The sofa, or couch, is the basic seating piece in a living room, family room or den. Styles, sizes and shapes of sofas exist to suit every room, taste and budget. Finding the right sofa for you and your room takes just a little time and thought!
Sectional sofas are wonderful if you have a contemporary look in your home and enough space to handle a large couch. Good quality sectional sofas can be quite expensive, but they're a good value as you can get reclining features or even sofa-bed and coffee table features built right into the sectional.
If you have a one bedroom apartment and need a guest bed on occasion, a small sofa bed, futon or day bed for your living room would be a good choice. Sofa beds either flip down to form a bed or allow you to pull the folded mattress from under the seating area in an outward motion to unfold it to create the bed. Day beds, on the other hand, are already set up, but are only large enough for one person. Futons are similar to sofa beds, but many of them can be quite large and they can be easily opened to form queen-sized beds. Daybeds and futons work well for studio apartments where you need to sleep in your living room.
Chaise lounges and overstuffed couches are more creative types of sofas that can be dramatic and make a statement in the right decor. Many chaises are button-tufted and can look quite fancy. Overstuffed sofas with lots of throw pillows can create an inviting, comfortable space. Rattan sofas look perfect in a tropical decorating scheme.
As far as upholstery fabric is concerned, think about the wear and tear aspect of your sofa. You can cover it with an inexpensive cover to protect it from pets and/or kids. Leather and cut velvet upholstery materials wear quite well and micro-suede or micro-fiber is an attractive alternative to suede. A few inexpensive throw pillows you buy or make to accent your room decor can make even a small, second-hand sofa look great.