The Best Sofas and Sectionals

A sofa sets the tone of a living room more than anything else in it. It is a big purchase, the first thing people see, and the place where most evenings are spent, so its shape and color matter as much as its comfort.

Start with how you sit. A deep, low sofa is for lounging and film nights. A firmer one with a higher seat suits conversation and reading. Sectionals and modular sofas are for households that pile on together, and a loveseat is the answer for a small room or a second seat.

Then think about color and fabric. A neutral sofa lets you change the room around it. A green or black one becomes the room’s main character. Before you order, check that it will fit.

Welax SF5 Chenille 3-Seater Cloud Couch

The SF5 has some 1970s glamour. It is upholstered in a deep emerald chenille, with fat rounded arms and curved wooden feet that sweep up the sides, and in a room of cream walls and pale wood it is the one strong note you need. It looks like a sofa to sink into, not a showpiece to perch on. We’d add a brass floor lamp and a couple of cushions in rust or mustard and leave the rest quiet.

Welax Nephele Modular Compressed Sofa

With no legs and no hard edges, this sofa looks like two giant marshmallows pushed together. It sits right on the floor, low and squashy, which gives a living room an easy, loungey mood, the opposite of formal. In ivory it suits a pale, minimal room with a shaggy rug and a low coffee table. It is the sofa for a first apartment or a den where people sprawl.

monvane U-Shaped Modular Couch

This is a sofa for a household that piles on together. Boxy chenille seats lock into a U with a chaise at each end, big enough for a film night with everyone lying down, and the pieces can be rearranged into other shapes when the room or the address changes. In charcoal it anchors a large living room, and the wide, flat arms will hold a drink or a laptop. Give it a big rug to sit on so it doesn’t look adrift.

HOMCOM 2-Seat Loveseat, Linen-Touch Fabric

The HOMCOM loveseat has a mid-century look, with a wooden frame showing at the arms and a button-tufted back. It is light on its feet, with open sides you can see through, so it doesn’t crowd a small room the way an upholstered box does. It would be good at the foot of a bed, in a study, or as the second seat opposite a larger sofa.

monvane Human & Pet Modular Sofa (4 Seats)

One of the modules is a pet bed, a scooped-out cushion at seat level where the dog can lie beside you without being on you. That is the whole idea, and for people whose dog already owns the sofa it is a good one. The seats are low and deep in a soft, short-pile chenille, and black hides a great deal. It is a sofa for a family room, with washable throws and a basket of toys nearby.

monvane L-Shaped Sectional Couch (Corduroy)

Olive green corduroy gives this sectional a relaxed, slightly retro character, the upholstery equivalent of a favorite pair of trousers. It is low and wide with a chaise for stretching out, and the ribbed fabric gives the big shape some texture. It would look right in a room with wood paneling, a record player, and a lot of plants, and it brings color without shouting.

Welax SF101 Deep Seat Plush Sofa

This is a sofa made for lying down on. The seats are extra deep, the back is tufted like a quilt, and the round bolster arms work as pillows, so it is closer to a daybed than a formal sofa. In a mossy green plush it suits a den or a TV room, somewhere you close the door and stay for the evening. Add a wool throw and a side table within reach.

Signature Design by Ashley Altari Queen Sofa Sleeper

From the outside the Altari is a plain, well-mannered grey sofa with track arms, the kind that goes with anything. Inside is a queen bed that pulls out for guests, which makes it the answer for a home with no spare room. Because it is so neutral, it will take whatever you put with it, bright cushions, a patterned rug, a gallery wall above. Keep a set of sheets and a quilt in a basket nearby and the guest room is ready in a minute.

Stone & Beam Bradbury Chesterfield Leather Loveseat

A Chesterfield is instantly recognizable, with deep button tufting, rolled arms as high as the back, and turned wooden feet. The Bradbury is a loveseat in a soft grey-brown leather that already looks a little worn in, like a piece from a club or a library. It would give a study, a bar corner, or a formal sitting room some weight, and it looks very good against dark paint and a Persian rug.

Welax SF7 Faux Leather Loveseat

The SF7 has the look of a classic den sofa, in black faux leather with white contrast stitching and thickly padded arms. It wipes clean, which makes it a practical choice for a playroom, a basement TV room, or a home office where coffee gets spilled. Soften all the black with a pale rug and a knitted throw.

Arketipo LOFT Tufted Leather Sofa

The LOFT is Italian design of the architectural kind, a long, low slab of tufted leather on steel feet, designed by Adriano Piazzesi for Arketipo. The backs and arms slide, so the seat can deepen from an upright sofa into a chaise for lying full length. It belongs in a big, spare room with a concrete or stone floor and very little else, where its low horizon line can be appreciated.

Measure the Doorway Before the Room

Before ordering, measure every doorway, hallway, and stair turn the sofa has to pass through, and compare those numbers to the sofa’s depth and height as well as its width. Sofas that come compressed or in boxes have an advantage here, since they are carried in as pieces and take shape inside the room.