Lounge Furniture

Advice on choosing new furniture for your lounge for Spring 2024

If you are thinking of treating your home to new lounge furniture, we have compiled this handy list of tips and advice for choosing lounge furniture we hope you will find helpful.

Your lounge is more than likely the room you spend most of your time chilling out, watching TV or chatting with friends and family. It is important to have just the right lounge furniture for style, comfort and practicality.

Furnishing your lounge

It has long since been thought by interior designers that the most important pieces of furniture for your lounge are the sofa/seating area with coffee tables. Another favourite phrase of designers is, don’t have anything in your home that is not beautiful that you really love. That’s a great rule to live by, but your loved pieces of furniture also need to meet the needs of how you and your family use the room day-to-day.

Lounge Furniture – where to start

An ideal place to start is to draw a plan of your room with doors and windows marked. This will give you an idea of what available space you have. Remember to take into consideration any routes through the room. You can then prioritise the pieces of furniture you need in your lounge to create a comfortable and stylish room. We’d recommend starting with seating as it is the largest piece of furniture in the room.

Here are a few important factors to consider before choosing any new lounge furniture:

• Budget – it is important to define your budget so you can choose the most important pieces that fit within your budget.
• Space – what are your room dimensions, are there any difficult access points, are there any awkward corners to furnish?
• Room use – think about how you and your family use the room. Is it just for relaxing and watching TV or listening to music or do you need a work from home/homework space and more storage for books or hobby materials.
• Position – choose where the largest piece is going to be placed, e.g., seating in your lounge, this then leaves the available space for other pieces for display, storage, or practical uses such as a coffee table.
• Theme – the best advice we can offer here, is to choose what you love, not necessarily what’s in fashion or what you have seen on TV! For example, you could choose our Hardwick Light Oak for a sophisticated look or our Magnus or Mason ranges for a modern industrial look. How you decorate your room will add depth to your chosen look. Use neutral colours on walls for a fresh contemporary theme then add a pop of your chosen colour with accessories. If you prefer a more dramatic look, be brave and go for deep classic colours such as dark blues, shades of grey or even charcoal for walls and flooring, but then use lighter colour furniture such as Hardwick Light Oak to compliment the scheme.

• Quality – it’s likely that any larger items of furniture will be with you for many years. So, think if you can live with them long term and will they still look great if you change the colour of your walls or curtains. Our oak ranges will sit happily with any colour palette you choose from deep dramatic rich colours to neutral tones.
• Mixing old classic pieces with new furniture – this is a popular current trend, so have a think before throwing something out. An older piece of furniture may also be moved to another room, an old cupboard for example could be painted and moved to a hallway or conservatory. Remember, never throw anything out you really love. The exception of course is if you downsize and no longer have space for a large piece of furniture, then you can always sell it on to a new owner who will love it as much as you did. You can use any cash towards new items that will fit your new hoime.
• Who lives in the house – furnishing a home for two adults with no pets is much easier than furnishing for a busy family with young children and pets! If there are boisterous young children, your furniture needs to be robust and easy to clean. For example, spillages are much easier to clean from a leather sofa than fabric. A solid oak dining table is touch and will stand up to being used as a hobbies table and will clean easily with a damp cloth.

Lounge Furniture

Lounges now come in all shapes and sizes with varying degrees of open plan living. There are generally three types of lounge:

Self-contained, meaning it does not flow to any other room and can be closed off with a door. These ‘closed off’ rooms are much easier to keep clean and tidy as there is no through traffic with muddy paws or dirty shoes. They also remain less cluttered you don’t walk through to leave your shoes, bag, or coat along the way. You do have to think about leaving enough space to navigate around furniture and make sure that you leave clearance to open any cupboard doors or exit the room.

Lounge/ diner – a common feature of new build homes or renovation projects where the lounge is open to the dining area. These rooms can be zoned to create flow from one area to another. A sofa can be used to create a marker for the start of the lounge area. Matching or coordinating furniture for each area can also create flow, e.g., Hardwick Light Oak dining furniture with a smart leather sofa to separate areas then use Hardwick for coffee tables, media units or sideboards and lamp tables.

