Why you should choose a neutral fabric for your sofa, AND NO, that is not the boring choice!

The choice you make in a sofa is a crucial one because it is usually the piece of furniture that a living room is built around. Taking the time to contemplate a few key aspects in the selection process is well worth your while.

You can express the style of the room, whether it is traditional, country/cottage, contemporary, transitional or eclectic by carefully choosing a shape that reflects that particular style. The next important decision will be the fabric choice. After many years of designing rooms for couples and families, I strongly suggest choosing a neutral fabric, usually solid with some texture so it has a nice feel, as the basic fabric. Then, you can build out from there in any direction stylewise with pillows that add color and pattern. Here is where you want to spend time getting personal and creative in your coordinating fabric choices. Add a colorful throw for another shot of color and texture. It is simple and fun and takes the doubt out of the decision making process.

This is a topic near and dear to my heart. Confession time. I once selected a fabric, it still pains me to admit this, in a fruit pattern on a black background. Sounds scary. Well it was. It actually turned out to be a bit of a family inside joke with many family members clocking how many hours they spent on “The Fruit Couch” as it was affectionately called, as it was a sleeper sofa. Hopefully this illustrates the problem with not selecting a neutral fabric - I had to live with that choice for many years before finally coming up with a good enough excuse to bring it to the local thrift – my husband and I were purchasing a pellet stove and needed the room.

Usually a sofa lives with you for at least 10 years or more so your neutral sofa can be the base around which you can change the look of the room with the seasons or the changing style of a decade by simply replacing your patterned pillows and even wall color in the living room as the spirit moves you. It widens the choices and the possibilities are endless.

If I have saved just one homeowner from making a big mistake I will have done my job. Happy decorating!