How Low Can You Go? Living With a Low-Down Minimalist Sofa
Work the lean and elegant lines of modern, low sofas with these tactics for sitting pretty
While real estate prices, sea levels and hemlines continue to rise, sofas are bucking the trend and heading downwards. As streamlined as many modern sofas are, designing a room around one has its challenges. If you’re sofa shopping and are veering towards their svelte, floor-hugging lines, take a moment to consider if a low-set sofa is right for your home. Your answers to these questions will reveal if you’re ready to live the low life in high style.
What’s your sitting style?
Are you a percher, sloucher or languid recliner? How do others use the sofa? If you’re familiar with a cushiony, fat-armed, high-backed sofa, you’ll notice a big difference in how you sit in a slimline design with more compact contours. Having just made the change myself, I’ve not lost any comfort, but my sitting posture has improved dramatically!
Are you a percher, sloucher or languid recliner? How do others use the sofa? If you’re familiar with a cushiony, fat-armed, high-backed sofa, you’ll notice a big difference in how you sit in a slimline design with more compact contours. Having just made the change myself, I’ve not lost any comfort, but my sitting posture has improved dramatically!
How high is your coffee table?
As sofas descend, coffee tables follow suit. A high coffee table with a low, slimline sofa can look like a misfit, so you may want to swap in one that looks more up to date. Many modern coffee tables only just clear the floor on short, barely-there legs, or none at all. Ideally it should sit slightly lower than the seat and definitely not higher than it (sorry, no more TV dinners).
As sofas descend, coffee tables follow suit. A high coffee table with a low, slimline sofa can look like a misfit, so you may want to swap in one that looks more up to date. Many modern coffee tables only just clear the floor on short, barely-there legs, or none at all. Ideally it should sit slightly lower than the seat and definitely not higher than it (sorry, no more TV dinners).
Check out your side tables too. Tall, solid side tables higher than the arms visually bully a low sofa and overemphasise slender proportions. Go for light-framed, delicate tables a little below or level with the edge of the arms. Cube or drum styles that echo the lines of the sofa are also a contemporary look.
What’s behind the sofa?
A high console table behind a low-backed sofa has the potential for bumped heads. Ensure it sits lower than the sofa back. Look outside the classic console style for other options, like a bench or bookshelf. Take care that decorative items can’t be knocked off with a careless backwards head movement or arm across the back of the sofa.
A high console table behind a low-backed sofa has the potential for bumped heads. Ensure it sits lower than the sofa back. Look outside the classic console style for other options, like a bench or bookshelf. Take care that decorative items can’t be knocked off with a careless backwards head movement or arm across the back of the sofa.
Do your armchairs suit the setting?
Armchair heights don’t come into the equation if they are part of a sofa set. But with the current fashion for mixing and matching seating, armchairs in a different style that tower above a low-slung sofa do it no favours. For a coordinated arrangement, keep a minimal difference between sofa and armchair heights.
How to arrange living room furniture
Armchair heights don’t come into the equation if they are part of a sofa set. But with the current fashion for mixing and matching seating, armchairs in a different style that tower above a low-slung sofa do it no favours. For a coordinated arrangement, keep a minimal difference between sofa and armchair heights.
How to arrange living room furniture
How does your room measure up?
Take into account not only the floor area of the room, but its shape and the ceiling height. If you’re replacing a sofa with generous proportions and a weighty presence that takes up significant space in a large sitting room, a modern model with fine lines, a low back and less overall depth could appear skimpy. Be prepared to experiment by moving furniture around to add visual weight to the arrangement and compensate for less bulk.
Take into account not only the floor area of the room, but its shape and the ceiling height. If you’re replacing a sofa with generous proportions and a weighty presence that takes up significant space in a large sitting room, a modern model with fine lines, a low back and less overall depth could appear skimpy. Be prepared to experiment by moving furniture around to add visual weight to the arrangement and compensate for less bulk.
Low-profile seating reveals more wall and makes an already high ceiling look higher. With more height to work with, beef up the size of artworks and drop them slightly lower to fill the gap.
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Browse more eclectic living spaces
Is the sofa against a window?
