Modern Living Room Furniture
So, are you ready for the Modern Living Room experience? Ready to live with modern style furniture but don’t know where to start? Let’s start…
What I would recommend you is to first choose the right modern wall unit, modern TV stand or modern entertainment center for your living room because your modern sofa position and measurements will very much depend of the placement of your TV entertainment center, TV stand, or the complete modern wall unit. You can, of course, choose to just get a modern TV stand but I strongly recommend you to get a complete wall unit. This could be the most creative and unique furniture piece in your modern living room, the piece that will give your living style not only modern but absolutely unique look. These days, with so many options and choices of modern wall units out there it all depends only on your creativity to build your own style from what furniture manufacturers are offering you.
Modern sofas, modern sectional sofas, dinette area tables – all of these units you see in stores usually look somewhat alike to what your neighbors have. But modern wall unit gives you an opportunity to create something really eye catching, nice, unique and futuristic piece of modern furniture. And to make that happen, let me offer some helpful hints that always work for me:
A wall unit is usually what you see first when enter a living room so work hard on it. First, you really need to start with choosing the right size – yes, it does matter here. There is a very simple rule for the wall unit I use: “90-60-90”, or I would say “90-60-45-90” J. What it means is that, usually, wall units geometrically come in standard sizes like 90, 60 and 45 cm. Sometimes you will find 120 and 100 cm units existing but those usually are TV bases or base units. Depth typically does not exceed 15-17” for wall mounted units or storage units and 20-24” for base units. Trust me, if you’ve done this part of your homework correctly, it will serve you right.
These days, plenty of colors and finishes are used for modern wall units. Lacquer, wood veneer…. I especially like black / white, black / red lacquered color combinations; however, even though white color looks nice, be very careful with it. The color of your wall might spoil the effect (means if your wall is painted in white, beige or of white then white wall unit will blend in and you won’t have that contrast effect you’ve been looking for).
Please…. Do not try to make your modern wall unit spacey and useful at the same time…. It won’t work… there are lots of closets in your house so do not kill the look, make it simple, low to the ground, open and airy.
Last but not least – do not overplay and do not forget about your components… Some modern wall units like low boards with the TV on top look nice in the catalog BUT in the real life if you try to set up a TV there, you will have lack of space and lots of cords to hide. So be careful when choosing a TV unit in your wall unit, make sure you know measurements of all your components you buy the wall unit for and try to visually hide everything into the TV unit. Sometimes a back panel works nice to hide cords under the panel. Sometimes TV units are made this way to hide all those ugly cords. So be careful – this is very important.
Modern sofas… or modern sectional sofas are the most commonly used pieces of living room furniture today. Here are some recommendations when choosing one: it is always better if you position the sofa and your chase lounge the way that they both face your TV (wall unit). I also like the idea of putting chase lounges on both sides of your modern sectional sofa. The result is: it will make a sitting place cozier…. The whole place feels more secure and separated from other areas that way, making it a space for easy relaxation, a living quarter inside a living quarter.
It is always your choice to choose between a modern leather sofa and a modern fabric sofa. I like fabric sofas myself. It is more comfortable for me and you have lots of different colors to play with but, once again, it is always your choice.
Now, let’s get to the modern coffee table choices. If your room is big or even huge, low profile tables in wenge finish would look very nice there. If you ask me, I would prefer arm tables. They save lots of space; they’re not heavy, they are convenient enough to put a newspaper or a cup of coffee on them when you need it. Or you can hide it when you are not using it. There is a wide selection of these kinds of tables these days in wenge, glass (almost all of then have adjustable height).
Do not use a rug, even if it has a modern print on it, use cow hides. Natural and / or faux will always work the right way on your floor accenting a modern look of your room. Also a few chairs or foot stools in matching colors could be used if there is a need to increase the number of seats.
Modern Dining or Dinette area… Wrong choice here could kill your entire job of creating your modern living room. Dinette table and chairs, even if you choose a modern ones, still looks heavy and attracts too much attention to itself, taking it all away from the rest of your beautifully created ensemble. To solve this problem and not to kill all previously done work, I would recommend selecting a console table, either in wenge finish or glass. One side of it usually gets permanently attached to the wall. The other side has nice modern chrome legs. These consoles are usually hard to find but they can be custom made easily (and mostly not expensive).
To complete your composition, install a nice, modern adjustable bar / counter chairs instead of the dining chairs. Now you have a place to eat in or use as a bar table if you’re having a party. All simple, nice unique and inexpensive.
Gennadiy Tverskoy
You Need to Place an Office Sofa in the Correct Place
These dynamics may not only affect the perception of customers and future customers, but on the staff as well. These dynamics are further complemented when the office sofa is situated in specific areas.
