“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” – Abraham Lincoln
And so goes the successful process of selecting just the right sofa. In a word, what Abe meant was prepare. Well, more over; prepare, prepare, prepare. If you visit my blog on any regular basis I am sure you have read here, “No one element is important unto itself”. It means that as you work through the puzzle and scavenger hunt of putting together a successful room design you must weigh each selection against other possible selections for the room.
Outside of the focal point (view, fireplace, architectural feature ~ you get the picture) the sofa is generally the anchor to the room. The sofa will provide the place where much of the time will be spent whether watching TV, reading a book, entertaining friends. Regardless the function, careful consideration should be given to style.
Contemporary, modern, transitional, traditional, this you already know when developing your concept. The range of style possibilities are endless. Within that however there are three basic styles of sofa of which to consider:
- Lawson
- Tuxedo
- Chesterfield
The Lawson Sofa
Skirted, on legs, with a plinth base, contemporary or otherwise, the Lawson sofa is typified by an arm that tracks lower than the hard frame back of the sofa.
If you land on a Lawson style sofa, beware the placement. A sofa placement where it will float in the middle of the room requires a nice transition from the hard frame of the back to the arm. Sometimes the transition from the back to the arm is not attractive and may have been originally designed to be placed against a wall ~ like the one pictured to the right. No carefully selected sofa table will ever camouflage that!
Tuxedo Sofa
The Tuxedo sofa is typified by an arm that tracks evenly with the hard frame back of the sofa. This alone makes the Tuxedo style perfect for floating placement. The back of the Tuxedo sofa is usually quite architectural and thereby attractive
Chesterfield Sofa
Typically traditional but often updated the Chesterfield is characterized by rich, deep diamond tufting. Usually with a rolled arm, again sometimes updated, with or without nail heads, usually on legs but sometimes skirted, there are a myriad of Chesterfield sofas from which to choose.
So, before you start chopping away at your spendable dollars do like Abe and take some time sharpening your axe!