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How to choose a sofa colour for your lounge

Sofas are the heart of the home. Big and beautiful, they’re the main focus of any living room, so it’s essential that everything from styling to sofa colour is spot on.

However, with so many factors to think about - from choosing colours that match flooring to deciding how it could look in ten years’ time - picking the right sofa colour can seem like a daunting task.

That’s where we come in. For expert tips on how to pick the right sofa colour for your living space, take a look, below.

Firstly, consult your existing décor

Imagine a zebra print sofa in a doctor’s waiting room. Seems crazy, right? That’s because we expect rooms, from their sofas to their door frames, to stick to a certain theme. While this might sound confusing, it’s actually much simpler to get right than you think.

Look at your colour palette

If your lounge has a traditional theme (perhaps you have a rustic fireplace or unfinished wooden floors), then browns, greys, and reds are an ideal sofa colour. If your theme is much more contemporary (geometric prints and minimalistic décor is an example), then contrasting colours like whites, blacks and bright colours work particularly well for sofas.

Orange sofa with blue chairs complementary colour

Pay attention to flooring

You might not know it, but flooring colour has a huge influence on how sofas look.

Think about it: if you are adding a sofa to dark hardwood floors, then a sofa with light or bold shades will stand out spectacularly. If you’re styling around cool carpet colours and light wood floors, then sofa shades at the darker end of the spectrum will do your sofa justice.

Of course, if you have other plans for your décor, then you can easily throw a rug in a contrasting colour underneath to break up the blending. Similarly, contrasting sofa legs will make your sofa colour pop.

Be practical

While it can be tempting to simply pick your favourite shade (maroon for us, please!), sofa colours should be practical, too. Luckily, there are ways to make a stylish compromise.

Think about who will use the sofa

This might seem obvious, but it’s surprising how many people are shocked when black pet hairs ruin a lovely new cream sofa. To safeguard your sofa against inevitabilities, such as mucky paw prints and sticky fingerprints, then choose a neutral, dark or medium colour for your sofa; this should hide small spots and stains.

However, if your décor is better suited to a lighter, more colourful sofa colour, don’t worry – there are plenty of sofa fabrics which can be cleaned up easily. Eye-catching washable slip covers also give sofas a fresh look in an instant.

TOP TIP: If your pet is prone to jumping up on your couch, try to pick a sofa colour which matches their fur.

Location, location, location

Your sofa might look great backed up against a large bay window, but is it really that practical? As sunlight peeks through, colours will fade, and so too will that gorgeous navy sofa you bought a few years ago (which now looks more like a baby blue).

To make sure you’re picking the right colour (if there is no shade from the sunlight) opt for a light-coloured sofa so that, if it were to fade, the change isn’t too noticeable.

Think about the future

When choosing sofa colours, impulsiveness can be a bad look. Remember, the sofa you choose will likely stick around for years, if not decades, so it’s worth putting plenty of thought into how it will look in the future.

Perhaps you are the kind of person whose style is constantly shifting: how will your sofa look with different decors? Think over the ‘trendy’ print you’ve chosen: will it look old-fashioned in a few years, or is time on its side?

Trendy mustard sofa in modern living room

If you’re looking for a reliable, time-resistant sofa colour, then you can’t go wrong with a solid, neutral or dark shade. Sound a little too “stripped-back” for you? Throw on a decorative throw, with some eye-catching scatter cushions and a complementary slip cover when you want to show off your creative flair.

If a bolder colour scheme is calling your name, then classic colour combinations, such as black and white, blue and grey, and red and gold will look fabulous for years to come.

Stuck for sofa colour inspiration? Take a look through our reupholstery and sofa cover selection to find the perfect colour for your living space.

 

Sophie Page
Sophie Page

Sophie is a great granddaughter of the founders of the business - so fabrics and furniture are almost part of her DNA! Her interests include home interiors and upcycling, and her favourite show to watch after work is The Repair Shop. Some of the topics she covers on the Plumbs blog include sofa reupholstery and furniture protection.

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