Just as location is important in real estate so is the location of where an office sofa will be situated. Some of the typical locations for a sofa would be the CEO’s office, the lobby or in the staff lounge.
CEO’s Office
The CEO’s office is the hub where critical decisions are made that affect the current status of the company and future successes. That is why an office sofa located within the CEO’s office should be one that represents authority, durability, classic stylishness and yet warmth.
Such an example of a CEO’s couch would be an office sofa that is constructed of leather. A leather couch, both practically and symbolically, represents durability, classic designs, warmth and the feel of authority.
When existing or new customers enter into an office that is furnished with an office sofa made of leather, the perception will be one of meeting with a successful business person. In addition, formal meetings held in the bosses’ office with staff may enhance the team’s synergy and yet maintain a professional decorum which is required to conduct a successful business.
The Lobby
Another critical area of the company that may benefit from the location of an office sofa is the lobby. The lobby is the focal point of any business in which customers, business associates, staff, shareholders, etc. receive their first impression of the business.
There are a number of styles of office sofas that can be placed in the lobby to reflect the attitude and thinking of the progressive business. For example, if the company wishes to reflect their foreword and cutting edge philosophy, then the placing of a modern contemporary office sofa in the lobby may be indicated. Or, if the company wishes to reflect their conservative and successful history, then perhaps the choice of a leather office sofa may contribute to that image effectively.
Staff Lounge
The success of any business is contingent on a dedicated, experienced, knowledgeable and hard-working staff. Therefore, the business may wish to provide amenities to the staff. These amenities may practically demonstrate the company’s appreciation and acknowledge the staff’s value.
One of these amenities could be the placing of an office sofa in the staff lounge. This particular office sofa could provide a comfortable resting place for personnel to put their feet up and relax.
Suggestions for this type of sofa could be one that is not too soft or too firm. Also, an office sofa that is easy on the eyes and is made of a fabric that is very durable and resists stains.
There are Several Characteristics of a Quality Victorian Sofa
Another graceful and elegant style of furnishing that is popular is from the Victorian age. The Victorian age represents the British Empire at the height of their power and reflects the years from 1837 to 1901 during Queen Victoria’s reign.
One of the important pieces of furniture associated with this timeless era was the Victorian sofa. The Victorian sofa is characterized by its beautiful frame and floral patterns.
Why Victorian Furniture
There are many reasons why individuals choose to purchase a Victorian sofa. Some individuals choose the finely crafted sofa because it is a representation of a gentler and simpler era. Others simply choose to furnish their home with Victorian style furnishings because of the elegance that the furnishings exude.
Also, there are some individuals who choose this decorative theme as it brings back childhood memories. Perhaps a grandparent or parent is remembered fondly when the individual is seated on a Victorian sofa.
Beautiful Frame
The wooden frame of the Victorian sofa can be constructed from a variety of woods. Some of the more popular types of woods include mahogany, oak and beechwood. Typically the wood used to construct the Victorian sofa is characterized by detailed symbols crafted into the wooden frame. These symbols can be reflections of nature such as nuts, fruits, foliage or flowers.
Interestingly, the flowers that adorned the Victorian sofas had special significance. Each of the various flowers that were depicted on the original sofas had specific meanings that served to communicate specific messages to others.
In addition, the legs of the Victorian sofa are also detailed with various representations. Typically, the legs of the sofa are elegantly curved and take on the appearance of an S.
Probably the most distinctive feature of the Victorian couch is the medallion back. This unique characteristic of the Victorian sofa is central to the construction of the Victorian sofa.
Fabric
The Victorian sofa is a fluid combination of a finely crafted wood frame and fabric. In keeping with the Victorian theme, there are many cloths that can be used to manufacture the Victorian sofa. Examples of these materials include tapestries, velvets or a raised silky fabric that depicts various patterns.
This fabric is placed over padding that will provide seating comfort. Generally, a broad variety of fabric colors are available.
Modern Sofa Bed
Modern sofa bed (also known as modern convertible sofa) is one of the key components of a modern living room. These days, modern sofa beds cover a huge chunk of the modern sofas’ market.
An ordinary sofa bed can no longer satisfy the requirements of a modern urban middle-income customer since it does not have the biggest advantage of a modern sofa bed, completely said by its name and so useful in the small to medium size apartments or condos: it could be turned into a bed in seconds thanks to the famous European click-clack mechanism. The old-fashioned squeaky, complicated opening device is now history.
