Your Friendly Guide To Measuring Your Modern Sofa
Posted by Eloy on May 17th 2021
We have some advice and users who have had enriching experiences in this area and have learned a lot about the keys to this fascinating discipline.
If right now you're in the process of furnishing, designing, and decorating your interior spaces, this guide will be very useful, especially concerning the dimensions and choice of your modern sofa.
The first step is very simple, direct, and, at the same time, something that's often ignored a lot, especially by inexperienced people: drawing a floor plan. Sometimes, this stops being done due to ignorance, disinterest, or lack of confidence about all the benefits it can generate.
However, the floor plan, more than a formality, is a work tool; the map with which you can orient yourself to make the right decisions and go in the most convenient direction.
When we talk about creating a floor plan, we are not referring to creating something especially complex, which will require a great deal of advanced technical or conceptual knowledge: it's simply a graphic in which you realistically represent what you want to do.
The creation of a scale floor plan will allow you to visualize with much better comfort and accuracy the dimensions of the place, the size of the future elements that you're going to add to the area, and the specific spot of each one.
How to measure a sofa
To correctly measure such a piece, a tape measure should suffice. There are really long and impressive sofa models, but most modern sofas can be measured easily and quickly with that instrument.
The usual sofa measurements are length, width, depth, and the general height of the piece, the height between the floor and the seat, and the height of the backrest are also taken into account.
In some cases, the depth of the seats is also taken into account, but that will depend on the interest of each user. You must pay attention to the two measurements that you'll record on your floor plan if it is two-dimensional: length and width because they're the ones that will allow you to find the best and most convenient location for your sofa.
How to measure a sectional sofa
Sectional sofas are part of the legacy of modernism which, by placing both direct emphases on function and a highly relevant aspect of furniture designs, led to the emergence of very interesting models appropriate for certain environments.
The sectionals are easily identifiable by their elongated side seat that acts as a chaise attached to the entire body of the sofa. That is, it works as a complementary seat that fulfills the function of an ottoman. Two examples of models with these characteristics are the PrinceSectional Sofa and the Modern Sectional Sofa. Although both have different materials and colors, they have a similar design.
There are many types of sectionals; some offer the possibility of being easily transformed by changing the chaise seat to the left or right side as needed. There are even those that don't have a chaise-shaped seat but include an isolated ottoman, such as the Marbella sofa, which can be attached to the room if the user needs it, and there are also modular sofas such as the Bellini Camaleonda that can be transformed according to the user's needs, exchanging the position of their seats as appropriate.
To make the correct measurement of a sectional, you should only take into account the dimensions mentioned in the previous point, but this time also adding the length, width, depth, and height of the chaise seat.
This is especially important if you'll be using your sectional to divide a very large area, such as separating the living room from the dining room in an open-concept floor plan, a strategy that interior designers are using a lot lately.
Once you've made sure you have the exact dimensions of the piece you want to add to your layout on hand, you can properly dock it to your floor plan and find the perfect spot for it. Sectionals have actually been designed to make the most of the space lost in the corners of a room, but you can use it and place it in any way you see fit.
How to measure a sofa cover
Knowing how to measure a sofa cover can be very useful in many cases, especially when it comes time to renew the upholstery of your piece because the current one is very worn or because you simply want to renew its appearance.
To correctly measure your sofa cover, you can follow these simple steps that will make the process more user-friendly and with more reliable results:
- STEP 1: Get the patterns. Get a large sheet of paper and spread it out completely. That role will officially become your pattern paper. The first thing you'll do is cut out the paper to get the patterns. To do this, you'll need to use some pins so that the pattern paper doesn't move while you rest it on the upholstery. Trace the shape of the front armrest to make it a pattern.
- STEP 2: Write down additional measures. Trace the sides of the backrest using the same procedure as step one. Measure the center seat at the bottom; next, measure the side of the center seat and the vertical measurement from the seat back to the front. Then, you can take the full width of the armrest. Take the seat back measurement in the center, the seat back measurement at the top, and also the width. Finally, measure the length, the front, and the width of the front from the bottom.
How to measure a sofa for a slipcover
To correctly measure your sofa and get the exact dimensions that will allow you to have an appropriately sized slipcover, be sure to grab your tape measure and write down the following measurements:
- Total length of the back, from one end to the other.
- Total height of the piece, from the ground to the highest part of the back.
- Width of the sofa, measuring one of its lateral ends.
- Total height of the seat, from the ground to the surface of the cushion.
These measurements should be able to allow you to design the patterns of a slipcover tailored to your sofa, that it looks and works properly.
Sectional sofa measurements
The measurements of a sectional sofa are a key factor if you're already convinced that this is the best type of sofa for you and you are determined to get the one that best suits the space you are designing. Remember that the location of the chaise seat will be the key to determining the best spot for your sectional on your floor plan.
Some users use a sectional in one corner, but decide not to place the chaise seat on the end that connects to the wall, but rather on the other side, so that that long seat can be used from all angles.
If you go in person to buy a piece like this in a furniture store, it shouldn't be necessary to take the tape measure, since an advisor can provide you with that information. The best thing, instead, will be that you have your floor plan at hand to be able to compare its dimensions with the available space and thus have a clearer notion of how it would look in your area.
As you may have realized, this has been much more than a sofa measurements guide, but a compilation of valuable instructions that will help you a lot in your search for the ideal sofa for your area. Never forget that the sofa ergonomics measurements that are compatible with your body, anthropometric dimensions, in models that use friendly materials and a style with which you identify is a very great advantage that you must treasure because it will give you great satisfaction and pleasant moments.