When it comes to buyer’s guides and reviews, we tend to focus on cool gadgets and tech products like TVs, gaming systems, fridges, or other fun consumer electronics-related products. But, when it comes to setting up a great home theater or living room for optimal video streaming, we would be really missing the mark if we didn’t think about the most important piece of furniture in the room - the sofa. The best TV and speaker system won’t deliver the home viewing experience you want if you’re sitting on your old dorm couch.
One challenge with finding a great couch for your living room or home theater is that you really need a mix of form and function. Certainly, you need the couch to be comfortable, but it also needs to fit the space appropriately. As someone who has moved a number of times over the years, I became very familiar with having issues where a couch that worked in one living room suddenly wouldn’t fit in the new one after I moved. This often led to selling the old couch on Craigslist and buying a new one, only to go through the same experience the next time I moved.
I stumbled across the solution to this particular issue one afternoon at the mall with my wife, when we happened to walk into a Lovesac store. We knew they made comfy beanbag-inspired furniture but had no idea they also made couches. We then discovered their Sactional sofa, which is a fully modular couch that you can easily customize into a variety of configurations to fit your space. Talk about a lightbulb moment. We weren’t even looking for a new couch at the time, but we walked out with a brand new Sactinoal on order.
What is a Modular Sofa?
We’re all familiar with a standard sofa, that comes in a particular size, with a set number of cushions. Typically, the only thing that is truly customizable might be the fabric you select for your couch. Prices can range from a few hundred dollars to multiple thousands, but in the end, you get an 85” sofa, with seating for three people, etc. to put in your family room.
A modular sofa is a bit different. Instead of coming in set sizes, this type of sofa is built with modular sections that are connected together to create seating that starts at a chair or loveseat and then can grow to a longer sofa or what you might expect from an L-shaped sectional. But, the idea is that it can be almost anything you want it to be by simply adding base sections, cushions, sides/arms and backs. You can easily connect these bases to build a sofa that best fits your needs and your living space. Want a chaise lounge on each end of your couch? Easy. Want a giant L-shaped sectional with seating for 10? No problem.
These sofas offer the ultimate in customization for consumers who want to design a couch to fit their space. Add in different fabrics and cushion covers and you have a pretty extensive array of solutions to consider.
Are they Comfortable?
It’s easy to see a modular sofa and recognize the convenience factor. Who wouldn’t want a sofa that could be easily customized to suit whatever room they want to put it in? But, we’ve all sat on a couch or two that were just incredibly uncomfortable. Since sitting and lounging on the sofa is a big part of its purpose, no one wants one that isn’t comfortable. Fortunately, many modular sofas deliver the goods on comfort as well as adaptability. The cushions are every bit as comfy as any nice couch you might buy, so there really shouldn’t be a trade-off between comfort and customization when it comes to a modular sofa.
What are Some Options?
There are a number of brands that have jumped into the modular sofa market in recent years. Here are just a few to consider.
Lovesac - They are often the first brand that comes to mind in the modular sofa market and with good reason. Their Sactional couches are comfy, durable, and of course crazy adaptable both in configuration and fabric options. They can also come in at the higher end on pricing.
Coddle - The Coddle Node is another adaptable choice for modular seating. They are every bit as adaptable as the Lovesac from a configuration standpoint, but offer only a couple of fabric options at this point. Pricing can also be on the higher side, much like Lovesac.
Castlery - The Todd modular sofa is designed for comfort and adaptability. Lots of padding on the backs and arms make these a lot more like a traditional sofa than some of the modular options. Pricing for the Todd is in the middle of the range.
PBTeen - We wanted to include a budget-conscious option since many of the modular sofas can be a bit pricey - especially if you build something larger. PBTeen comes in with the very budget-friendly Baldwin Sectional Modular Sofa with each section coming in at around $200, making it easy to build a couch for a lower cost.
Buying Tip
Like any couch, our biggest tip is to find a showroom and sit on the sofa before you buy. Once you find the brand/product you like, you can always order more modules and sections online. But, when it comes to a sofa, there is simply no substitute for actually sitting on it and deciding if you like how it feels.
