaky-spring versions of old (thank goodness!) and are comfortable to use in both sofa and bed mode.
If, due to weight (see previous point!) you need your couch to be light and flexible, then instead try looking for a standard sofa design with a slightly deeper seat that can easily host a body (or two!) when you take the back cushions off.

Check your seat-to-bum ratio

Consider how many people you need to be able to seat a) most regularly (permanent occupants of the house) and b) when entertaining. If you regularly host guests or have a bigger family, you’ll need to make sure you have enough seats for all bums to be comfortably in the room at the same time.
Keep in mind the ages of all residents too. If you have older generations or teenagers (who, let’s face it, hate everyone and everything), it’s more likely that they would prefer their own seat, or at least the ability to ‘feel’ some kind of distance, rather than everyone all sitting in a row across the single seating option (which also ties back to positioning!).
In this instance, maybe a couch and additional chairs could be the better option? Or at the very least look for a sofa with defined ‘seats’. For example, sometimes 3-seaters only have two seat cushions, which makes the space in the middle undefined and awkward to ‘claim’.
Note that sitting in a row can also make socialising quite difficult- cross-couch conversations can be irritating for those in the middle, who may end up feeling like they’re at a tennis match!

Love a chaise but a corner sofa won’t work in your space?

…Consider a standard couch and accompanying ottoman(s) that can move as and where you need them.
‘Trending’ at the moment, I can’t understand why these haven’t always be a thing. They are just so versatile! Great not only as a footrest / the answer to chaise-dreams of putting your feet up, they also serve as additional seating if the moment calls for it, and can TRIPLE up as a coffee table too!- Plonk a flat-surface tray on top and Bob’s yer blimmin’ uncle.
(Side-tracking a little, but bonus to trays with high sides- if drinks spill, you don’t need to deal with the fallout of it going on the floor / your rug too!). Ottomans trump coffee tables errrr day.

Unusual things to keep in mind when shopping for a new sofa