Vancouver Apartments

The sofa is arguably the focal point of the living room. It’s your roost, your perch - a relaxing space to unwind and let your hair down with a good book, a glass of wine, or an evening of Netflix . Trouble is, they’re not the smallest of objects, and sizing your dream sofa for a small apartment or condo in Vancouver can be tricky. What’s worse than having to settle for a piece of condo-sized furniture that you’re not in love with?

There are a few questions you can ask yourself and a few helpful tips and tricks you can employ to help you decipher the best layout and sizing methods to fit your 1st choice sofa into a space that’s square-footage challenged. In this post, we’ll help you to prepare for determining the right size sofa to elevate the style and function of your Vancouver apartment.

Measure Twice, Move Once

You could find the be-all-end-all sofa at an astronomical sale price on your first furniture shopping day - but if you neglect to measure your apartments dimensions - and the dimensions of your apartment building’s doorways, stairwells and elevator system, you could be setting yourself up for an epic failure.

Key to turning your moving day into a memorable experience is measuring your space not once - but TWO times so you can begin to understand the space that you have access to, and the amount of space you have to move the sofa into your humble abode. When you begin your search, try to consider sofas and couches that offer removable legs and cushions - and sofas that don’t weigh as much as a bank safe; your back, or the backs of your movers will thank you later.

Next, you may find that your sofa may physically fit in the room, but the remainder of your possessions don’t suit the size or shape of your new purchase. It’s critical to measure the size and potential layout of your entire living room suite and how your new couch will fit in.

The general rules for sizing a living room include:

• 14-18 inches between coffee table and sofa
• Coffee table height should match the seat of the sofa and should be about ½ to ⅔ the size of your new couch
• Side tables should be about three inches shorter than the arm of your sofa
• There should be no less than three feet between the sofa and other seating, but no more than 10.
• 30-36 inches of walking space between pieces of furniture
• Sofa distance to TV should be 1.5 times the diagonal measurement of the screen.

What Best Suits your Lifestyle?

Ask yourself what you’re looking to achieve with your sofa purchase. Are you going to be entertaining a number of overnight guests? Do you absolutely need the pull-out bed, the extra chaise add-on, or the genuine leather option? Who will be using the sofa most on a regular basis? Are there pets, shedding hair, or tiny children and legions of spills in your foreseeable future? All of these questions can help you make the decision on what kind and size of sofa to consider.

More than anything else sofa’s are all about comfort, so be sure to insert your own personal taste into the equation. A plush and bulky sofa that fits your living room by measurement may still appear to be too large and foreboding, cramping the room and becoming a pseudo obstacle, rather than a well-fitting piece of apartment furniture. Consider the aesthetics of your choice and how they may alter the energy of room.

Location, Location, Location

Carefully considering different layouts can make a big, bulky couch seem like it was made for the room. Further, different combinations of mix-and-match furniture pieces can help to create a room that’s less focused on the TV, for example, and more focused on engaging conversation.

Rearranging furniture to better embrace your own unique space is ladened with surprising benefits - a room with two sofas and a chair will add a sense of symmetry to your living room and will help to balance your space. It can help your room to feel more casual and inviting, as well as provide flow around other pieces of furniture. Meanwhile, a common living room layout that utilizes a sofa and two chairs lends itself better to a space that’s used to having kids around. This classic layout fares well in long, rectangular shaped rooms because it’s capable of adding function to narrow spaces. If your apartment is particularly small, simply substitute the sofa for a loveseat.

If you have the room for a sectional, you’re going to inevitably create a more loungey layout than a formal conversation space. Chaise lounges and sectional seating help to place a focal point of the television, vinyl collection, or living room library collection instead of directing the focus back to people.