Hygge: A sofa for the family

This post is in collaboration with Sofa.com

A sofa is often one of the biggest house purchases in terms of furniture and expense so getting it right is important. We didn’t get it right first time so wanted to share why and also how much happier I am with the new sofa and layout of the living room.

We had two separate sofa’s in my living room which you can see below and a dead space in between. When we renovated back in 2015 we didn’t think that far ahead and didn’t plan where the TV was going to be situated. That right there is one of the biggest things I learnt from our fairly small scale renovation which is that planning is key especially where you want your light sockets and switches to go, but in order to know where they are going you actually need to have designed your spaces and know what furniture you want and where! We had a rough idea and it was actually in the dead space you can see here, but then once all of the furniture arrived, we realised it didn’t work. Since renovating we have also grown as a family and acquired an extra two little ladies 😉 and as they have got bigger, we thought a corner sofa would be a nicer way to relax together.

If any of you have ever been on the sofa.com website you’ll know there is a lot of choice! I was completely overwhelmed and ended up asking some Insta pals to help me out with picking one! Anyway, after what felt like an eternity I finally chose one, I went with the Stella Corner Modular Sofa because with this one I had the option of customising the dimensions so could achieve a perfect fit. It also means if we ever move I can make it bigger if it needs to be (one can dream of a 50ft lounge!!).

I picked the Stella because I wanted a sofa for the family and one that you could stretch out on. I basically wanted a sofa that screamed out “come and lie down on me” or “snuggle under a blanket with the fire on,” so for me it was always going to be a corner sofa that would tick all of those boxes and provide me with the opportunity to enjoy hyggelig moments with the family. Ok, so let’s be realistic here, the little ladies don’t actually let me sit here for longer than approx 3 minutes before the demands start coming in thick and fast! Anyway, I digress, corner sofas can get a bad rep at times for being cumbersome and taking up too much room but I think my home clearly shows that this isn’t the case. It has filled the dead space that existed in the corner where we previously had two separate sofas and I love being able to relax and lie on the corner part in the evenings once the little ladies are in bed. It has also transformed day-to-day life as we can all finally sit together, in fact I think corner sofas should be the first choice for all big families. Our little ladies are only going to get bigger and the Stella sofa will grow with them, not physically of course, I meant that more in the metaphorical sense, although saying that it probably could as it is modular so I could add to it one day!

I am also hoping I can show you here that corner sofas also work in small spaces.

My Stella corner sofa is made up of the following units: Left hand facing regular arm, a triple unit, corner unit, regular single unit and a right hand facing footstool.

I also found the team at sofa.com incredibly helpful. I was able to send photographs and measurements of my space and what I thought would work and they confirmed what options they had which would match closest to the specifications I had suggested. I didn’t want the sofa to come into the room too much as it needed to be in line with the end of the fireplace and TV. And on the other side, I didn’t want it to impose or cover too much of the window. To avoid that, we had the option of adding a pouffe to the end so that the back of the sofa ended and not too much of the window was obscured. What I especially love about the sofa is that because we could create our own size it is the perfect fit for our space, we haven’t had to try to squeeze it in.

I wanted to talk you through my choice of fabric too which for some of you will be the biggest no no! After agonising again, yes another decision which I cannot seem to cope with, velvet won over linen! The velvet feels like we have added a little bit of luxury to our home which is hard to come by in a house full of plastic toys and looks like it has been burgled on a daily basis. Not only does it look great, it just feels so soft. I think velvet is key to a cosy interior and it’s timeless. A lot of people may think I am mad owning a velvet sofa with three little ones under the age of 6. However, we don’t let them eat or drink on it but jumping is allowed so I think that’s a fair compromise. We also cover the seats with blankets during the day just to protect it and once they are in bed we take the blankets off so we can enjoy sitting on it. As for the colour, it was only ever going to be grey. We had two grey sofas before and whilst I went with my heart with the velvet, I thought going for a pale beige natural colour which I would have loved would have been a step too far!

I am really pleased with the sofa as living room is definitely the cosiest space in our house especially with the wood burner on in the winter. I love the different moods that come with it from first thing in the morning when it has the morning sun beaming through and the little ladies are snuggled on the sofa watching their cartoons before the madness of the school routine. To the middle of the day where its chaotic and toys are strewn about the place and you can’t move as a result of it to the rare moments I have 5 minutes peace and can curl up on my sofa and have a cup of tea or reply to emails on my laptop. And then total bliss in the evening when I can switch off, the little ladies are asleep and I have the greatest gift of the day, the TV remote all to myself!

Photo credits: Marie Palbom @mariepalbom_photography https://www.mariepalbomphotography.com/