10 Living Room Sofa Ideas — From Low-Slung to Shapely Silhouettes, and Styling Your Sofas Back-to-Back

A new sofa is a big commitment — not only because of the cost associated but because, due to its size, it undoubtedly ends up dictating the style of your room. As such, it can be tempting to play it safe with your living room sofa ideas, it could end up being the difference between a ho-hum space, and one oozing with style.

"The sofa is often the star of the living room," agrees Connecticut-based interior designer Billy Ceglia. "Just like any successful design scheme, the other elements of the room should play off the main focal element in size and scale, to complement and enhance its shape and design."

The good news is that the best sofas on the market come in all different shapes, sizes, fabrics, and frames. After all, they're a place for conversation, so why not make them a conversation piece? Whether that's nailing the right aesthetic for your room or styling your sofa to tie in with your other home decor, we've found 10 stylish living room sofa ideas from interior designers to inspire you. Read on for their picks.

10 Living Room Sofa Ideas

1. Make A Room Feel More Spacious With A Low-Slung Sofa

While sitting closer to the floor may not feel like a luxury, low-profile or sunken sofas come with plenty of stylistic advantages. Not only does the streamlined silhouette lend itself to a more contemporary look, but it can also help a smaller room feel bigger by tricking the eye into thinking the ceiling is further away.

This living room idea, shown above by Natasha Sturko Interiors, exemplifies how a low-profile sofa also limits any disruption to the sense of flow in the space, helping this popular sofa trend create a more spacious and calming feeling in the room.

2. Lean Into a Laidback Look With a Slouchy Sectional

Sectional sofas have been experiencing a revival as of late, with the best designs combining deep seats with ample amounts of slouch — a recipe for relaxation. In the living room shown above by Berlin-based Takk Studio, the laid-back look is completed with a soft, pastel-pink color palette, seen in the artwork and vintage Ligne Roset Togo sofa.

"The client is an entrepreneur, VC investor and a single mom, so we wanted to break her strong business persona with soft and organic shapes," says architect and studio founder Agi Kuczynska.

3. Make a Statement With Your Sofa Fabric or Color

It's likely your sofa will anchor your living room, so why not make it stand out? When it comes to upholstery choices, you can really let your creativity loose. Recent sofa color trends tell us that 'safe' options like gray are dropping in popularity, while people are increasingly embracing bolder colors and more jewel-like tones like navy, emerald green, and even chocolate for their sofas.

Or, if you're brave enough, why not go all out? The fabulous scheme shown above, by Jon de la Cruz, shows a colorful, highly patterned, and tasseled sofa that takes center stage against a solid-colored (and therefore, neutral) wall color.

4. Create a Space for Conversation With a Curved Sofa

Shapely, sinuous furniture has been a trend for a while now, and it doesn't appear to be going anywhere. And, as seen in the space above, a curved sofa is a great choice for creating a contemporary, free-flowing living room that feels well connected.

"We chose to center the seating in this formal drawing room and create a conversation circle environment for when the family gets together and entertain," explains interior designers Danielle Beeken and Anya Bond, of Kindly. "Soft, curved sofas contrast the room's angular architecture, including the decorative ceiling coving. It was important to move freely around the space; organic-shaped pieces allow you to do this easily."

5. Add Drama to Architectural Spaces with a Sculptural Sofa

When it comes to interior design trends at the moment, playful, organic shapes are in. For sofas, that means sculptural, unique frames, like the 'Cloud' sofa by Jonathan Adler, seen in the scheme shown above.

"A sculptural sofa adds visual excitement and dimension to a space," says interior designer Billy Ceglia. "It can accentuate the architecture, highlight the shape of the room, or go completely against the shape of the space to create cozier seating groups or help create a visual flow through a space."

6. Style an Open-Plan Space with a Multi-Directional Sofa

If you have the space, a dual-aspect sofa allows for plenty more seating and is perfect if you're regularly hosting. It's also a great way to define zones in an open-plan concept. One way may face a TV, for example, while the other side is set up for conversation.