Open plan kitchen/diner/lounge – this is where someone has gone fully open plan where space flows from kitchen to dining area then to the lounge. This layout is common on larger new builds and renovation projects such as converting old industrial buildings such as offices or factories. The trick with this layout is to create separate areas for each function. There is nowhere to hide with an open plan, so storage is key, you need to de-clutter your life or have a place for everything you need. This can be built-in storage, sideboards, bookshelves or even coffee tables with drawers.

Sofas

The best place to start with choosing lounge furniture is to select your seating arrangement and identify the space it will occupy. Once you have a sofa space, you can fit everything else around it.

Most of our sofa ranges are available as a chair a two-seater and a three-seater with the Chessington and Wilson as corner groups this gives you the flexibility to choose just the right configuration.

Choosing your sofa configuration will depend upon the space and number of people that will be seated on a regular basis. A larger family may need a two and a three-seater as a couple may find a cosy two-seater sofa perfect. Corner sofas are useful as they fir neatly into a corner so you can utilise available floor space easily.

A good place to start deciding where to place sofas is to identify the focal point of the room. Is it the TV, a fireplace or maybe the even the view from the window. Make sure any walkways through the room are left clear and that any doors will easily open and close.

There are various layouts that can work well:

• Place a pair of matching sofas facing one another, this will create a formal feel that’s perfect for rooms used for frequent entertaining as you can hold a conversation easily. A coffee table in the middle of this arrangement is perfect.
• A corner sofa can help zone the seating area of an open-plan living space as it will easily define the line where the diner moves to the lounge.
• A pair of sofas can be placed at a right angle to form a sociable arrangement or give everyone a good angle on the TV.
• Single chairs are ideal as additional seating, they can be placed in a corner next to a lamp table and easily moved into the central area of the room when you have guests.

To help you measure your room for a sofa, see our recent Blog article on this very subject.

One last tip on sofa positioning is don’t be tempted to push your furniture up against the wall thinking it creates more space. When doing this, you may be just left with a space in the idle of the room that is quite useless. Pulling furniture out gives you more opportunity to group pieces together such as grouping your seating around a coffee table.

Also, remember, the space your new furniture occupies on day one isn’t where furniture needs to stay forever. You may find you move things around a few times until you are perfectly happy with the layout.

Sofa Delivery Times

Our leather sofa collection in the colours shown on this website is avaialble for delivery in as soon as 5 to 10 days after placing your order. The Sorrento Grey Fabris Soaf collection is also availabe witin just 5 to 10 days!

A full pallette of colours is available to order for all our sofas but this takes a little longer as they are made to order. Our

Here are some of our favourite sofas, leather and fabric.

Coffee Tables and Nests

Now you have chosen your sofas, choosing a coffee table is the next task.

A coffee table is a perfect piece of furniture to anchor a group of lounge seating. When choosing a coffee table, think about the height of the table and ensure it can be easily reached from your seating area.

 A coffee table is a perfect space to place your drink whilst relaxing on the sofa. You can, and if space allows, choose a larger coffee table that sits easily in front of the main sofa so people can place a drink on its surface. Ideal for this is the Hardwick Light Oak Coffee Table with two handy storage drawers and a shelf under, the Loxley Rustic Oak Coffee table with two drawers or the industrial style Magnus Oak Coffee Table.

Nested Coffee Tables

If you don’t have space for a larger coffee table, smaller coffee tables or nests of tables that can easily be moved to where you need them are ideal. 

A series of smaller side tables using nests of tables is an on-trend alternative and can be more flexible, allowing you to move them alongside seating to put a cuppa or glass within easy reach.

Our favourite nests include Hardwick Oak nest of Tables, the Ivan Stone Painted Nest of 3 tables, Loxley Rustic Oak Nest of 2 tables and the Ivan Oak nest of Tables.

