When it comes to interior design, there is perhaps nowhere more important to ‘get it right’ than in the living room. It’s where you do most of your entertaining and where you relax on an evening or at weekends, either on your own with the TV or with your family. Getting your living room to look just as you would want it is important to help you to enjoy your time in the room you really live in.
Whilst your living room will typically contain several different pieces of furniture or furnishings, the key piece of furniture – around which your décor is often based – is your sofa. Sofas are available to buy in so many different styles, colours and materials that it can be quite difficult to choose the one that’s right for you and your living room. But it’s very important that you make the right choice because the wrong sofa in a room can really ruin the room and make it uncomfortable. For example, small living rooms should really have small sofas – not just to fit in properly but to avoid the rest of the room seeming out of proportion or cramped.
If you want to buy a sofa this spring, you might want to take into account the trends prevalent in 2012 – but don’t be a martyr to fashion because remember that you’ve got to live with that sofa for the next few years (unless you have money to burn!). So go for colours that you like and that co-ordinate with your carpet (unless you’re changing that at the same time) and walls (unless you’re re-decorating). Choose materials that you find comfy or practical (a leather suite is a good option if you have a young family or pets – it can be wiped clean and fur won’t easily stick to it!). And buy a sofa that fits comfortably in your room and is in proportion with the other furnishings in your living room.
If you buy a sofa this year then you can make your living room bang up to date and stylish just by doing so and as long as you follow the advice above you won’t be left feeling embarrassed to let people into your living room in a couple of years’ time.
The main theme running through the trends in 2012 is minimalism. Sofas with sleek lines in light colours are very big this year, giving a chic, modern, airy look to any living room. They contrast nicely with bright, bold colours on walls and give the whole room a feeling of space. The downside to that, of course, is that if you’re going to actually sit on your sofa instead of just admire it from the other end of the room, white sofas or light-coloured sofas are at risk of getting grubby very quickly and you’ll really notice any marks.
These designs and colours can look a bit too structured and ‘for show’ but adding some squashy cushions to co-ordinate with the rest of your décor will help.
If you have a young family or pets (or want to do more than perch politely on your sofa, or want to do more with your life than clean sofas every week) then don’t worry, there are plenty of other on-trend designs for 2012. Bright, bold colours on walls with white sofas works well, but you could go in quite the opposite direction and choose a bright, bold sofa (popular colours include bright reds, yellows and blues) and keep your walls fairly neutral. Bright, contrasting-colour patterns are also going to be big this year but these are perhaps the designs that are least likely to age well, so choose carefully.
Sofas and Stuff know a lot about beautiful, high quality, comfortable British sofas that last as long as you want them to. More importantly we want you to benefit from our expertise and know how.
