How to Use Modular Sofas in Your Living Room

Christopher Lowell teaches you how to use modular sofas in your living room.

Modular is one of those inside design words that can turn people off if they don’t understand it. But let me explain how modular is actually a great option for big rooms. While the old fashioned kid sofa is kind of out, a tailored modular sofa configuration is in. The ideal thing for maximum flexibility is to choose pieces that you can move as the activity changes within each room. My ideal configuration is a left and right shift. That means, an arm that goes to here and a back that goes all the way over. You’ll see how this comes into play as we move them around. Joining the left and the right are two independent slipper chairs, there’s one here and there’s one here. You want all of these pieces overstuffed but you still want them tailored and tight. That gives it a very uniform look that will be luxurious for her but tailored for him. But you must remember is to buy a modular system that has flat backs, that way, you could push things up against them or butt them back to back, that’s key. So when it’s just you and the family, this is the ideal situation, if everybody wants to be able to put their legs up, a couple of ottomans, which also add versatility, let’s everybody do this, not just left and right so you’ve got room all the way across the board. Okay, however, let’s say during a party situation, let’s say the bar’s back there and the TV is there, what you don’t want is to create a wall between entertainment spaces so all we do here is we simply move that that way, leaving an opening so you can have your smart cocktail here and you can come in and say hi, how are you, nice to see you, my gosh you look fabulous. This is what I call the public space hotel or nightclub configuration. Here, these flat backs allow you to be able to put a half round table or a square table and a lamp on both sides or you can link one furniture grouping to another, complete furniture grouping by just taking more chairs and placing them up right the back of them, that’s why the square back is really key. That working along with the ottomans allows you for a lot of seating. Right now, here in this little alley, we’ve got seating for one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, if someone’s sitting this way, nine, 10, 11, all in a space of 12 foot x 12 foot so you can that four of the right pieces and a few ottomans will give you infinite arrangement possibilities.