Our Home: Sofas vs Chaise Sectionals

Bonjour friends! As I mentioned in my last post, we’re ready to get rolling with real progress in our living room space. First up? Getting a couch. But the question remains: sofa or sectional? The dilemma is real…

Since our living room and kitchen space is essentially one open floor plan, I want to be careful to keep a good, open flow through the space. We do currently have a beautiful marble top kitchen table and bentwood chairs (note to self: need to make a kitchen update post soon!), so I want there to be enough visual room for those pieces to stand on their own and not feel crowded. We also have a not-so-big living space, so the dimensions quickly become tricky in making everything fit while maintaining that open, airy feel that I prefer.

So the hunt for a perfect sofa begins. We need one that checks off the boxes of being lovely, comfortable, somewhat compact, and multi-directional (we have a fireplace it would sit in front of, but I don’t want to put our television above it, which means it needs to comfortably let us watch tv on the perpendicular wall).  That last aspect has me split on whether I want a chaise style sectional or sofa and chair combo…so I’m currently considering both. Here’s a round-up of what’s caught my eye!

1. Decker Two Piece Sectional, CB2 $3498 | 2. Ms. Chesterfield, Interior Define $2400 | 3.  Sutton Sectional, One Kings Lane $4995 | 4. Osaka Chaise Sofa, Bo Concept $3799 | 5. Sven Cascadia Sectional, Article $2100 | 6. Jonas Sectional w Chaise, Design Within Reach $4995

Pulling together what I like and going around to showrooms to sit and see what we prefer looks- and comfort-wise luckily made it pretty obvious that I lean towards similar aesthetics: something with a little more structure and tailoring, with streamlined silhouettes rather than ornate details or big cushy frames. However, as you can probably see: I’m all over the place on color palette.

Should we go bold with a jewel tone, or stay neutral for versatility and longevity? All the beautiful, rich velvet options on the market really have me tempted to nab something with some color! And they have such a vintage feel to them, which makes them feel somewhat timeless regardless of their current trendiness factor, but I also worry that I’ll get sick of it more quickly. This is a big purchase and I want it to be a good investment, not something that I simply replace in a few years. Getting a well constructed sofa should last you a long, long time if done correctly—and I want to be really cognizant of that with this purchase. Cause as you can see, sofas and sectionals ain’t cheap my friends!

1 Edmund Sofa, BDDW price upon request | 2. Belgian Track Arm Slipcovered Sofa, Restoration Hardware $4495 | 3. Brava Gray Velvet Sofa w Whitewashed Base, CB2 $2199 | 4. Macalester Sofa, Room & Board $2100 | 5. Leonella Sofa, Anthropologie $2998 | 6. Hunter Sofa, Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams $2825 | 7. Savile Sofa, CB2 $1499 | 8. Reupholstered vintage sofa, Porter James of New York $2300 | 9. Dylan Sofa, Urban Outfitters $1299 | 10. Caitlyn Sofa by The Everygirl, Interior Define $2100

On the flip side, I can’t help but love the idea of a sofa because it gives us way more flexibility with sizing options and means that we can likely select a cool side chair down the road to compliment it and add more seating. And guys, I HAVE THIS THING FOR CHAIRS. So many great options, both vintage and modern, that I feel like I’m constantly stumbling across!

BUT, chairs are expensive, and sometimes nearly just as much as a sofa, which means in the end we would likely spend more on a chair (or a pair of chairs!) plus a sofa than we would with a sectional in the long run. And in the meantime, we lose the multi-directional aspect until we do so since we don’t have room in the budget to add a chair(s) right now—which is something to really consider.

So obviously, I’ve got some deciding to do. Do I do a statement color versus something neutral? Do I go with tufting or something more streamlined? Sectional or sofa? Ahhhhhhhh, the decisions!! Give me your vote and your input in the comments below 🙂

xoxo,
Mary