Having a great living room with beautiful furniture, like the different types of is everyone’s wish, isn’t it?
Believe it or not, a lot of people today are constantly in a wish to renovate / upgrade their homes. This can either be to keep up with the constantly evolving trends and follow the popular style, or just via personal preference. Among the different parts, nooks and corners of eve home too, the living room renovation and upgrade projects are really popular with the incorporation of furniture pieces too like the different types of sofas and couch to have a lovely time in the living room.
Living rooms are basically the heart of the home, where all the house members come together for a family time, and also the space in the house to receive your guests. It is the introductory speech to the rest of the program – your house. And besides living, another important space of the house is the bedroom – the space where you go to rest and recharge. Both of these places, and several other spaces in homes like outdoor lounge, balcony, etc. can be used to put up/ install different types of sofas and couches that briefly elevates the beauty of the space.
So, what are the Top 25 different types of sofas?
Although carrying a broad spectrum in practicality, Merriam-Webster dictionary defines ‘sofa’ as “ long, upholstered seat usually with arms and a back and often convertible into a bed”. Usually, not all convertible sofa beds are thought of as a standard sofas, nevertheless let’s take a look at the different types of sofas available in the market:
1. Sectional sofa
The sectional sofa is basically a multi-piece sofa, either being 3 pieces or 5. These pieces come with the fixtures for attachments, and can be arranged in different combinations, with a range of increasing combination possibilities with the increasing number of pieces.
Sectional sofas are very popular and massive in the market, and as a result there are a lot of styles, materials and design to choose from. Sizes can also vary as some are very huge and occupy a large space and some are comparatively smaller.
The most popular configuration of sectional sofas are L-shape and U-shape. They are easy to place, arrange and easy to move around, too.
2. Chesterfield Sofa
The chesterfield sofa is very well-known for its signature “quilted” or “tufted” style. It is one of the most fancy couches in the market and in this article too.
While some have the signature tufted design only on the back and arms, while others have it on the seating bench section too. First designed back in the 18th Century, this sofa had the aim to provide utmost comfort to the gentlemen sitting on it without wrinkling their garments. It is still very popular in the modern sofa trends.
3. Lawson Style sofa
This style of sofa is often related the most with the word ‘comfort’. The signature design element of these kind of sofas is a back containing of pillows that are separate from the frame.
The main of this sofa design was to create a softer, heavily cushioned sofa with large cushions, separate and not taut within the sofa frame. It also allows you to move the large pillows around for ultimate comfort.
Designed and created first in the early 20th century, this soda still is very popular today, available in different sizes, colors and materials. It is the derivation of a tuxedo sofa.
4. Mid-Century Modern Sofa
1930’s to the 1970’s was the golden era for flourishing of the Mid-century Modern sofas. The minimalistic design and the clean lines and curves of this sofa, is still loved by a lot of interior design enthusiasts. This design mainly focuses on practicality, elegance and simplicity.
The mid-century modern style can be traced back to the former popular European styles like the Bauhaus from Germany. This became more popularized in the post-war times, where industrial revolution was getting started. Newer houses were getting built, and people were opting for coordinating furniture. Newer materials like plastics, Plexiglas and Lucite, were also being introduced in the market, during that time. That’s why the sleek and clean lines, with the use of both traditional and non-traditional materials were popularized making the spaces, clean and functional. Materials like vinyl, wood and velvet fabrics were also later used.
5. Contemporary Mid-Century Modern Sofas
Contemporary is a term used to generally depict ‘current’ or ‘present’. Contemporary modern sofas are very similar to the previously discussed mid-century modern sofas as they also use a lot of sleek, thin, clean lines to give depth and definition to furniture. These are usually rectangular, and some of them might contain subtle curves. They mostly make use of neutral colors like white, cream, grey and light browns.
These colours are also used in contrast to create furniture that aren’t straining to their eyes with a lot of brightness, but provide a supple and ambient feel to the space. These types of simplistic shapes often make an ideal focal point for living areas and go well with a lot of interior design aesthetics.
6. Bridgewater Sofas
Bridgewater sofas are very casual and comfortable, with their arms slightly rolled to the side and are lower than the sofa back. These chairs basically have a really low profile with low arms, set back from the front most part of the sofa. And, in case you have a traditional/ original kind of Bridgewater sofa, these even feature a skirt and are a little rolled back. This chair is best for you if you are looking for a furniture piece to give you a traditional look for your living room along with great comfortability when sitting on it.
