Sofa styles that age your living room

A new sofa is one of the fastest ways to make a home feel current and timeless all at once. However, not all sofas are able to invigorate your home as some might have just the opposite effect. A good sofa should tick all your boxes for style, comfort, durability, material, size and colour and without compromising your taste.  Here are some sofa styles you should avoid because they make your space look old-fashioned.

Patterned sofas

We all remember the busy patterned velvet sofas of our childhood sofas and we might have sentimental attachment to the style. But while patterned furniture was perfectly stylish back then, now it just screams outdated.

To catch up with the trends look for neutral colours in more practical, high-performing and sustainable fabrics such as cotton or linen considered.

 Similarly, you might remember those sofas that came in crazy shapes which never made any sense to me and I am glad to see the trend come to its end. If you have any of those curved sofas and amoeba-shaped furniture swap them for the more classic silhouettes and angular pieces.

Attached seat cushions

Attached cushions are not just outdated but can also be high maintenance.  You need to be able to flip and rotate your cushions so they wear evenly which will not be possible if they are attached. Cleaning, repairing or replacing also becomes difficult. 

And most importantly, Phillip Katende, a carpenter reveals that one way to tell a couch has been made poorly is the attached cushions because it is a trick  shoddy manufacturers use to hide substandard work below the surface. 

Matching sets

More and more of us are becoming progressively adventurous and playful when it comes to decorating our homes, rejecting traditional practices and ideas of what is ‘expected’ of our spaces.

Many of us have especially post-pandemic, completely re-evaluated how we view and use our homes. We want a home that feels  truly authentic and personal, so we are not afraid to put all our favourite pieces in one place.  For a less matchy-matchy look without cluttering your space, mix second-hand pieces with brand-new designs.

Store bought sofas

Katende says more homeowners are shunning the already made sofas preferring to commission furniture that will be a reflection of their taste and serve their particular needs.

“Some clients bring their store bought sofas and ask me to modify them for them. Others bring older pieces that I restore with a few tweaks,” he says.  Katende says this is because vintage and custom made furniture has become trendy. 

High drama sofa

After the lockdowns, more people are now less interested in style and more committed to finding furniture that sparks joy in their souls and infuses them with a healthy dose of positivity every day.

 Even though 2023 will see a rise in bolder, impactful and colourful sofa trends avoid stylish designs that feel impractical and formal. These belong to the pre-pandemic era.  Exaggerated, high-drama designs that are merely for show make your home feel less current and fresh.

Oversized sofas

Unless you live in a castle or you are a giant, there is no reason to have a seat depth greater than 29 inches or an overall depth of 47 inches. The oversized furniture had its moment and is now out. This year go for a sofa that will not force people to sit with their legs straight out in front of them.

Boucle

 The beloved soft fabric has had its fair share of the spotlight over the past two years but expert say now it is time to say goodbye to it. The usually  looped fabric takes its name from the French word meaning “looped” or “curled”. Its nubby texture is created during the plying process whereby a fibre,usually wool but sometimes silk or other finer fabrics, is held taut while looser fibres naturally create random loops in the yarn.