Don’t forget to have coasters to hand to protect your coffee table from the dreaded cup or glass marks! Wipe any spills on your coffee table as soon as possible with a soft cloth to prevent staining.

Click to see all Coffee Tables
Click to see all Nests of Tables

TV/Media Units

If your TV is not wall-mounted, you will need a unit to stand it upon and house any media boxes such as a Sky box or digital recorder. Your TV will need to be placed near a power source so you don’t have cables trailing around the room.

Ideally, the recommended distance between your TV and the seating area is about two times the screen size. So if your TV is 50”, the ideal distance would be about 8 feet. This is a great rule to use when deciding on where to place your seating and TV.

The size of your TV unit will depend on what TV you have plus the available space in the room. The most convenient in terms of minimal space used is a corner TV cabinet such as the Ivan Stone Corner TV Cabinet, the Hardwick Light Oak TV Corner Cabinet, or the Loxley Rustic Oak Corner TV Cabinet.

For larger TVs, we have a range of wider TV units perfect for even the largest of TV screens available. This includes the Loxley Rustic Oak Large Plasma TV Unit or the Hardwick Light Oak Long TV Unit.

Click to see all TV Units

Lounge Storage

Storage is key to keeping any room tidy. Your lounge storage should also look beautiful and fit in with the overall scheme. Obviously, built-in storage is an option but if you want pieces, you can move around or even take with you if you move house, then freestanding furniture is perfect.

Firstly, we’d suggest a good old de-clutter, there is little point in buying furniture to store things you no longer need or even use. Be strict and be ruthless, anything useful could go to a charity shop such as unwanted toys, books, DVDs or games that are no longer played.

Once you have cleared the clutter, you will see just what storage you need for your lounge. This could include books, magazines, craft supplies, drinks and glassware, or collectables that you would like to display.

An oak sideboard is an obvious choice as they have plenty of space for storage and you can use the top for a lovely lamp, photo frames or to display your favourite collectables.

Our sideboards are available in a range of sizes and designs from the very largest three-door to a small one door cabinet. Our designs include traditional Oak sideboards, painted oak and for a modern on-trend industrial look, we have the Magnus range with its rustic oak cabinet and gunmetal grey metal handles and legs.

The Impressive large Hardwick Light Oak Large sideboard is 1891mm wide, it has three drawers with dovetail joints and three cupboards all with strong shelves. The Hardwick Light Oak Extra Small sideboard measures just 800mm but still provides ample storage in two cupboards and two strong drawers. 

Other large sideboards include the Loxley Rustic Oak, the Mason Stone or Mason Gloss Sideboard for a contemporary look and the Magnus Oak Three Door cabinet. Smaller sideboards include the diminutive New Progressive oak 1 door cabinet at just 450mm wide, the Ivan Oak small sideboard at 588mm wide and the Magnus Oak small sideboard at 932mm.

Here are a few of our favourite sideboards in various styles:

Your sideboard, large or small will look perfect along a wall but make sure you have sufficient space to open all the doors to access the cupboard easily. Decorate the top of the sideboard with a lamp, picture frames, plants or your favourite collectables.

To add light and create the illusion of more space, why not fix a large mirror to the wall behind the sideboard.

Click to see all Sideboards

Chests

Although a chest of drawers is usually considered bedroom furniture, a chest of drawers in your lounge adds extra storage and could be a staple of the modern living room. Our drawers are craftsman made with dovetail joints so will remain strong and will not bend or warp despite what gets placed inside them!

If you have a small space where you need extra storage, why not use a tall slim Wellington style chest such as the Ivan Cream Wellington Chest, the Magnus 5 drawer chest, the Ivan Pebble 2 over 4 Chest or the Hardwick Light Oak 6 drawer tall chest. These narrow chests are perfect for keeping smaller items safe and tidy.

Other chests include a three drawer with two drawers over, large chests with three smaller drawers over four large deep drawers, six drawer chests and four drawer cests to name a few.

