Sofa colour – which one to choose?

Which sofa colour is ideal for your living room? Here are some tips to help you make your choice and a selection of models in various shades that can be adapted to the furnishing style of your living room.

Is it better to go for neutral tones, bright colours or fancy shades? When it comes to sofa colour, there is no absolute best choice. Instead, it’s a matter of finding the right compromise between your taste and the furnishing style of your living room whilst playing with harmony and contrasts between the various shades that the world of furniture makes available. The possibilities of colours and fabrics are truly infinite but the type of upholstery and the design of the furniture itself should also play an important role in your choice of sofa colour. It’s also important to take into account the spatial elements that characterise your living area. Finally, you should remember a few basic rules. For example, did you know that lighter colours make a space feel larger whereas darker colours can make it feel smaller? Here is a practical guide on how to choose a sofa colour based on these simple considerations.

Sofa colour and different shades

In the wonderful world of colours, it is customary to divide the varied spectrum of every possible colour shade into warm, cold and neutral tones. These notions help you to make the right choice taking into account the floor and furniture in your living room. For example, which sofa colour on oak parquet is most suitable? How do you match a floral fabric with cushions without creating too strong an effect? Finding answers to these questions is easier than you think and you just need to know a few simple facts. For example, neutral shades such as white, black, grey and beige are extremely versatile and they can adapt to numerous furnishing styles, allowing you to play with combinations with other furnishing components. This means you can create contrasts with carpets, cushions, pictures and so on. Calia Italia models of sofas, armchairs and footstools come in many shades and neutral tones continue to be among the most popular for the reasons we have just mentioned.

On the other hand, warm shades such as red, ochre yellow and orange are the ideal choice for those who want to create a cosy atmosphere and sofas with such colours can also be adapted to a minimal and modern furnishing context. As these colours are very bright and vivid, such as ‘Viva Magenta’ (chosen as the sofa colour of the year), it may be useful to tone them down with other elements of the furnishings. You can soften them with white, grey or beige for red sofas, while for various shades of yellow sofas you could soften them with grey or blue and black or white – adapting perfectly to an ethnic or industrial style.

Lastly, we have cool shades such as blue, violet and indigo, which are optimal solutions when you want to convey more relaxing and less ‘energetic’ sensations in your living room compared to warm colours. This is a choice that in both single-colour and patterned upholstery can suit both classic and modern styles. For a rustic country style, warm, natural colours work best, while a dove grey sofa or a petrol-coloured sofa (among the trendiest options in recent years) both allow for very varied colour combinations. 

For those who love the shabby-chic style, your ideal sofa colour might be found among the many shades of beige.

Other influencing factors

When choosing colour, the type of fabric and upholstery you chose is very important. For example, the best colour for leather sofas ranges from grey, dove grey and stone, to light shades of beige or ivory or warm shades of burnt earth, chocolate or mustard. This is because natural colours are best for leather, while synthetic fabrics allow for brighter shades and patterned upholstery triumphs in the choice of natural materials. Cool shades on velvet are an excellent choice. In any case, we recommend reading our guide on the choice of colours for armchairs for a detailed look at possible combinations according to your furnishing style and type of upholstery.

In order to choose the perfect sofa colour for your living room, you shouldn’t underestimate the importance of natural light. For instance, you could choose to opt for a totally black or dark sofa where there are very large and bright windows in your living room whereas lighter shades are recommended when there is less brightness – remember, these colours make a space feel larger. In this sense, the size of the room and of the sofa itself help guide you to choose the best colour. The general rule to remember is bright or dark colours for large spaces and light or patterned shades for smaller rooms. Finally, you mustn’t forget that your sofa should not only be aesthetically beautiful but also functional. For those who have small children or animals that can leave hair or scratch your furnishing accessory, it’s better to go for medium-dark colours so that even stains will be less visible!

The models found in the Calia Italia collections allow you to choose the most suitable design and sofa colour for your living room, taking into account the various suggestions we have described so far. But our advice on this topic doesn’t end here! 

 

Consider your furnishing style for matching

Finding the right harmony between your sofa colour and the furnishing style of your living area opens up a multitude of options in which you can decide to focus on a stronger link between a piece of furniture and your other various furnishings, walls and floor of the room. Your sofa can also be an element that breaks up the colour monotony by, for example, characterising your sofa as a dividing element in an open-plan living room. 

Depending on your furnishing style, there are certain options that are more preferable. For example, monochrome colours are optimal for modern and minimalist design, colourful stripes and floral patterns allow your living room to be characterised with original and romantic atmospheres and shiny fabrics are the triumph of the most innovative contemporary design.

As a final suggestion, we would emphasise the importance of matching the colour of your sofa to the walls. White walls are the best solution for those who want to unleash their imagination in the upholstery and colour of their sofa, while shades such as yellow or red require sofas to match the details of the same colour. Our advice? Don’t overdo it when mixing too many colours and remember the experts’ golden rule that you should limit yourself to a maximum of three shades to make your living room aesthetically perfect – whatever furnishing style you choose.

Thanks to this guide, choosing the colour of your Calia Italia sofa will be really easy! Have a look at the catalogue of our models and find the right sofa for your living room!