Living Room Central

Sofas and sectionals: seat depth, the frame, and the doorway

A sofa is the piece a living room is arranged around and the one most often bought from a listing. Its specification sheet is a set of measurements, and three of them — depth, seat height and the width of the widest piece — decide whether it works before anything about comfort does.

What the category is

Sofas seat two or three; loveseats two; sectionals join two or more pieces into an L or a U; sleepers hide a mattress; futons fold flat; modular sets let you add or remove seats. Frames are hardwood, engineered wood or steel; fills are foam, foam over springs, or foam with fibre or down wrap; upholstery is fabric, leather, faux leather or velvet. The listing names all of these, some more honestly than others.

How to read the spec sheet

Overall width, depth and height in inches. Depth is the one people forget: 34 to 36 inches is a sit-up sofa, 38 to 42 is a lounging one and eats floor. Height decides whether it blocks a window sill.

Seat height, depth and width: 17 to 19 inches high is standard; 20 and up suits tall people and bad knees; under 17 is low and modern. Seat depth of 21 to 23 inches suits most; more needs cushions behind you. Seat width per person is what “three-seater” actually means.

The doorway: the sheet’s package dimensions, or the assembled height and depth, against the narrowest door and any turn on the way. A sofa that arrives in pieces (modular, or with removable legs and back) is the safe answer for a tight hallway, and the sheet says whether it does.

Frame: kiln-dried hardwood is the durable claim; engineered wood is common and fine at the price; a metal frame is usual on sleepers. “Wood” with no adjective is probably particleboard.

Fill and springs: high-density foam (the density in pounds per cubic foot, where stated, is the honest figure), sinuous springs or pocket coils under it, and a fibre or down wrap for softness. Foam alone sits firm and lasts; feather-wrapped cushions need plumping.

Upholstery: performance fabric names a cleaning code and sometimes an abrasion count; top-grain leather is leather, bonded leather is not; velvet shows every direction it is brushed.

Weight rating: per seat or for the piece, and the sheet is not always clear which. 250 pounds per seat is ordinary.

Sleepers add mattress size and type; sectionals add whether the chaise is reversible and how the pieces connect.

Who it suits

A deep sectional for a family room where people lie down; a firm, shallow sofa for a formal room or a small one; a modular set for a room that changes or a stairwell that turns; a sleeper for a flat with guests and no spare room.

Who should skip it

A single person in a small room, for whom a good armchair and a loveseat use the space better than a three-seater. And anyone measuring the room before the doorway.

Where to start

Six of the 114 sofas & sectionals living room pieces reviewed on this site, one per model, across manufacturers. Every review is written from the manufacturer’s published specifications — how, and what that leaves out.

All 114 sofas & sectionals piece reviews

Newest first. Consumables, accessories and parts that were once filed here are excluded.