Helping Your Client Choose the Perfect Sofa

Choosing a sofa for the space you’re refurnishing can be overwhelming. While there is a “right” sofa for every space, we understand that it can be a challenge to help your clients figure out what the “right” sofa is for their ideal space.

These three things should make that conversation easier to tackle:

1. Consider the Room

The room that the sofa is going in will make all the difference in what the perfect fit will look like for your client.

The first reason for this is that every space requires a different size and shape.

In other words, sofas are not one-size-fits-all.

You will want to make sure that the shape you choose not only fits in the room but also compliments it. You can do this by considering where the sofa will go, as well as what other pieces will furnish the room.

Are there coffee tables? Side tables? Book shelves? All of these will play a factor into where your client’s sofa will go and how big it can be.

You will also want to consider how many seats your client wants the sofa to have and what the room’s purpose will be.

If it’s a family room with a TV for the kids, maybe a three-seat sofa pointed at the TV will be best. If it’s a waiting room for an office, maybe a four-seat sofa pointed at the office or hall that patients will have to walk towards.

No matter the room, as long as you consider it upon making decisions, there will be a perfect sofa to match.

2. Consider the Comfort

Functionality aside, a sofa needs to feel comfortable.

Whether it’s for a living room, movie room or waiting room, whoever uses it wants to feel relaxed upon sitting, and comfort can create the illusion of instant relaxation.

This is why you will want your clients to get a feel for the sofa.

Getting a feel includes two important things:

First, it includes taking clients to a showroom and finding their comfort level.

A showroom will allow the client to envision how certain sofas will look in their space, while allowing them to physically feel how soft or firm they want their own sofa to be.

Does your client prefer sitting on tight cushions that never move? Or would they rather have more loose cushions that can be adjusted?

Second, getting a feel includes fabrics.

Because your client will be sitting on and feeling this fabric for many years to come, you want to help them make the right choice.

This means allowing them to see fabric samples--but more importantly, feel fabric samples--because looks matter but so do feelings.

And although fabrics can be tested in a showroom, clients can’t always go to a showroom. Or, sometimes, they change their minds about a fabric they had chosen at a showroom and now they need to look again but don’t want to go back.

For this reason, fabric samples are a valuable part of choosing the perfect sofa.

One last thing you should help them keep in mind when it comes to fabric is durability and maintenance. After all, there’s nothing exciting about a fabric that’s easy to damage and hard to clean.

3. Consider the Style

Finally, you need to remind your clients about style.

And when we say style, we mean the style of the sofa as well as the style of the room. Why?

Because if the styles don’t match, even the most perfect sofa will look terrible in the wrong room.

For this reason, you want to help your clients decide the following:

What kind of style do they want the room to be? (Luxurious? Modern? Classic? Antique?) What kind of vibe do they want to create? (Relaxed? Professional? Cozy?) Do they want their sofa to blend in or stand out?


The great thing about custom-made furniture is that the perfect sofa can be any sofa. All we need to do is consider the room, consider the comfort and consider the style.