Two decisions shape how your living room looks and feels for years. Local designers explain how to get both right.
Once the snow arrives, the living room becomes home base for most Ottawa households. It is where movie nights happen, where guests end up and where you collapse after a long commute on the 417. That makes it worth getting the big pieces right.
The design team at La-Z-Boy Ottawa, Gatineau and Kingston hears the same two questions constantly: where should the sectional go, and which fabric should cover it? Here is their advice on both.
Start with the layout
A sectional is one of the most flexible pieces you can bring home. It packs in more seating than a sofa and a pair of chairs, and it makes a room feel pulled together rather than pieced together. Because of its size, though, it also decides how people move through the space.
Michelle MacLellan, interior designer at La-Z-Boy Hunt Club, says the trick is balancing three things at once: making the most of your square footage, keeping the room easy to walk through and suiting the style of the space.
Pick your orientation by watching the traffic. Left-facing or right-facing is the biggest layout call you will make. Notice how people naturally enter and cross the room, then keep doorways and main paths clear. If the room is built around a TV or fireplace, angle the seating toward it. If it is a conversation space, keep the layout open. MacLellan’s rule is simple: orientation should follow how you actually use the room, not what looks best on a floor plan.
Match the shape to the room.
- L-shaped works almost anywhere. Tuck it into a corner in a smaller room, or float it off the wall in a larger one to define the seating zone.
- U-shaped suits big rooms and households that entertain, since everyone can face each other. Plan carefully so it does not swallow the space.
- Chaise sectionals give you somewhere to stretch out without the footprint of a full L or U. Placing the chaise near a window is a nice touch.
- Modular sectionals can be rearranged as your needs change, which is handy if you expect to move.
Avoid the common mistakes. Pushing everything against the walls tends to make a room feel cold and disconnected, so pull furniture inward to create a cozier grouping. Remember that a sectional reaches further into a room than a standard sofa, so check your walkways. Get the scale right, too. A piece that is too big overwhelms the room, and one that is too small looks lost. Finish with a rug large enough to extend past the edges of the sectional to anchor the whole arrangement.
If you host overnight guests without a spare room, a sleeper sectional turns the living room into a guest suite in minutes.
Understand what fabric grades really mean
This is where many shoppers get tripped up. La-Z-Boy grades its fabrics from B through Q, and it is natural to assume the letter works like a report card. It does not.
“A higher grade often reflects how the fabric is made, not how it performs in everyday use,” says Mary Lee Smyth, interior designer at La-Z-Boy Kingston.
Grades are set by material, weave complexity, pattern detail and special finishes. An intricate pattern or layered texture costs more to produce, which bumps up the grade, but that does not automatically make it tougher. In fact, some mid-grade fabrics are engineered specifically for busy homes and will outlast pricier options that prioritize looks.
A more useful guide is wearability:
- Normal wearability suits everyday pieces in most living rooms.
- Medium wearability is best on stationary sofas and loveseats, since reclining mechanisms add extra stress.
- High wearability (performance) resists abrasion, fraying and pilling, making it the go-to for sectionals and recliners in high-traffic homes.
Select or Custom? Select Fabrics are paired with specific frames and come at no extra charge, a great value if one of them suits your space. Custom Fabrics open up the full La-Z-Boy library for almost any frame, at an added cost, for shoppers who want a specific colour, texture or performance feature.
Look at the performance options. For homes with kids, pets or frequent guests, La-Z-Boy offers iClean stain-resistant covers, pet-friendly fabrics, antimicrobial covers that fight mould and odour, Conserve fabrics made from recycled water bottles, Restore by Nanobionic, and bleach-cleanable fabrics for the toughest messes.
Still torn between fabric and leather? Fabric gives you more colours, a softer feel and usually a lower price. Leather wipes clean easily, resists dust and dander, and ages beautifully, but costs more upfront and reacts to temperature. Smyth often suggests mixing both, such as a fabric sectional in the living room with a leather accent chair in the study.
Get expert help, free
You do not have to figure any of this out on your own. La-Z-Boy Ottawa, Gatineau and Kingston offers complimentary design services, so a designer can help you plan your layout, compare fabrics and choose pieces that suit the way you live.
Book a free design consultation with La-Z-Boy or drop by one of their five showrooms in Kanata, Hunt Club, Cyrville, Gatineau and Kingston to see the fabrics and configurations in person.