apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Let me check the furniture etiquette rulebook...

... it says do whatever feels comfortable to you.

Nice apartment - you'll do fine!

Comfortable yes, but there is nothing worse than an oversized sofa crammed into a small room. I would steer towards a couch that is comfy but not 'overstuffed'. There are good smaller slipcovered examples at Pottery Barn, like the Buchanan Apartment Sofa (79" wide). You can probably get the same look cheaper at JCPenney or Ikea. You should also think about whether you want to fit little tables on either side, I love having a place to put my wine glass while lounging. BTW - I love those floors!

Since sofas are a big investment for most, I suggest buying a sofa for your needs as opposed to tailoring the scale to fit a temporary apartment. Just try not to go too overstuffed with arms in a tight space - unless you really like that look. When you go sofa shopping, note its dimensions and then get some painters tape or newspaper and block the dimensions on the floor so you get a true since of scale.

Also, note the height and width of all doors and hallways to/from your place -- you want to make sure it fits.

Another great place to look for apartment sized furniture is World Market. I've got several pieces by them.

Instead of a sofa what about two love seats or a loveseat and chairs? When I first moved into my place I was taking what I could get and had an overstuffed sofa. My living room is on the small size and it was very difficult to find a suitable arrangement with a large piece than with several smaller ones. Now I'm a serial furniture arranger! So much more fun

buy something with visible legs. being able to see space under it will give a sense of space better than trying to buy a teeny sofa. it needs to big enough to sit on comfortably more than anything.

I think it's as important to consider a sofa's height as well as its bulk: the windowsills look kind of low, and it would be a shame if the couch's arms blocked the view, or if the height of the sofa back didn't work with the nice ceiling height and airiness of the apartment. BTW, to me your apartment looks generous in size, but maybe I've lived in NYC too long.

and to expand upon operagirl79's suggestion, Crate and Barrel's much-appreciated Petrie line has an apartment sofa that measures in at 76". Just from looking at your window and thinking it's around 30" or less, you should have the room between the left wall and the radiator to fit in a sofa this size.

And what's nice about the Petrie is it's a low sofa too, only 31.5" high. If you have narrow doorways (in my case, a 30" opening), the thing will fit with no problems, because the legs are removable. I had mine delivered this past Saturday after having ordered it at the beginning of February - I got a fabric that wasn't stocked in the warehouse.

There are so many things to consider but above all keep in mind how you actually live/entertain. If you find that you frequently lounge, nap, read and watch tv all from your sofa then comfort with deep seating is essential. If you frequently go out and have 2 or fewer guests over at a time then a sofa
that seats three would take care of both needs.

Don't feel you have to cram the room with all the standard living room furniture, save space by using lights mounted on the wall above reading areas, shelves instead of end tables....

I wanted a Chinese opium daybed for its beauty and function because I like to lounge with pillows and blankets but couldn't convince my husband as he wanted a "regular" sofa. Turns out he is too "regular" for me so lesson learned follow your desire for size, color and style. I have seen many small rooms where large scale pieces work without looking crammed.

Oh, gorgeous hardwood floors!

I find sectionals are a great way to add a lot of seating space to small rooms. You could place it on the left side of the room with a low extension under the left window.. (hm, am I making myself clear?). Check out Vanessa´s house tour a while back on AT NYC, she did exactly the same ("Vanessa´s picture perfect home").

You have such great sun in that room!

I recently faced my own challenge with furniture scale. My suggestion is to measure very carefully and do plenty of advance planning. Think about how you want furniture arranged (for example, do you want end tables on either side of a couch) and then really plan out how big each piece of furniture can be. Make sure to allow for breathing space around individual pieces so things don't look cramped. If you don't plan of being in the apartment too long, then buy the more expensive pieces that you like (a couch for instance) and then be very careful about the other pieces. In my own apartment, I moved in with a couch that is much bigger than really suits the space, but I was careful about everything else (smaller arm chairs, smaller end tables, smaller coffee table, narrow TV stand) so it all works. I also second the suggestion to get things with legs. The space will look bigger if the big pieces of furniture are not flush to the floor.

nate berkus has an amazing new line of smaller affordabel furniture, i heard it was on the HSN.com

I agree with mek8004 -- the right sofa depends on how you use your sofa. Key question -- do you have lots of close friends from out of town? Then the sofa needs to be big enough to sleep a houseguest: it should be deeper, and firmer. Do you want to consider a pull-out? Ikea has a lot to choose from. Also, how long-term is your commitment to this piece -- are you in grad school, and maybe moving across the country in a couple of years? Another vote for Ikea -- they do a fine job for a few years, and look great on the curbside in the rain!

I'm going to second the suggestion of a sectional in one of the corners, because I recently replaced a standard sofa (Crate & Barrel Prado) with a sectional (Benton Neo sectional) in a similar sized room (against the advice of everyone who told me I needed a big room to make a sofa like that work). It both doubled the seating area and -shockingly- made the room appear bigger.

To cut down on the bulkiness, shoot for a sectional with legs, a shorter back (keep those windows exposed) and not too deep a seat (to maximize the floor space around it).

If you go for a standard sofa, I also agree with the others to choose something small, to leave room for side tables, lamps, and additional seating in the room without it getting too cramped.

