What Colour Sofa Should You Choose?

It might sound obvious, but these days you can have any colour sofa you want. And before you start saying that was always the case, I bet you would have hesitated before choosing a pale sofa if you have small children. Or are partial to a glass of red wine and a cup of black coffee.

Only a few years ago our interiors decisions were mainly governed by practical choices. Who would dare bring a blush pink velvet sofa into a home full of children? Who would consider a dark navy if they owned a white dog? And as for orange – the very idea!

Thankfully those days are gone. And now it’s more about choosing a colour that you love and that you won’t get bored of in a couple of years – because it’s still an expensive purchase – rather than having to be sensible and picking a nice safe neutral that won’t show the stains. Because it still will. So you might as well pick something that is a bit wow.

Regular readers will also know that I’m a fan of putting the colour in unexpected places too, so rather than a sensible sofa and coloured walls, I might opt for neutral walls and an outrageous sofa. And, it seems that many of you are heading that way too.

Last year I teamed up with Love Your Home for a series of posts such as How To Buy A Sofa and they have come back to me again with a special code for you all – 15 per cent off new orders (that aren’t in the sale) as opposed to the current 10 per cent standard sale price. So there, don’t say January is unremitting gloom because there’s shopping to be done.

Leigh Harmer, owner of Love Your Home, and a former interior designer (so he knows of what he speaks) said that their most popular colour is turmeric. Imagine that. Now I might slightly take issue with his terminology and say that I would call it more of a burnt orange, but the point remains that that is a bold choice.

Think how fabulous it is against a dark navy wall, or a deep green and, of course dark grey. But you could change the whole look of the room with a pale, silvery grey or a soft duck egg shade (see yesterday’s paint post for a look at sea foam. Blue and orange are opposite each other on the colour wheel so they go together perfectly. Suddenly that burnt orange is looking less bold and more, well, sensible as a choice.

Or take millennial pink. Only we are supposed to be tired of that now so let’s call it blush or blossom (same thing different seasonal package. The new stain resistant velvets mean that even if you spill something it won’t penetrate the yarn so if you are quick you can get away with it (basically rinse with warm water – generously – and when it’s dry it will be as good as new).

Blossom is one of Love Your Home’s top five selling colours. Along with their new fir green  (not on the website yet but you can ask for a sample) – green is huge at the moment and peanut – a softer shade of orange – is catching up fast.

So if you’ve been fancying a change and the current sale price wasn’t quite doing it for you, then take this code MAD15, take your favourite – not necessarily practical – colour choice and have a browse.

Love Your Home will also customise the size – slightly wider, taller, deeper for 10 per cent of the overall price (so you’d still get a reduction). If you are worried about the size you can also lay down sheets of newspaper to see how much of the floor space it will take up.

There is only one thing you need to be aware of when it comes to your colour choice – the sun. Sunlight is merciless and will fade the area that it shines on whether it be dark or light, bold or safe. If your sofa lives near a regular patch of sun you might need to invest in a throw to prevent fading. Boring I know but they have yet to invent a sun-resistant fabric. I’ll have a word.

Oh the code? It’s MAD15. Let me know how you get on.