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Decor Disputes: Do You Prefer Matching Sofa Sets and Sectionals or Coordinating Pieces?

by on Mar 20, 2014

People tend to have very strong opinions on this matter. Coordinating sofa sets and sectionals offer an instant sense of cohesion; choosing mismatched furniture, however, takes some extra planning. Which do you prefer? Click through for more examples of each style.   

Both images above use bright pops of color, but in very different ways. The blue sofas are very uniform, giving the space an easy elegance. The living room on the right uses the pink sofa as a guide for the rest of the room, adding other pops of pink to give the mismatched grouping an “intentional” feel. [Photos: Good Housekeeping, Decor Pad

Coordinating Sets & Sectionals:

A matching sofa set and a sectional.

The matching set in the left-hand photo above makes the room seem orderly and symmetrical, offering an air of calm and tranquility. The sectional on the right also lends a sense of symmetry, albeit in a different way. What do you think… are these rooms too matchy-matchy, or just right? [Photos: Paperbacks, West Elm Blog]

Mismatched Sofas:

Mismatched living room furniture.

The mismatched furniture above lends a certain energy to each room, making your eye bounce from piece to piece. In my opinion, the arrangements do still feel balanced despite the various colors and textures. What are your thoughts? Balanced, or too much going on? [Photos: Denise Briant Interiors, Apartment Therapy]

Personally, I’m drawn to the mismatched look… feel free to share your opinions in the comments section below!

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9 Comments

  1. I like coordinating without fully matching pieces. Of course, I have fully matching couches and chairs in both my sitting room and my tv room. Someday, as I slowly replace my furniture I’m going to have different chairs from my couch. I loved the West Elm Victor chair when they did it in wool plaid. Of course, we didn’t pounce and they no longer make it. Sigh. Someday…

  2. @sera that’s always the way, isn’t it?! Hopefully you can find a suitable replacement 🙂

  3. My house is totally mismatched because much of it it souvenirs from all my  travels + gifts from out daughters and others.  We shop mainly at thrift stores, auctions and yard sales, so nothing matches but I have a lot of really good quality stuff that wasn’t made in China, or put together with staples!
     

  4. Good point @Linda T, quality is always an important consideration… sounds like you have lots of fascinating mementos! 

  5. I prefer that my furniture pieces not be “matchy-matchy.” I have tried (in the past) matching living, dining and bedroom suites and I felt as if I was living in a sterile environment; there was no “pop” or feeling of cohesion.

    My current living room sports a jewel red couch, greenish-grey recliners and they harmonize and energize the living room, as the accents are black with other jewel-tone colors. The living room sets the wow factor for the rest of my home and it feels beautiful, happy and full of “pop!”

    1. Pictures please Amahlala?! That’s what I’m leaning towards, but my husband likes the “farmhouse” style…I myself prefer either bright bold colors except the florescent or bold jewel tones. I was gifted a bluish gray couch by the lady I baby-sat for, BEAUTIFUL!, but my black/white 10 yr old herringbone loveseat doesn’t match and needs to be upgraded anyways. I found this turquoise/teal looking oversized chair with an ottoman that looks and feels like a highly texture towel. Doesn’t go with the new couch at all, yet fits in the living room perfectly. I asked for yellow (yes yellow…the only color I’ve never used in my house to decorate with EVER.) pillow covers and a blanket…which happen to go with BOTH the couch and chair 🤔. Now I feel the need for either a side chair, loveseat, or a papasan chair with a red or deep purple cushion. Coffee and end tables are black framed with glass as gold accents. I feel the need to paint the walls or trim in there black and add some emerald green and off-white (for an opal) pieces… husband says it’ll look ugly. Lol OR I could keep the furniture simple and uniformed then just add color everywhere else.

  6. I agree @Amahlala, I think that matching sets can sometimes take away the opportunity to really be creative and experiment with different colors, textures and patterns…. your jewel-toned living room sounds lovely!

  7. The matched rooms look like a hotel. The purposefully mismatched rooms are still fluid and you can’t stop looking at everything because you feel like you might miss seeing something really cool. The mismatched look can go wrong quickly but the examples you provided show how they can reallly work and seem to feel more “at home”.