Couch Research

Finding the Perfect Couch for Your Space with Interior Designer Rebecca Hay

September 02, 2024

Dive into sofa styles, but remember: style's a personal journey. Discover what resonates with you in the world of design.

Alex Back | Couch.com CEO & Founder

1960's wack vinyl leather couch with rainbow colors

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We here at Couch.com have a real passion for (sofa) fashion. We're all in on the latest trends, styles, and silhouettes. Ask any of our staff – our sofas at home are all fabulous! But we also know that finding your style is a personal journey. Discovering what resinates with you in the world of design is a matter of trial, error, and many, many Pinterest inspo boards.

To help start you on your path, we sat down with designer and podcast host, Rebecca Hay, to learn her secrets to finding the perfect couch style for your home.

A Bit About Rebecca...

Rebecca Hay is a Toronto-based designer and founder of Rebecca Hay Designs. Her boutique design firm focuses on sustainability and thoughtful design to reinvigorate and reimagine clients' spaces. Over the past 10 years of success, her work has been showcased in the pages of some of the country’s top design and lifestyle magazines and impacted an international audience. In addition to running her design business, she's passionate about helping fellow entrepreneurs and designers through her podcast, Resilient by Design.

Rebecca is known for her authentic, all-inclusive approach to interior design. She works with a 'collaboration, not competition' mindset and has spent much of her career building relationships with other designers and entrepreneurs.

The Importance of Good Design Inspiration

Sitting down with Rebecca, we started where anyone searching for home inspiration starts: HGTV.

She explained how in her experience with clients, media exposure from outlets like HGTV, Pinterest, and Instagram has a huge influence on modern design tastes. Seeing modern farmhouse sensations on 'Fixer Upper', or the beige-topia of a Kardashian mansion arms people with a cohesive and trend-driven vision when designing their space. They can start to call out the aspects they like and want to see reflected in their own homes.

With the onslaught of pictures and #inspo, Rebecca emphasized the importance of having good quality media to work from. She said showing clients different pictures is a great way for her to get a feel for their likes and dislikes and helps prompt in-depth conversations to understand their needs.

The same idea can be applied to couch shopping! By taking time to look at pictures, watch TV, and seek out visual inspiration wherever possible, homeowners can make well-informed decisions about what sofa to buy!

How Can an Interior Designer Help?

A good picture can only take you so far! Consulting an interior designer when shopping for a new sofa can save you time, money, and stress while ensuring you make the perfect choice for your home.

Designers like Rebecca have years of expertise in balancing style, functionality, and spatial planning, helping you select a sofa that complements your existing decor and fits your room's dimensions seamlessly. They can guide you through the overwhelming variety of options—materials, colors, configurations, and features—based on your lifestyle and preferences.

Additionally, they often have access to exclusive brands and can recommend high-quality pieces that suit your budget. With their professional eye, you'll avoid common mistakes, like purchasing a sofa that’s too large or mismatched to your overall aesthetic, resulting in a more cohesive and comfortable living space

FULL TRANSCRIPT AVAILABLE AT BOTTOM OF ARTICLE

What is the Most Popular Sofa Style?

The sectional sofa is widely considered to be the most popular style due to its versatility and functionality. A sectional is any sofa made of 2 or more 'sections' that can be joined together into various configurations.

They may come in L-shaped, U-shaped, or modular designs and are great for adding extra seating space and functionality to your home, often including features like chaise lounges, reclining sections, or hidden storage. Their adaptability to modern, casual, or even traditional decor styles further cements their popularity as a go-to choice for many homes!

What are the different types of sofa design style?

We could go on all day about the different shapes of sizes of sofa or sectional you could get, but if you're on this article, you're probably also curious what different designs there are out there! After all, a Mid-Century Modern loveseat is very different from a traditional Chesterfield one.

Here's a brief explanation of the key players:

Mid-Century Modern	Characterized by clean lines, tapered legs, and a minimalist aesthetic, often with tufted cushions and a low-profile silhouette.
Traditional	Features elegant details like rolled arms, skirted bases, and plush upholstery, often inspired by classic European designs.
Modern	Focuses on simplicity with sleek, angular shapes, neutral colors, and materials like leather or metal for a contemporary look.
Chesterfield	A timeless style with deep button tufting, rolled arms, and a high back, often upholstered in leather or velvet.
Scandinavian	Known for functional, minimalist designs with light wood accents, neutral fabrics, and an airy, cozy feel.
Industrial	Combines rugged materials like leather, metal, and distressed wood with a utilitarian, vintage-inspired look
Farmhouse	Emphasizes comfort and charm with overstuffed cushions, slipcovers, and neutral tones, often paired with rustic decor.
Contemporary	Similar to modern but softer, with curvier silhouettes, bold colors, and a focus on current trends.
Bohemian	Eclectic and free-spirited, often featuring colorful patterns, plush fabrics, and vintage or global-inspired elements.
Minimalist	Stripped-down designs with simple, functional shapes and neutral tones, focusing on essential comfort.
Transitional	A blend of traditional and modern elements, offering clean lines with soft curves and neutral, versatile fabrics.
Coastal	Light and breezy designs with soft, neutral tones, natural materials, and a relaxed, beach-inspired vibe.
Tuxedo	Distinguished by straight arms that are the same height as the backrest, giving it a boxy, tailored appearance.
English Roll Arm	Features low, softly rolled arms, a tight back, and deep cushions for a cozy, inviting feel.
Camelback	Defined by an arched back that rises in the center and slopes down toward the arms, often with refined, traditional upholstery.