It has a traditional casual look with a subtle sofa that will not overpower the other furniture present in the room, and will go pretty well with a lot different interior aesthetic styles, so this is definitely worth the price!
7. English Rolled Arm Sofas
English Rolled Arm chairs are characterized by low arms for a relatively high back, and a very tight upholstery. This tight upholstery is however, cushioned all over giving a very beautiful look even in the arms of the sofa. It is fairly similar to the previously discussed Bridgewater style sofas, just distinguished by it’s low arms and the upholstery’s tautness. Some users say that it’s as similar to being armless sofas because of it’s low arms, but this is a decent sofa option that gives a laid-back and cool look to your living space.
This is undoubtedly a timeless piece too, for it has not lost it’s charms over the years, having the ability to go with any kinds of modern furniture. Plus, it is very comfortable and is often said to give you the ‘meatloaf’ sitting experience because of how comfortable it is.
8. Camelback Sofas
The distinguishing feature of the camelback chairs is the higher back in the center, descending in a continuous line into the arms of the sofa. Other designs are also seen with two arches on the back. These sofas are known for their exposed wooden legs, and also the exposed wood on top of back and arms. Camelback sofas are available both in antique and contemporary design, that you can choose according to your personal preference or your interior.
First designed back in the late 1700s, this camelback sofa is tight upholstery, a shaped bench seat, high, scrolled arms that provide support and of course, exposed legs. It has it’s signature camel’s hump look at first glance, but doesn’t have separate back cushions. These sofas are great to place between windows in a formal living area, thanks to it’s elegance, lightness and an emphasis on natural curving and ornamentation.
9. Chaise Lounge
Chaise lounges are undeniably one of the most popular sofa or seating options even today, especially in primary bedrooms of hotels and high-end residences. While some chaise lounges have arms, others don’t, and is very popular as an outdoor patio furniture near a private pool. So, that makes this sofa an ideal design supplement usable both indoors and outdoors.
Considered to have been designed during the Egyptian period, today, the modern chaise lounges are usually a design supplement and a decorative item rather than a sole functional seating furniture, and found in places where people usually relax and let themselves loose.
10. Cabriole Sofas
Cabriole sofas have a unique and distinguishing feature of a continuous, equal-height back and arms, where the arms are oftentimes, curved inward creating a long line from arm to arm. Some of the cabriole sofas on the market even have ornate elements attached to them, but the contemporary and the most popular on the market today, have the comfortability factor emphasized featuring more cushions throughout the sofa.
These cabriole sofas are also very well-known for having an exposed wood trim along the top of the back and arms, but these are with the classical ones as some of the contemporary designs seem to not have those as well. These are great for intermediate spaces where long hours of resting is not required and a quick seating space is given or as a decorative piece too.
11. LoveSeat Sofas
The term ‘loveseat’ is basically an umbrella-term for a sofa seating for two people, most often a part of a living room set. These love seats come with different styles and designs including the previously discussed cabriole and camel sofa designs. These love seats are widely used to give a small seating area and and bench at the foot of a bed. This is not recommendable for long-term seating and a main seating element in living areas because you can’t really stretch much in these.
12. Divan Sofas
Divan Sofas are basically backless sofas, so they need to be placed against the walls for comfortability reasons. This automatically restricts the placement possibilities within a space which is a massive disadvantage. But, they have some degree of versatility with pillow placement on the wither sides, or these mught just look like backless chairs.
These are however minimalistic in design, well except some of the traditional ones, and are well suited with a lot of interior decors. These are perfect for places where a larger middle ground is needed and the seating are pushed to the periphery, like large boutiques.
13. Settee Sofas
A settee sofa is a wide chair, whose closest version is a loveseat today. But, the traditional ones are narrower than a love seat. They are moderately comfortable (not so much), and sitting for longer times might cause lower back pains. This particular chair mentioned above is a traditional one with a semi back rest, but other settee sofas are also available that look like an elongated dining table chairs which aren’t also very comfortable either.