A handy measurement to take shopping is the height of a window sill. If you plan to back the sofa up against a window, don’t let it intrude above the sill height. A low-profile sofa is an ideal choice to sit neatly just on or below sill height.
A handy measurement to take shopping is the height of a window sill. If you plan to back the sofa up against a window, don’t let it intrude above the sill height. A low-profile sofa is an ideal choice to sit neatly just on or below sill height.
A low-backed sofa maintains an uninterrupted line of sight to a pretty view. Sleek, low-profile seating is less likely to encroach on an attractive outlook. With no seat back to impede it, the eye will skim past the sofa to the lovely scene beyond.
Do you or your guests have a fear of falling?
Many sofa designers have taken minimalist structure to the limit and skipped arms completely. For some people, armlessness feels precarious, forcing sitters to bunch up in the middle away from the side edges, thereby wasting sitting space. Side tables or cubes at elbow height might make sitters feel more comfortable. If space doesn’t permit side furniture, provide plenty of table surface in front of the sofa.
Many sofa designers have taken minimalist structure to the limit and skipped arms completely. For some people, armlessness feels precarious, forcing sitters to bunch up in the middle away from the side edges, thereby wasting sitting space. Side tables or cubes at elbow height might make sitters feel more comfortable. If space doesn’t permit side furniture, provide plenty of table surface in front of the sofa.
Is your living space open-plan?
Low, modern sofas may have evolved in concert with open-plan interiors, so perfectly do they fit with these spaces. Sofas are frequently used to divide off a sitting area from dining or kitchen areas. A low sofa doesn’t present a visual block like a higher one and maintains a line of sight through the space.
Low, modern sofas may have evolved in concert with open-plan interiors, so perfectly do they fit with these spaces. Sofas are frequently used to divide off a sitting area from dining or kitchen areas. A low sofa doesn’t present a visual block like a higher one and maintains a line of sight through the space.
How low to you want to go?
With the advent of home theatres and multi-functional living spaces that cater for social sitting and watching media, sofas and modular seating have dropped to an all-time low, dispensing with legs altogether. Fabulous to flop in – but ask yourself if you are a flopper. Do you have elderly guests or visitors with impaired mobility? Having to be craned to a standing position after a sociable drink or a movie will wear out its welcome, so be sure this style is a practical long-term choice.
With the advent of home theatres and multi-functional living spaces that cater for social sitting and watching media, sofas and modular seating have dropped to an all-time low, dispensing with legs altogether. Fabulous to flop in – but ask yourself if you are a flopper. Do you have elderly guests or visitors with impaired mobility? Having to be craned to a standing position after a sociable drink or a movie will wear out its welcome, so be sure this style is a practical long-term choice.
If you’ve already opted for legless sofas and decided they are just too low to the ground for comfort, it’s possible to modify a sofa by attaching legs. This is a job for a professional, as proportions need to be maintained and the base could require reinforcing. In this image, a raised platform supports the seats and takes the place of legs, to create a stylish conversation pit.
Do you need bolsters?
Bolsters are a style statement on a sofa with slender arms and are an elegant detail to balance the shape. Before you plump for bolsters, make sure they are sitter-friendly. They are often too firm as a back cushion and take up sitting room. I removed those that came with my new sofa and settled for comfortable cushions instead.
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Have you recently changed your sofa style? How does it suit your lifestyle? Tell us in the Comments section below.
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Bolsters are a style statement on a sofa with slender arms and are an elegant detail to balance the shape. Before you plump for bolsters, make sure they are sitter-friendly. They are often too firm as a back cushion and take up sitting room. I removed those that came with my new sofa and settled for comfortable cushions instead.
TELL US
Have you recently changed your sofa style? How does it suit your lifestyle? Tell us in the Comments section below.
MORE
Browse more living room ideas
Make an honest appraisal of the style of the room where your sofa will go. An outstanding modern piece in prime position will set the tone of the room, probably for years to come, and may not gel with your existing decor. Changing several other items in the room to suit could lead to more expenditure than you intended. Don’t fall for fashion just for the sake of it. On the other hand, a dramatic style change could be just what you – and the room – need.
How to discover your decorating style