Here are a few of our favourites, or click here to see the full range of chests of drawers.

Other Furniture

Now we have the seating and coffee tables, TV unit and storage sorted, we can now move on to other pieces.  If you have all the storage you need, don’t be tempted to overfill the room with furniture. We will admit this is tempting when you look at the selection we have in each range.

If you still have a sensible amount of space left, e.g. a bare wall and empty or dark corner, we will now look at other pieces which you may find very useful to tie the scheme together.

Console tables

A console table was first seen in France in the 17^th century and was originally shaped like a half-moon or a crescent that was affixed to the walls with the help of a curved bracket known as a ‘console.’ The King of France, Louis XIV, also known as Louis the Great or the Sun King, is majorly accredited for popularising the console table.

Modern console tables have become higher and wider with a narrow depth. They now have many uses in a modern home, from a hall table, a dressing table to a bar in a lounge or diner.

If you use your sofa as a room divider, then a console will be perfectly placed behind the sofa. You can use it to add a lamp if power is available or to place a lovely vase of flowers upon it. It can also be used as a temporary desk using a tablet or laptop, ideal for work from home or homework.

Most of our furniture ranges include a console table and pictured below are just some of our most popular tables.

See all Console Tables

Display Cabinets and Bookcases

A tall slim piece of furniture such as a bookcase or display cabinet will draw the eye upward and create the illusion of height and provide an interesting focal point in the room.

If you have books, ornaments, picture frames or even plants, a tall bookshelf or display cabinet is an ideal display space. Don’t be tempted to overfill the shelves as it will just look cluttered. It is thought that things arranged in odd numbers are more appealing, memorable, and effective than even-numbered groupings so try and place smaller objects in groups of three.

Don’t be afraid to leave a space between objects, it gives room for each object to shine and not be overpowered by a larger piece.

A display cabinet can be used in just the same way as a bookshelf but being behind glass, your precious object will be offered a degree of protection from accidental breakage.

Here are a few examples of tall slim bookcases and display cabinets:

Click to see all Bookcases and Display Cabinets.

Lamp tables

A lamp table is a perfect piece of furniture for darker corners to place a table lamp to brighten the area. A lamp table can also be placed by a sofa or chair with a lamp to create a reading space. The base of the lampshade shouldn’t be higher than your eye level when you’re sitting down to ensure the light is in just the right spot.

We have a large range of lamp tables to choose from to add style and function to your lounge. Click to see the full range of Lamp Tables or see our favourites below.

Mirrors

Mirrors are invaluable at bouncing light around a room and can even create the illusion of space in a smaller room. A wall mirror can be placed at the back of a large sideboard to reflect the display that stands atop it or a mirror on a chimney breast will bounce light around your room creating the illusion of space.

There are mirrors in most of our furniture ranges to match your chosen lounge furniture.

See all mirrors

Summary

In summary, choose furniture that fits your budget, you love how it looks and that it has the quality and build to last many years.

If you visit our showroom, our friendly family team can help you choose just the right furniture for any room of your home. If you are unsure about us accessing your property when delivering, bring photos of the area of concern so we can make an assessment. Also, photos of the room you are looking to furnish from various angles are useful. We can use the photos to make more informed decisions to help you make the right choices for your home.

All the furniture featured in this article is on display in our showroom so you can visit us and browse at your leisure to choose just the right furniture for your home.

Delivery

Quicker or slower collection or delivery is available on all our furniture ranges to suit your timescales. If you want more details on any item, just get in touch with the Team at Progressive and we will be happy to help you.

Our helpful and knowledgeable staff will always be on hand to help you with any questions.

Our showroom has loads of free parking right outside our doors. Our website has a great selection of products available to purchase at the click of a button. If you can’t find what you are looking for or if you like an item, but you need something changing i.e. colour, size or style, just give us a call or send us an e-mail with your request and we will try our best to meet your requirements.

Call us: 01623 620620

Email us: info@progressive-furnishings.co.uk

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