Your Guide to Buying Contemporary Modular Sofas

Why buy modular sofa configurations?

Modular sofas have a clear unique selling point compared to the alternatives. They allow you to create the exact shape you want, whether it's a right-hand facing, left-hand facing or U-shaped sofa.

Modular sofas can fit spaces of all shapes and sizes, with one, two or even three corners if needed. Best of all, you can transform and rearrange large modular sofas as your needs change or your family grows. That might be switching the layout to fit in other furniture, or even changing the way your sofa is arranged to fit a new living space.

Don't adapt your lifestyle or home to fit your sofa. It should be the other way around!

Buy something you love, rather than something you like

A modular sofa is an investment, and you will spend a lot of time on it – reading, watching TV, having coffee or a glass of wine, and sharing good times with friends and family. With that in mind, you shouldn't be settling for a modular sofa that's anything other than perfect.

If you love the design of a piece of furniture instinctively, it will continue to give you that same initial joy the minute you walk into the room for many years to come. Buy a modular sofa that fits with your unique style, is made to last and reflects how you want to live.

This can be difficult to find with mass-produced ranges, where you'll often have to compromise on style, functionality and quality. Instead, browse modular sectional sofas from designers and manufacturers who oversee the complete process – turning your exact vision into a reality.

Consider your space: Layout, flow and practical usage needs 

It's vital to find the perfect sofa for both your style and your living space. There's no such thing as one size fits all.

Modular sofas, in particular, should be individual pieces, allowing you to customise something that suits your exact requirements. That includes options for a modular corner sofa, armless units, chaise ends and footstools. You may also want to add armchairs and sofa beds to your living area to complement sofas and accommodate additional guests.

 Over the years, we have assisted clients with every scale and shape of room possible – offering different design solutions to meet the individual needs of each customer. 

Design pain points and usage considerations are often repeated with modular sectional sofas. This means we can provide some useful tips from our experience to help you consider the options.  

Modular sofa scale: Chunky versus thin arms

If you have limited space, consider a slimmer arm profile instead of a chunkier arm modular sofa design. This will sit a bit lighter in the room and give you more usable seating. Alternatively, you can avoid blocking an area of the room by adding an open-end section, footstool or a reduced back section on a chaise-end module.    

For larger rooms, chunkier pieces provide some solidity to an open space, offering low-level partitioning. This keeps the open plan scale of the room but fills the space with a sumptuous central statement living area.  

Modular sofa seat height & depth

Our modular sofas typically range from a seat height of 40cm to 45cm with a depth of 95cm to 145cm.   

In combination with different back and lumbar cushion options, these two dimensions will determine how formal or relaxed your modular sofa will be. The deeper and lower it is, the more casual – and the higher and narrower the seat, the more formal.  

Modular sofas tend to be used in a more casual setting and often go into rooms with a large TV.  If you’re going to spend a lot of time on a sofa, spend an hour sitting on it first. This will allow you to truly assess the comfort and the quality of the craftsmanship being offered.   

Fabric selection: Pick a fabric book then pick a colour.

When advising customers on modular sectional sofas, we try and understand the usage needs first.  Kids and pets are one of the obvious early questions to match your sofa to your life in practical terms. When lighter colours come into play, stain-guard options are always worthwhile so you don't need unsightly furniture covers or uncomfortable leather to make modular sofas durable.

On the chunkier designs, it’s also worth considering a bit of texture or a woven option which breaks up the scale and generally gives the look more depth.

When it comes to colour, it's simply down to your taste. Grey is always popular and has proven timeless over the decades, but there are also lots of blues, reds and yellows to choose from on modular sofas.