Full Transcript: How Do I Choose My Couch Style, Featuring Rebecca Hay

Rebecca Hay: And so, if you’re the homeowner looking at images and pictures and starting to narrow it down and understand, “What is it about that couch that I like? Is it that it looks so comfy and deep and I feel like I can curl up and watch a movie? Or is it that it looks like a great perch for me to sit and have a cocktail?”

Alex Back: Hey everyone, it’s Alex with Couch.com, and I’m here with my new friend Rebecca Hay from Rebecca Hay Design. She is the founder and Chief Rebecca Officer—CRO—love it, I just came up with a new title. Also, she is a popular podcast host of Resilient by Design. I was a guest recently and thank you so much again for having me there. Amazing, ladies and gentlemen, Rebecca Hay! Here she is, woohoo!

Rebecca Hay: Yeah, thank you. Thank you so much for having me, Alex.

Alex Back: My pleasure. You have agreed to come to Couch.com and tell our users about certain things that they may be curious about, that they may want to hire an interior designer to discuss, but maybe they could just think about these things first prior to doing that or prior to going couch shopping.

Rebecca Hay: Certainly.

Alex Back: So, one of the questions I think we get all the time is like, “Okay, where do I start, right? First, do I—well, I don’t even know what style I like—how do you choose a couch style? How is that something—how do you guide people in that part of the process? Or do you generally just, you know, do you throw some pictures in front of them, or do you sort of have a more existential, like, character backstory conversation about, you know, what if their couch was a celebrity, who would it be? What methods do you use?”

Rebecca Hay: I wish I was that cool. I don’t have a crazy system like that. I would say most interior designers don’t. And I think that the consumer nowadays—the homeowner—is really more savvy than they used to be. I think because of television shows like HGTV, Pinterest, decor magazines, Instagram, and the like, I think that homeowners are bombarded with imagery of designs and spaces in beautiful homes all the time. And so, I do like to give our clients or the homeowner a lot more credit because I know that they usually come with an idea of what they like or what they don’t like, but quite often they can’t articulate it. And so, one of the great things that you can do as a designer, and if you’re working with a designer, would be to ask the designer to help guide you.

When it comes to design style, like, show some pictures. Like you said, Alex, I like to show a few photos if the clients are really kind of clueless, meaning that they really don’t know what they want. They know they want it to look good, and that’s it. And I sort of will do this or that, and you can start to get a sense of what clients like.

And so, if you’re the homeowner looking at images and pictures and starting to narrow it down and understand, “What is it about that couch that I like? Is it that it looks so comfy and deep and I feel like I can curl up and watch a movie? Or is it that it looks like a great perch for me to sit and have a cocktail?” And so, it’s starting to have those conversations with our clients because let me tell you, it can be a big investment. And so, we want to make sure that when we are helping and guiding our clients to select their furniture for their home, their couches, that they’re making the right decision and we’re guiding them in the right way.

Rebecca Hay: I don’t know if that answers your question.

Alex Back: That makes perfect sense. That does, and it answers it great. And I think a really good, um, some really good images that you gave us were, you know, the couch that’s so comfy that you really—and it’s deep and you want to curl up and watch a movie or—or a cocktail perch. A couch that could act as a perch to have a cocktail on. Like, I think I can see the difference between those two things, and I think customers generally have a lot of difficulty discerning between two different types of couches. So, I think starting with broad strokes and giving images to them like that, or if you’re doing it for yourself, like really starting to start broad and then start to narrow in on something like a shape.

Thank you so much for being with us and sharing your insight. It’s just incredibly valuable. We hit all of our marks, and I genuinely appreciate it.

Rebecca Hay: Thank you for having me.

A smiling man with short brown hair and a beard stands on a beach during sunset. He is wearing a black short-sleeved shirt with small white dots. The ocean and sandy shore are in the background, creating a warm and relaxed atmosphere.

Alex Back

Couch.com CEO & Founder

Alex Back is the founder and CEO of Couch.com. Previously, he was the co-founder and COO of the popular furniture brand, Apt2B, which was acquired by a large US retail furniture chain in 2018. He worked to integrate Apt2B, one of the very first online furniture retailers on the Shopify platform, into the operations of the 100 year old larger business entity and was deeply immersed in the business operations of both online and brick and mortar retail for 4 years before leaving in 2023 to start Couch.com. Working in various parts of the furniture industry since 2004, he has 20 years experience in retail sales, e-commerce, marketing, operations, logistics and wholesale manufacturing and distribution. He has worked extensively with partners such as Costco, Bed Bath and Beyond and Amazon and his work has been highlighted in many publications such as Forbes, CNN and HGTV, among others. Alex is delighted to bring his experience and authority on couches and the furniture industry to this platform, along with many of his industry colleagues who are helping him keep the Couch.com audience informed and engaged on a daily basis.

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