What Is a Sofa & Love Seat?

Sofa and Love Seat Defined

• A sofa is a long, upholstered seat with a cushioned back and arms. The name comes from Turkey, meaning raised section of floor covered with carpets and cushions. In Arabic, the name "suffah" means bench. A love seat is an upholstered seat big enough for two. It has also been called a courting chair. Typically, a love seat is considered to be little more than a small sofa.

Size

• The love seat comes in a variety of small, medium and large sizes. Small love seats are ideal for apartments, where minimal space is available. These typically measure about 58 inches long. Medium-sized love seats measure about 64 inches long and are often ideal for any space. Large love seats, around 71 inches long, are the standard size for most love seat/sofa sets. Sofa lengths are typically about 76 inches, although they are made longer. The seats on sofas and love seats are usually about 30 inches deep to allow for comfortable seating.

Seating

• Love seats are specifically designed to seat two people comfortably. They are wider than a chair but shorter than a sofa with two cushioned sections in the seat. Sofas are designed to seat more than two people, typically with three cushioned sections, although they may consist of four sections in larger styles.

Sofa and Love Seat Types

• Sofas and love seats are available in several design types to suit a variety of seating or space needs. Traditional sofas and love seats have cushioned armrests at each end and a high, cushioned back. Some of these are overstuffed, with thick, soft cushions, while others may be trim and sleek with a minimum of stuffing in the seat and back.

  Contemporary sofas and love seats are often made with recliners or a fold-down table feature in the center.

  Modern designs come in a variety of shapes, veering away from the rectangular design to a rounded, half-circle shape.

  Sectional sofas combine the sofa, love seat and chair so that you can arrange them together, as one piece of furniture, or separately. Some sectional sofas can have more than three pieces. Typically sectionals form an L shape, but some also form a circular arrangement. Sectionals may be contemporary, traditional or modern in design.

  Sleeper sofas and love seats fold out into a bed, making them ideal for small spaces where an additional sleep surface is needed. Convertible sofas and love seats are similar to sleepers, but rather than an internal bed that is folded out, the frame of the sofa or love seat folds down flat and the cushions are used as a mattress.