Sofas are important to us as soul mates for our bodies and hips. But we often choose sofas only for their “physical comfort and aesthetic pleasure”, missing out on their “interesting interior” – sofa styles that have changed over the centuries.
Sofas originated in Europe and have had popular styles in all eras. Today we mainly talk about 12 fabric and leather sofa styles. Understanding the sofa’s past will help determine which sofa style is best for your home: select a style to match and complete the style you want for your home.
01 Cabriole Sofa
Cabriole sofa is a classic piece of furniture popular in the 18th century under Louis XV, and it is most notable for the “S” shape legs. The outward and downward bending resembles balletic movements. The sofa armrests are slightly lower than the backrest, and there are exposed carved wooden frames from the armrests to the backrest.
With its graceful curves and charming details, Cabriole sofa is an ideal choice for an elegant French-style home.
02 Chesterfield Sofa
Chesterfield Sofa dates back to the 18th century. An Earl of England named Chesterfield commissioned craftsmen to design furniture that allowed people to sit upright so that their clothes would not wrinkle. The result was Chesterfield Sofa with a straight back and elegant rolled edges.
Chesterfield Sofa features a tight-buttons design from the back to the seat, which both fixes the surface and embodies a restrained, orderly beauty.
The Chesterfield Sofa is perfect for an American-style home and looks nice for mixed or industrial homes.
03 Settee Sofa
A settee sofa is a bench with a straight backrest and two-person space. Its exposed wooden edges from armrests to backrests make it suitable for a gallery, living room or even a double chair to match the dining table. Its good functionality complements the lack of comfort.
04 Loveseat Sofa
Loveseat Sofa is the modern and comfortable version of Settee sofa, and it is perfect for a small home or apartment. Lovers can watch a film or play a video game together on the loveseat sofa. And funnily enough, Loveseat sofa is not based on “love stories” but on the fact that girls used to have dresses in big sizes, and they needed double sofas.
05 Tuxedo Sofa
The name of Tuxedo Sofa comes from Tuxedo Park in New York, considered one of the origins of the modernist design style in the 1920s.
The characteristics of Tuxedo sofa are the same as tuxedo: armrests are at the same height as the backrest, the whole sofa is straight and shapely, without extra lines, and often decorated with a large area of tight buttons.
Tuxedo sofa is both retro and modern in appearance. With its noble look in velvet material, you can use cotton linen for tuxedo sofa. Its strong shape makes it ideal for a modern home.
06 Camelback Sofa
Camelback Sofa was designed by the famous British designer Thomas Chippendale in the 18th century, who designed a range of furniture that incorporated the curves of Palace furniture from the Qing Dynasty in China.
Camelback Sofa has a classic camelback curvature at the backrest, with slightly shorter sides and a bow-shaped projection in the middle. The solid wood sofa legs are left out, making this sofa more classy and elegant.
Camelback Sofa is one of American or European furniture’s most common sofas.
07 English Rolled Arm Sofa
Dating back to the early 20th century, English Rolled Arm Sofa is a typical British country style. Cushions are soft and large, and arms are slightly recessed and rolled outwards.
It has a classic British-style skirt, and you can see the four short sofa legs in some models, making a more casual and relaxed atmosphere in the home.
English Rolled Arm Sofa can be found in many TV shows and dramas. It is normal in many ordinary homes, with a classic look that does not easily go out of fashion, deep enough cushions and typical low armrests that make it possible to lie on the sofa as a headrest without any problems.
08 Lawson Sofa
Lawson Sofa is a brother of the English roll-arm sofa, created by Thomas Lawson, an American businessman in the late 19th who wanted a more comfortable sofa to sit on.
Straight legs make Lawson sofa modern, and thick back and seat cushions with arms below the backrest make it the ideal sofa for napping.
Lawson sofa eschewed the more popular ornate styles at that time, and its simple and comfortable design made it a versatile furniture in interior design. Nowadays, you can find lawson sofa or its variation in many homes.
09 Mid-Century Modern Sofa
Mid-Century Modern Sofa has its roots in the modern design movement from the 1930s to 1960s, and it is also known as the MCM style, which has recently regained popularity.
The modernist emphasis on “form follows function”, which made MCM sofa often has straight lines, simple shapes and no unnecessary decoration, slim and slightly outward-sloping legs made this sofa light and easy.
MCM sofa is the best option if you want a modern style interior design.
10 Chaise Longue
Chaise Longue is also known as the ‘sleepy sofa’ and was named in the Victorian era. Noble ladies who sought to dress up in gowns and corsets used chaise lounges to sit down and rest to prevent sudden fainting due to the tightness of clothes and difficulty breathing. Chaise Longue has a distinctive appearance, with a smoothly curved backrest and self-sloping armrest to allow ladies to lie down with sufficient grace and relaxation.
Due to the large room space and personal comfort requirements, a chaise longue is the best option for a bedroom corner and ideal for a reading corner.
11 Daybed Sofa
Daybed sofa has two faces: a sofa by day and a bed by night. Early Daybed sofas were usually armless, with large seats and slim leg lines, giving them a distinctive look.
The single cylindrical armrest of Daybed sofa can be transformed into a comfortable headrest at night. The absence of a backrest gives Daybed sofa a lighter look in the home space.
Nowadays, sofa beds are similar in appearance to sofas, and they often have space underneath to store and conceal part of the bed. You can pull out this part and then have a double bed, and these sofa beds are suitable for small living rooms and offices.
12 Sectional Sofa
Sectional Sofa combines single chair, corner chair and chaise longue, which can be increased or decreased according to the room space.
It is the most common type of sofa used in modern interior design. Usually, you can put Sectional Sofa in the living room or sitting room because it is large.
Sectional Sofa is available in various combinations and can be freely combined according to the actual use.
Which sofa styles do you like? Welcome to comment or contact us. We would appreciate you sharing our post.