14. Recliner Sofa
15. Tuxedo Sofa
A reclining sofa is one of the newest and the modern type of sofas that has risen to popularity, thanks to it’s great television watching and reading experience. Although this sofa might not be the best one and ideal for formal living rooms due to it’s aesthetic appearance and many more, this chair is terrific for internal home theatres and family rooms where you can sit on these for hours while watching a movie or random chit-chat in the family.
The tuxedo sofas have high arms level with the sofa back, cutting straight across. It doesn’t have a reclining angle, just a usual sofa with straight back and straight lines, so it is not seen to be too comfortable to sit on for long time frames. The tuxedo design is even seen in loveseats and chairs as well.
16. Low Seated Sofas
One of the most unique and exceptional sofas in the market are the low seated sofas, that spans multiple styles and are usable in different rooms such as a living rooms, family rooms, meditation rooms, bedrooms, and basically any types of rooms for lounging. The typical height of a sofa seat is 17″ to 18″. A low-seated sofa is one where the seat is lower than 17″.
These types of sofas are ideal for spaces with lower ceilings or for spaces where there is a lot of furnishings and a lot going on in the floor area. This will help your ceiling appear taller and will give you a grand, majestic sitting experience, plus great comfortability too.
17. Pallet Couches
Pallet furniture is very popular among DIY’ers, where they build it at home themselves. But, you can buy pallet furniture in stores too. These sofas are usually built against the walls, since the backrest is usually the walls with cushions placed against it. But, pallet couches can also be built with their own back rests, having a slight recline to make your sitting experience more comfortable.
18. Sleeper Sofas
Sleeper sofas are very popular and ideal if you have adequate space for you house and have to welcome a lot of overnight guests. These are the standard funiture pieces which are extremely comfortable, and a relatively smaller size. Below, are some of the sleeper style sofas ranging from pull-outs, to futons, to daybeds to bunkbeds discussed below:
A. Pull-out sofa bed
Pull-out sofa beds are definitely the most popular ones among the sleeper sofas. Contradictorily, to the bad reputation these sleeper sofas have regarding their unevenness and creakiness, today, these beds are much better, well-designed and come with a great sleeping solution on need. These are different from futons in a way that these remain upright while the sleeping surface folds under the belly of the sofa from where it is stored and pulled out.
B. Convertible Sofa
A convertible sofa is different from pull-out sofas in a way that these don’t have a mattress in them, instead these have the couch pillows as in figure above. These can be more or less comfortable than the pull-out sofas even when you sleep on them.
C. Futon
A futon is a very popular sofa/bed combo, said to have originated from the Japanese Culture. In these types of sofas, the back of the sofa folds/releases downward to create a large, flat, cushioned sleeping surface. Similar to the pull-out sofas, this is made up of pieces that rearrange into a large flat sleeping surface, comprised of sofa cushions.
D. Daybed
Though a daybed might not be the most ideal piece of furniture to ask your guests to spend the night in, this might be a great option to have a powernap during daytime for yourself. Daybed has a similar design to a chaise lounge, except the daybed has ends or backs on each side. These daybeds, however, don’t accomodate very tall people and you might have to put your legs on the elevated areas.
E. Bunk Bed Sleeper
A bunk bed looks rather sophisticated and is not near the common sofa designs we see on the market, but they are available! This is great for kids as they tend to love to climb on heights, so it is ideal if you have kids and don’t want them to run all over the house making it filthy. But, one thing you have to remember is to place a thick carpet below to mitigate the possible casualties. These are, however, great options for cabins, and summer cabins where additional sleeping accommodation is required for children.
19. Sofa Lounger
Sofa lounger is basically a standard sofa with a chaise lounge attached to it. They have been popular for a long time, and have great extensions for putting your leg up while sitting on the sofa if you’re into those stuffs.
A. Full Sofa Lounger
The full sofa lounger is nothing but a sleeper sofa but while in bed mode you can still sit up.
B. Multi Sofa Lounger
A sofa with more than one lounging extensions is a multi-sofa lounger.
C. Single Sofa Lounger
A single seating sofa, with a space to lounge around or to rest your legs above is a single sofa lounger. This is very comfortable to sit on and is ideal for grabbing a book and studying, plus working on laptops too.
20. Ottoman Sofas
The ottoman is a very popular funiture detail, said to have been originated during the Ottoman Empire, which is typically used today as a coffee table, and some other countries also call it a footstool – for obvious reason.
