Your Sofa: The Best Seat in the House

What better place to watch a favorite movie, curl up with a good book — or a good friend — than your sofa? Whether your "spot" is the left cushion, the center or even the arm, the sofa is often the most sought-after seat in the living room. But it's also more than that. Its size usually makes it the center around which you decorate the rest of the room. It can set a tone that's comfortable, classy or simply cool. Either way, choosing the right sofa can make all the difference in the way you live in your living room.

Selecting the Best Seat in the House

Before you start shopping for a new sofa, here are a few tips to consider:

Start with size. Measure the entire room — not just the space where you plan to put the sofa. (Don't forget to measure the doorways the sofa will need to fit through!) Making a drawing of the room, especially on simple graph paper, can help you see how much space you really have. Remember, that any sofa likely will look larger in your home than it will in the store or showroom.

Move to position. Think about where you'll put your sofa. For instance, be sure not to block heating or cooling vents. If you're considering a seat by the window, check for drafts first and plan to allow at least one foot between the sofa and the window so you can open it easily.

While placing a sofa against a wall creates the most open space, you may want to use your sofa as a room divider. But be careful about how close you put it to other furniture. A rule of thumb is that one person needs about two feet of open space to be comfortable. So, two people walking past each other — say, coming and going from the sofa — need four feet.

Plan to be flexible. Choose a sofa for your life now and later. Whether you'll be moving from swinging single to full house or from apartment to dream house, you'll want a sofa that fits at every stage. IKEA sofas are available in sections from loveseats to full-sized with corners. The KARLSTAD and TYLOSAND lines of sectionals are so flexible that you can build your sofa one seat at a time. Use complementary chairs, chaises, loveseats and footstools to create seating opportunities all around the room. For extra sleeping space, sofa beds are a great solution.

And for the ultimate flexibility: removable covers. Change your living room with the seasons (or your tastes). Redecorate. Even repaint — all with the same sofa. With KLIPPAN removable covers, you can switch easily from red to white — or prints to stripes. They're washable, too. So even when there's spilled punch, you can roll with the punches.

Relax. No matter how many times you tell the kids not to walk on the sofa — or ask your uncle not to sit on the arm — you know they still do it when you're not looking. Don't worry. IKEA sofas are designed for the way you live. Go ahead, have a seat.