There is one slight downside of this new innovation – you can’t position your sofa directly next to the wall because it needs some extra space in the back when it opens so it won’t touch and damage your wall paint or wallpaper. But really, you can take this sacrifice, when you remember that you no longer need to carry a folding bed in you closet for your mother-in-law, who arrives every now and then do her shopping in her favorite mall, which is most unfortunately happen to be within close proximity to your place.
Some convertible beds or sofa beds have the adjustable back option (try Wieder or Aminach sofa beds, a lot of their models have this benefit). It comes really handy when you want to half sit half lay down to watch TV but do not want your body crumpled as when you use a regular armchair).
Another advantage of a sofa bed is its storage opportunity. Nearly all of the modern sofa beds have a storage space in them, usually big enough to fit complete bedding set for two people. This comes really handy if your living room does not have enough closet space.
And don’t be bound by the word “sofa”. Nowadays, there is a convertible armchair, convertible loveseat, even convertible chaise lounge. Usually, an armchair could be transformed into a sleep place for one person, loveseat opens as a bed for one to two, and a convertible sofa usually hosts two people when turned into a bed. Modern furniture manufactures usually try to give both options to their customers for almost every model of the modern living room furniture set. A European furniture manufacturer called Istikbal carries a full line of such furniture, including sectional convertibles described below.
Sofa beds come from the same furniture family that features futons but sofa beds certainly have what traditional futons don’t: the combination of comfort and style (a traditional futon might be great for your mobile getaway home, but won’t exactly look good in your modern living room).
Modern bed evolution gave sofa beds the style you were looking for and, at the same time, all advantages of your regular mattress including but not limited to its firmness and comfort. Now you can put the sofa bed in your child’s room making it a really great alternative to a regular bed and not having to worry about your child developing back problems because of the bad mattress. It is a great choice for a teenager, since it gives him or her more space to hang out with friends when they come over.
There is another modern living room furniture term, which is really good to know: convertible sectionals. Practically every piece of modern living room furniture can now be a part of a convertible sectional assembly. You can find a loveseat, ottoman or even chaise lounge performing as one convertible sectional ensemble, being able to be detached and positioned separately across your modern living room at your will. Also, convertible sectionals really allow you to play with dimensions. Modern convertible sectionals are extremely popular these days.
modern sofa
Modern convertible sofas, modern loveseat beds, modern armchair beds – almost every model on the market is now available in both leather and fabric. Fabric gives you more choices in color and texture, it is always easier in care, especially, when you choose a removable cover (and I heard you can now order another set of covers in a different color/texture, which can give your furniture a second life, let’s say if you renovated your living room or just can’t stand this color anymore, or you two-year old son decided to add some of his own design to it by applying your pen all over the place). Leather can’t do it all, but leather gives you far more luxurious look, even if you are into a moderate priced sofa bed. So it all depends on what you’re looking for.
Modern Sectional Sofa
So, you are ready to re-design your seating area with the modern style sofa? Let’s start…
First of all, take a look around the place. Make some sketches of your room and try to first place your sofa on paper. Here is some advice:
If your room is big enough for the three or more pieces of an average modern sofa set I would recommend using sofa plus two chairs set instead of the sofa-loveseat-chair one. Loveseat is anyway not big enough to comfortably seat two people. The downside of it is that it takes lots of space so adding two chairs instead of a loveseat will save you some of it and will bring more European modern look to your room.
modern sofa
If you decide to choose a modern sectional sofa (which is commonly used these days as a space and money saver and is always less expensive than a separate pieces set), then my advice is to face a chase lounge part of your modern sectional sofa to the TV set. That is called “chase face a TV” rule.
modern sectional sofa
Materials used for modern sofa as well as for modern sectional sofa are typically leather, fabric or combination of both. Don’t get scared of buying modern fabric sofa. Modern high tech fabrics are usually protected by either Scotch Guard or Teflon protection so they are easy to clean from almost anything. For instance, you can clean a stain from red wine using regular soap and water. Some greasy and/or old spots could be easily removed using 50/50 solution of vinegar and water.
Another advantage is that modern sofas and modern sectional sofas are usually manufactured with removable covers, for effortless cleaning and maintenance of your sofa. You can even wash your cover in a regular washing machine. Imagine that! Also fabric’s life is usually much longer then the life of the leather, which brings us to the next point.
fabric sectional sofa
Leather is a nice, expensive-looking material. Yet, it is a bit easier to fix some splits on the sofa that on the leather, which needs continuous care for it to look nice over a long time (conditioning, waxing, polishing, deep cleaning, etc.). Yet some spots, for example from ink, cannot be removed from the leather without professional help no matter what you do. So, as you can see, leather has some advantages and disadvantages against fabric, so think twice before choosing a modern leather sofa over a modern fabric sofa.