"This was the obvious choice for us for a sofa for this space," says Chelsea Reale, co-founder of New York-based interior design studio, Sissy+Marley, on the living space above. "Its architectural shape and low profile felt appropriate for the space, not competing with the amazing view, but just as jaw-dropping. The scale of the living area also lent itself to having two separate seating areas, and this sofa allows for that to happen in a very organic way."

7. Fit a Smaller Living Room With a Cozy Loveseat

Alternatively, for a room that's short on space, a cozy loveseat can still be a stylish solution. "Loveseats are great for both smaller spaces, in front of windows, where you may not have room for a large sofa or even very large spaces that need another form of seating but cannot handle another full-size sofa," says interior designer Nina Dekay Grauer, of East Coast studio, Dekay & Tate.

"Love seats can also be fun," adds Nina. "Experiment with different colors and textures in upholstery, even different styles to your main sofa, to add some interesting visual tension into the living room."

8. Keep Your Options Open With a Versatile Slipcover Sofa

With an innately relaxed disposition, modern slipcover sofas feel like they belong by the sea, in calm, coastal-inspired homes. Their (oftentimes) removable covers mean they're not just a pretty, but practical solution for busy families or regular hosts alike. But what makes this living room sofa idea even better, and more widely appreciated, is how modern designs have started to incorporate a touch of playfulness: perhaps it's a gingham pattern, a surprising velvet fabric, or a retro-inspired skirted sofa, as seen in the living room shown above by Future Perfect.

As the cover can lift off, it also allows you to interchange your design as you please, without having to replace the frame of the sofa. A different color for each season? Yes, please.

9. Shift Your Sofa Away From the Wall

Should your sofa touch the wall? It's probably something you haven't thought much about. The natural tendency in a room that's lacking in space is to push everything to the perimeter of the room, leaving more space available in the middle to move around. But did you know that leaving space — even just a little bit — between your sofa and the wall can actually help to make the room look bigger and more considered in its design? This living room sofa idea will take you less than a minute to action but can have a huge impact on the overall look and feel of the space.

10. Add a Real Statement With Something Like a Swing Sofa

It's definitely a step up from your conventional sofa, and not something that would be feasible for everyone, but the swing seat sofa shown above, by interior design firm Concepto Studio, (a grown-up version of an outdoor swing chair) is an example of just how many living room sofa ideas there are, and how an out-of-the-box design isn't confined to quirky patterns and whimsical shapes.

"The furniture is rooted in light, natural wood that pairs beautifully with a cane swing, making it hard not to conjure up an image of breezy beach vacations at home," says the studio's founder Esha Stanley.

FAQs

What sofas make living rooms look bigger?

Depending on the space you're working with, there are several tricks that can help your living room sofa make the room look bigger. Low-profile sofas make ceiling heights feel taller while moving your sofa away from the wall tricks the eye into thinking a room is more spacious than it may actually be.

Then there's the color of your sofa. In another article, we asked designers what color couches make a room look bigger, and while most recommended opting for lighter shades like off-white, beige, and cream, they also mentioned matching your couch color to the color of the walls, to help it blend into the room and create the illusion of more space.

What style of sofa is timeless?

When buying a sofa, finding one that will last — both in terms of durability and style — is often high on people's list of priorities. There are certain styles that we see repeatedly in the homes that come across our desks; styles that never seem to date.

Often, they're the more classic designs: think simple sectionals, the 'Chesterfield', and 'Lawson' style sofa. For more on that, check out the timeless couches designers recommended to us in another article.

We all spend hours on the sofa (more than we'd like to admit), so finding a living room sofa that works for you and the way you use your space is important. It's an investment, and one you don't want to take too lightly — you'll regret it.

While we hope you now feel inspired when it comes to stylish living room sofa ideas, if you're looking for further guidance on the more functional aspects of shopping for sofas, we also have articles on how to work out the best sofa dimensions and sofa depth for your space, as well as an article on sofas vs sectionals, to help you find one that's perfect for you.