Your sofa can be the focal point of your home - or the monster in the living room. It's a purchase that can swallow up great chunks of your decorating budget, so if you don't love it, don't buy it. How do you choose? James Sherwood puts six sofa owners on the couch. Photos: Mykel NicoloauOliver Bennett, journalist, Matthew Hilton sofa, pounds 1,400 in a sale "My sofa, designed by Matthew Hilton, is a modernist take on the old Knoll sofas. Hilton calls it the Coward. The basic shape, with winged arms, is the same. But instead of decorative tassels, the arms are held by pieces of rope. Before I had an office, I would sit in the Coward, surrounded by my laptop, telephone, and television. In that respect, my sofa operated as a womb-like, technological pod from which I was on-line to my professional, social and entertainment worlds. I certainly didn't want one of those floppy great Fulhamy sofas you disappear into. So I had to save up a bit for something quite unique and modern. The Coward may be a little austere without cushions but I like the contrast of zingy colours: royal blue sofa fabric against red walls."
Louisa Saunders, deputy editor of Real Life (daughter Elsa pictured), Habitat sofa, pounds 599 "I'd always longed for an elegant, pale sofa, but somehow ended up with big, lumpy ones. When we moved house, we finally got a separate, grown- up sitting room and decided to go for it. I chose a three-seater from Habitat for pounds 599. Having just moved, we were stony broke, but I thought this was a bargain. If you have a three-year-old like Elsa and still rashly choose a pale sofa, then you have to be quite cool about it: it's already got chocolatey finger marks on it, but the covers are removable, so what the hell, and Elsa takes off her shoes if she wants a good bounce, bless her. It's big and squashy, but it's not one of those great fat lumps that dwarfs a room. The arms are quite low, streamlined and elegant but you can still stretch out on it." Martin Waller, managing director, Andrew Martin interiors, Andrew Martin sofa, pounds 3,395 "It is my belief that if you want to sit, you use a chair.
If you want to lounge, you choose the sofa. I tend to like simplicity in large pieces of furniture and let the smaller artefacts in the room do the decorative work. My sofa is a three seater in an extremely spare calico fabric. The third cushion in a three-seater is an anathema to me. It's sole purpose is to get in the way. So every three-seater sofa produced at Andrew Martin has two seat cushions. I have piled antique leather and silk cushions on my sofa for maximum decadence. This particular sofa is pounds 1,395 plus the fabric covering (pounds 2,000). You must buy the best sofa you can afford. A good sofa should last for ever." Andrew Martin Interiors 0171 581 9163 Linda Taylor, author (pictured with daughter Sky), antique sofa, pounds 500 "I have a strange compulsion to buy sofas and have about five in the house at present. I decided I needed a bigger sofa than the ones I already had. So I went to the Criterion auction rooms on Essex Road, heavily pregnant at the time, and staked my sofa out.
I was bidding against a cast member of EastEnders and several members of the trade. I finally outbid everyone else at pounds 500. I think it is a Fifties Knoll sofa and have had several people saying they remember the shape from childhood. The fabric is sumptuous faded gold brocade with lush golden twine tassels supporting the arms. It is a vast piece of furniture and big enough to use as a spare bed. A friend later told me that, if I bought it new, my sofa would be priced at around pounds 3,500." Philippa Lepley, bridal designer, George Smith sofa, pounds 3,000 "I am passionate about George Smith sofas. I have two and bought them both from his New Kings Road shop. Both are feathered, no expense spared and fabulous. I think it is essential for a sofa cushion to be stuffed with feathers and the back is also feathered. The fabric is antique floral, slightly distressed in dusty pinks and cream. What I like about George Smith is that his sofas are pretty without being frilly or chintzy.
For example, there are wooden feet to his sofa so there isn't a nasty frilly curtain around the hem. I love tassels and fringes on the cushions; some of which I made myself and others are Victorian petit point." Nathan Donaldson, trainee solicitor, Highly Sprung sofa, pounds 900 "I constantly have friends staying over at my house, so a sofa bed was essential. A lot of sofa beds are extremely unattractive and functional. They either make a good sofa or a good bed; Choosing a sofa is quite an ordeal, I'll tell you. I went down to Highly Sprung on Tottenham Court Road with my flatmate. It took four hours to agree on the shape, fabric and colour. We even rang friends on the mobile for advice. We spent about pounds 900 on a really big marshmallow of a sofa, stuffed with duck down. The shape looked a bit Art Deco to me. It is a three seater, but seats four comfortably. People gravitate towards the sofa. We eat, sleep and socialise around it. I originally wanted a white sofa but had a panic attack and settled for navy.
I think I made the right decision."Furniture Arm ChairChair ChairWingback ChairCozy ChairsArm ChairsLounge ChairsTall ChairHigh ChairChair GorgeousForwardWingback Chair by Tom Dixon by George Smith “Consider this the brassy, outspoken, attention-demanding element in a space,” says Tanksley of this 50"-tall piece. “It has the formality of an upright chair, but irreverently so.” The craftsmanship is top-notch, he notes, particularly on a complex frame. It deserves a stage of its own: “This is a living room’s exclamation point.” $7,000 as shown (also available c.o.m.); John Rosselli & Associates C & C Milano E & A Interiors Raoul for George Smith is an exclusive line of wovens and hand-printed Belgian linen. The collection includes tweeds, boucles and herringbones, as well as upholstery-weight linen printed by hand in Santa Barbara. Raoul Textiles for George Smith is available through George Smith showrooms in England and in select locations in the United States.
Monica James & Co. Engle & Deutch is a collection of sophisticated, hand-made seating, tables and accessories, designed by Raoul founder Sally McQuillan to complement Raoul Textiles. All of the furniture and accessories are made by hand in California. The collection is sold exclusively through the Raoul Textile Library in Los Angeles and the Raoul Textiles store in Santa Barbara. Part workshop, part showroom, the Raoul store is an elegant and evolving presentation of our style. Located around the corner from our factory, the store acts as the creative headquarters of Raouls. In addition to our hand-printed textiles, the store features a selection of furniture from George Smith, Cisco, Janus et Cie and our own Engle & Deutch line. The store also offers our hand printed tea-towels, Raoul tote bags and pillows, and elegant accessories from Montecito Designs. The Raoul Textile Library serves as our Los Angeles showroom, but it’s also a space where designers can take in a richer, fuller presentation of the Raoul aesthetic and find their own inspiration in an out-of-the-ordinary library.
Stepping into the showroom from the ground floor of the Pacific Design Center feels like entering an eccentric tropical reading room; Raouls’ full collection of hand-printed Belgian linen and fine wovens are bound into volumes and shelved alongside curios and objects of interest. We also feature a rotating collection of art and objects for purchase. Clients unable to visit our showrooms may order directly from the library. Raoul Textiles is a family-owned design firm based in Santa Barbara, California. Founder and designer Sally McQuillan and her husband Tim started Raoul Textiles in a Quonset hut by the beach in 1981; the company has since grown into an influential force in the industry, renowned for its vibrant sense of color and innovative, unexpected approach to design. The collection is hand-printed on the finest Belgian linen; every step of the process is still done by hand in our factory, from the earliest sketches to the original ink recipes and hand-built screens.