Living Room Ideas With Two Sofas

Match Point

• Win the living room design wars with two small sofas in matching fabric but slightly different colors. A tobacco velvet sofa and its twin in deep mulberry are high style but not slavishly matched. The room is more interesting and seems larger than a tight little configuration of identical sofas lined up facing each other. A luxurious area rug that picks up both colors and throw pillows that contrast with the subdued sofa tones help even more to pull the room together and give it some extra color punch. Use a Lucite or glass table to increase the feeling of open space in the room, even as each sofa is close enough to the table so guests can use it for plates or drinks.

Complementary Couches

• Two sofas that don’t match can get along in the living room with a modest style upgrade. For a sleek, contemporary leather cushion on a spare wood base and a plain upholstered, more traditional sofa, think accessories. Choose decorative pillows for both sofas in modern geometric designs in bright, similar color combinations. Borrow patterns from the Kilim rug on the floor or use woven Native American textiles. Place a coffee table that mirrors the wood of the contemporary sofa in front of the traditional sofa and use curtains or framed art that match the color of the traditional sofa over its modern counterpart. Harmonize two styles so they don’t compete as discordant focal points in the room and you won’t have to refurnish or banish one sofa to the study.

Doubles

• A casual living room that’s long and narrow can look lively with colorful side-by-side sofas along one wall. Try a red and white oversize polka dot sofa next to a white sofa with a zebra throw. A bright spring green tattersall sofa fits nicely next to a denim sofa. Make sure the depths and lengths of the sofas match, even though their slipcovers won’t. Place bookshelves and a flat screen TV on the opposite wall and use a single, low table positioned midway between the two sofas for the popcorn bowl.

Two Plus

• A matched pair of antique sofas creates a set piece when positioned parallel to each other in the living room. If you’ve got the space, break up the formal design a bit by adding a third sofa, a simple contemporary slab of a sofa in a solid fabric that picks up the stripe or flower pattern in the upholstery of the antiques. You have the luxury of the high-style older couches and the flexibility of more seating for parties – or just a place to sprawl with a good book. The additional sofa encloses the seating space while it lets the double antiques star. Connect all the seating with an Aubusson or another antique rug that covers the floor beneath both antique sofas and stretches to encompass the third sofa, unifying the room.