This is used as a centerpiece for seating in living spaces today. Over the years, it has become smaller and acts as more of a complementary furniture pieces to the sofa in the living rooms near the windows. They are a single-piece furniture, generally without a back or arms. They may also come as a low upholstered couch or smaller cushioned seats used as a stool or footstool. They also have a lid under the seat cushion, providing extra storage space for small items like magazines or linens.
21. Woodrow Sofas
Wood row sofas are also a part of mid-century modern styles except these look like the wood is enclosing the sitting space. What is great about these sofas is that these sofas look like a rigid and straight piece of furniture, but while sitting, you have no contact to the hard surface and you will feel like you are sitting on a cloud of cushion and leather.
22. Bean Bag Sofas
Looking like a sack and ususally filled with polystyrene beans, these bean bags are one of the most versatile and the most popular options of sitting. Whether it is for your dorm room as an additional seating space, or a placement for a small corner in your little living room, this bean bag is good to go.
It doesn’t have a wooden or steel encasing of any kind, neither arms nor legs. It is just a big blob of seating space and mounting onto it will make you feel like you are in a cloud and this is perfect for your kids to play their iPads in, for you to take a quick nap and many more.
23. Armless Sofas
Sofas without arms are what armless chairs are. Armless sofas are also called seattes as discussed above. These are a little contemporary options of the traditional seattee, as some of them have a semi-backrests but these armless chairs have none. If you are a fan of armrests, then this is a no-no for you. Your hands will have to rest in your lap in these kinds of sofas, so this is not so ideal for prolonged time periods of sitting.
24. Round / Circular Sofas
These sofas are as they sound, they form a circular space in between them and the sitting spaces are in the periphery of the mid-space. This is perfect for spaces with a centre chandelier and a seating space to be created around it as a focal point, for better communication between people in the seats. This is also ideal for places with no outdoor views present in the space so it’;s better to face one another.
25. Lounge Island Sofas
Lounge Island Sofas are versatile, stylish and space saving ideas that are generally used in communal spaces like libraries, waiting spaces and so on. Here, a single back rest will work for two sitting spaces without disturbing each other’s personal space. But, in case of needed interaction, the low back rests don’t hold the communication back, so these are really great designs. This can also be used as sofas in between the outdoor views like the pools or the TV in the interior where the sofa can view both.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What materials are sofas made up of?
Sofas are usually made up of materials like mostly wood, steel, plastic, and other manufactured boards for frames. But, in case of paddings, materials as supple as down or feathers, or durable foam materials can be used. On top of that, Leather, faux leather, corduroy, linen, cotton, microfiber, etc. are used for upholstery.
Are ‘sofas’ and ‘couches’ the same?
Though both of these feel similar when talked about in day-to-day lives, both ‘sofas’ and ‘couches’ are not the same. Historically and etymologically, The word “couch” stems from the French word, “coucher,” which translates to “lie down.” However, the term, “sofa,” is an Arabic derivative of the word, “suffah,” which describes a wood bench with some type of cushioning over it.
Can sofas be re-upholstered?
As long as the frame is in a good shape, yes, sofas can be upholstered! But, you will need a professional with both the type of sofa that you have and the upholstery that you are looking for.
Can sofa cushions be restuffed?
Yes, sofa cushions can be restuffed! Any kinds of materials used to fill in sofa cushions can be replaced. Materials like feathers, down, and even synthetic products are easily available and easy to use even if your older sofa cushions needs a little more padding.
Can sofa cushions be dry-cleaned?
While some of the sofas will have a direct instruction in them to ask you to clean it via dry-cleaning only. It is however very important to follow the manufacturer’s recommendations, because if dry-cleaning is written and you hand-wash them, it could incite several irreversible damage.
Conclusion
Sofas are an integral interior design element in any kind of living spaces, and the selection of a right one can bring about a drastic change on the interior look and function of the space. There are a number of different types of sofas designed for different functions specifically, and some can even be multi-purposely used. In this article, we have listed down the Top 25 different types of sofas that are most loved and used by the users worldwide and recommended by interior designers, even planners and praised by architects worldwide.
This list was curated by going through a lot of reviews and shopping sites, and contains truthful information. In case you have any kinds of queries and confusions, please feel free to leave a comment down below.
Related: Top 10 Best Sofa Set For Living Room