In small spaces, it is sometimes better to have fewer larger pieces rather than several small pieces that clutter up the space. I would measure carefully and get a sofa on the large side of what will fit. Also, look for one with slimmer lower arms, arms can take up a lot of room and not add any seating space.

Here are a few examples:

http://www.roomandboard.com/rnb/product/detail.do?productGroup=19327&category=rm_living_spaces&subcategory=sofa

http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=316507&CategoryID=42862&LinkLoc=29391&LinkType=SiteAd&AdID=503304

One thing to be aware of with sectionals as I had a hand me down one in a space that was roughly 11.5x9 or so on one wall and roughly 7' on the window wall where the slider was and an open area as it's part of a large living/dining main room that's 11.5x22"

Check to be sure you chose one that can be flexible as not all are, ie, that the "L" end of the sectional can be changed from left to right as not all can due to how they are built. Keep the lines of the sectional simple and they do make one that's wide enough for 2 w/ chaise that works in small spaces. As a result, the one I had was an 80's Sears overstuffed sectional sleeper that was just too big for my space no matter what I did. The entire space looked crowded so I got rid of it and now use a red leather Klippan and the room just opened up and the entire space looks so much better.

And to add insult to injury, I had a view and with my room's layout, I really have only one way to layout the furniture while maintaining the view for it's kind of shallow.

I should say, 11.5x22 FEET w/ the slider and hall dividing the room more or less in half with the living room at one end, the dining area at the other by the kitchen and front door.

Looking at the picture a bit more, I would recommend you put the sofa on the wall to your left as you enter the space and the chaise against the window wall since no back is generally found on the chaise. Keep the backs and overall profile low-ish and somewhat squared off to help keep it from visually dominating the space, unless you find that a bit too modern looking.

I think you could utilize a corner and get a sectional, so it looks more built in and not taking up space for other things.

Take blue painters tape place on floor to the exact measurements to see how the sofa will look in the places you vision it to be

As much a I am not a big IKEA fan I think the sectional they have is pretty stylish and functional for the money.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/series/07438/

Since there are quit a few small spaces shown here for the contest you should be able to pick up some ideas.

Going out to shop for furniture first then trying to figure out how to fit it into your space is like buying a wedding dress then going out to look for a husband.

If you're starting from scratch - draw a floorplan to scale, determine what functions you want in each room and draw in different sized pieces that fulfill those needs into the space, then look for furnishings that are the type, size and scale you need.

Never, ever buy a sofa or other large peice of furniture without complete measurements of your space - including access via doorways, staircases, elevators, etc - otherwise you'll spend a fortune returning the thing to the store or on having someone come out and disassemble the thing to get it in the door and put it back together inside.

Most people here gave great tips. I had a layout in mind in my apartment and just made sure the length wasn't too long, which can be difficult. Still, when it arrived, it felt really big. (And nearly didn't fit up the stairs...so keep that in mind!) It ended up working out, but if I could have found one that was comfy and I liked with legs where you could see under it, I think that would have helped. I went bigger than some may have because I wanted it to double as a makeshift "guest room." Chairs with an ottoman would be another great idea, if you don't want or need a sofa.

If Crate and Barrel is a little out of your price range, Pier ! Imports also has a couple sofas that are apartment-sized, and rather inexpensive. Good luck!

Try a sofette!

http://www.mgbwhome.com/kylie_sft.asp

Your space looks great! My BFF lives in a similar sized apt, and scale is EVERYTHING!!!

whatever you decide to do please DON'T paint. It looks really great as is.

i think you'd be safe sticking to a small couch/loveseat and finding a couple chairs to keep in the living room with it. you don't need a huge couch unless you have frequent visitors sleeping on it, like in mine :/

Beautiful apartment Megan. And it is NOT tiny! :)

Hi Megan, I just want to say one thing about measuring -- make sure to include the legs on whichever couch you choose (if you choose one with legs). And if there are legs, find out if they screw in and out -- a few months ago I bought this Cortina sofa from Raymour & Flanagan http://www.raymourflanigan.com/catalog/details.asp?ID=100122

But I didn't check first to include the leg measurements, and those legs DIDN'T come out. There was plenty of room for the couch in my main room, but the poor delivery guys, try as they might, and they tried for an hour, could not get this couch through my teeny foyer into the main room. The foyer has a chunk of wall that the couch had to go around to get into the living room, but the sofa's legs created the extra width that prevented them from getting it in. Yep, I had to decline and get a credit.

I'd go with buying a sofa you will be able to use even after you move - buy for comfort and lifestyle rather than what looks perfect by everyone else's standards.

I'd probably get a three-seater and center it under the windows with a console table behind and two small end tables on each side for lamps..

I want to mention my general rule of thumb that most people around here go by is have seating for up to two guests - it's a little rude to wind up seating your guests on the floor or having to ask them to move dining chairs into the living room so you can accomadate them.

My own rule of thumb is since two people live in my apartment, there will always be seating for four. I like to be able to stretch out if I want, so we keep a 3-seater plus a chair.

I think you should get a normal sized sofa, but get one that is low backed with non-poofy arms, etc. Go with minimal proportions in the details and it won't overwhelm the space. I agree with previous poster who says that too many small pieces of furniture looks worse than a few well chosen larger items.

It really would help if you had ever given us dimensions to go with.