Sectional Style

“Dibs!”

I was talking with my design team about how our clients are using sectionals these days and as the conversation unfolded Veronique told me that every time her family gets together to watch a movie, someone shouts ‘dibs’ to claim the corner seat.

Sectionals are hotter than ever, but it wasn’t until I posted the news of the arrival of three new sectionals to our store on facebook that I became aware of the fact that many people didn’t know they were popular again. 

Anybody who has followed my blog knows that I like to notice how history tends to repeat itself, even in our world of furniture and interior design.  The resurgence of the sectional could be due to the cyclical nature of things, or it could be in response to the open great room floor plans in new homes these days, but just maybe it could be something more intimate such as the desire for family closeness, especially during challenging times.  There’s nothing better than the whole tribe sitting together, legs intertwined, watching a movie.

So yes, sectionals are back.  Oh boy are they back.  We are seeing them in great rooms, family rooms, and basements and they function in a variety of ways.  Watching TV is a biggie, and we’ve heard from more than one husband that if he gets a sofa chaise combination he can do without the recliner.  (Hear that, ladies?  There’s a way out of a recliner in the living room!)  Many people are using sectionals in place of theater seating in their media rooms.  Social gatherings are made easy with lots of comfortable seating which promotes great conversation much easier than sitting like birds on a fence on a formal sofa.  Others are finding they can maximize seating in a smaller room, a constant challenge, with the addition of a properly fitted sectional.

What most people don’t know is how customizable sectionals have become, and because they can be a bigger ticket item, it is very important to buy wisely.  The configurations are limitless, from the basic aforementioned sofa chaise to a full blown ‘party pit’.  The corner piece alone could be a simple corner, a curved corner, or a wedge and the decision will be influenced by the size of the room and whether the sectional is going to curve to fit the walls or float in the center of the room.  Most of my blogging does not directly promote our services, but I will say that when purchasing a sectional, I can’t stress enough how important it is to get some help from a professional.  Space planning is critical and in order to maximize the use of your room and your new sofa, you should have some help.  We’ve had to try to bail out numerous clients who came to us after buying a sectional off a random furniture store floor only to find out that the scale was off or it faced the wrong direction.  Oh the bitter aftertaste of falling in love with a price before getting to know the product.  Making a room work with a large piece of furniture that doesn’t fit right is a huge design challenge!

Price points and styles vary, so the three pieces we added to our showroom were selected to show the range from clean lined and easily affordable to the ultimate in large scale and trim options.