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Couch Types: 11 Different Styles for All Homes

Couch Types: 11 Different Styles for All Homes

Let’s face it, there are several different couch types. But with so many options, how do you find the best one for your home?

If you’re asking this question, you’re in the right place. Read on to learn more.

In the world of living room home décor, options are the name of the game. All the choices between paint colors, couch types, and accent touches can make your head spin.

A great way to go about designing a comfortable room is to start by choosing which type of couch you like best since it’ll likely be a focal point in your living room.

If you’re unfamiliar with all the many kinds of couches out there, have no fear.

11 Different Couch Types for All Homes

Although there’s a lot to choose from and even more ways to integrate each style into a customized room you love, starting from the ground up can simplify the process and take the guesswork out of styling your living room.

Sectional Couch

One of the most popular styles of couches for large spaces and large families is sectional.

These couches come in anywhere from three to five individual pieces that allow you to arrange and uniquely style them. 

U-Shaped Sectional

For a piece on types of couches, a U-Shaped Sectional

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Here, the U-shaped sectional creates a sense of space that defines the borders of the living room.

This creates a traditional, symmetrical feeling that can keep the room appearing bright and clean.

A U-shaped sectional couch like this one could be a great fit and configuration for someone who likes a minimalistic or even more modern look with clean lines, elegant touches, and a classic overall effect. 

They also give off a refined and customized vibe in a living room. If you like structure and want a large, bold couch design to make a bold statement in your living space, then a U-shaped sectional couch might be for you.

L-Shaped Sectional

L-Shaped Sectional that's grey in color for a piece on types of couches

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This sectional couch still lends the room a sense of orderly flow and structure, but the effect of the L-shape is a little more free-form. With the colors it’s styled with, this couch pulls off more of a moody feel.

If you like structure but are worried that a U-shaped sectional would be too rigid or confining in your space, then an L-shaped sectional could be a great fit.

It still offers a wide range of seating options but leaves more space in the room open, making this a good couch style to position facing a television.

Sectional couches, in general, are great for people who enjoy entertaining and need to be able to provide a lot of seating options and arrangements.

For large families, L-shaped sectional couches can give everyone their own spot while still looking neat, styled, and structured.

Faux Sectional

Faux Grey Sectional in a white living room for a piece on couch types

Kuprynenko Andrii/Shutterstock

Utilizing a couch and ottoman duo, whether sold together as a sectional or not, can create a deconstructed sectional effect in a smaller living room or an area that you want to feel more minimalistic or modern.

Instead of arranging your couch sections in an L shape, you can always deconstruct the pieces and use them separately.

This could look like two similarly sized sofas facing each other with a coffee table between, or it could look similar to the inspiration photo, with a couch and adjacent, large ottoman of the same style and color.

If you enjoy a more eclectic than traditional look and are on a tighter budget, you can always achieve this look by sourcing two separate pieces of furniture that pair well together. 

Even if you don’t choose two matching pieces, making sure they have complementary forms, such as the couch and the ottoman, will elevate your living space.

Chesterfield Couch

Depending on where you’re from, you might have heard any couch referred to as a Chesterfield growing up.

Despite the wide use of this term, a Chesterfield couch is tufted, and many styles usually have a higher back and rolled arms for a classic vintage British aesthetic.

Leather Chesterfield 

Leather Chesterfield couch type in a dark grey painted and wainscoted living room

Ykvisual/Shutterstock

Chesterfields are great for conveying a sense of vintage drama and elevated taste.

Especially when done in leather, these couches pair well with dark colors, metal touches, and a minimalistic approach for an overall rich and swanky look.

All the details of this kind of couch line up to create the type of vibe you’d find in a Renaissance man’s study: the lived-in leather, the tufted back and arms, and the rich color are components that are very popular on Chesterfield couches.

Keep in mind that leather Chesterfields are often smaller in size than other kinds of couches and may not be a style synonymous with curling up in comfort.

Velvet Chesterfield

Velvet Chesterfield type of couch in a loft-style home

Nadezhda Manakhova/Shutterstock

While a leather Chesterfield has a masculine touch, a velvet Chesterfield can have the opposite effect.

In this mostly rustic-looking room, this velvet Chesterfield adds a refined, somewhat feminine, and elegant touch that gives the room an eclectic vibe.

Velvet tends to elevate anything it covers, and these couches are no exception. The combination of the material, the tufts, and the shape of a velvet Chesterfield scream elegance. 

In an already classic or elegantly styled room, the effect of such a couch may be over the top. However, in a room with industrial or rustic styling, this style of couch is the perfect balancing touch.

Mid-Century Modern Couch

The mid-century modern trend has been growing in popularity, so this couch style has also been getting a lot of attention. It features clean lines, sometimes geometric styles, and an overall funky and sometimes minimalistic effect.

The term mid-century modern comes from a sort of contemporary revival of the popular style around the 40s and 60s, hence the term mid-century. 

Because this style can encompass a broad range of iterations, from purist mid-century to more funky 60s mod, there are many types of mid-century modern couches to create your desired effect in your living space.

Leather Mid-Century Modern Couch

For a roundup on types of couches, Leather Mid Century Modern Couch

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True to the mid-century modern style, this leather couch achieves a minimalistic and yet eclectic, lived-in feel in this living space.

Mid-century modern styles like this go well with lots of design styles and often make the perfect focal point in an eclectic room.

As you’ll notice here, mid-century modern couches can often focus on style over function, so they may not be the most comfortable couch you’ve ever sat on. But they might be some of the most stylish.

Mid-Century Modern Loveseat

Mid-Century Modern Loveseat in a living room for a piece on couch types

TierneyMJ/Shutterstock

In a room with little space to spare that still needs a stylish focal point, a mid-century modern loveseat like this one is a great choice.

Clean lines and geometric construction help keep this space structured while conveying a cool, mod kind of aesthetic.

Loveseats are sized-down couch options usually large enough to comfortably seat up to two people. You can hardly go wrong with one in a mid-century modern style.

Their clean lines and minimalistic effect can go a long way to making a statement in a room without wasting space to do it.

Colorful Mid-Century Modern Couch

Colorful Mid Century Modern Couch Type

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For a funky, colorful effect, mid-century modern is the name of the game.

Rich, jewel-toned colors like yellow find an appropriate home and lend amplified style and personality when paired with a mid-century modern couch, like this groovy one.

While mid-century modern style plays well with clean lines, monochrome palettes, and minimalistic style, maximalists will find that this couch style is perfect for making a bold statement in a colorful room. 

These couches are made to be focal points, so choose one in a bright color, fill it in with complementary but not warring accents, and let your couch shine.

Lawson Couch

When you think of a traditional, soft, comforting couch, a Lawson-style couch is probably what comes to mind. This style was revolutionary in its time because it promoted comfort over stylistic details.

The telltale feature of a Lawson couch is that it employs cushions detachable from the couch’s frame to make it more plush and comfy. These couches are still stylish and versatile, pairing function and form.

These couches are more stuffed than their different-style counterparts, so choose a Lawson couch if comfort is your top priority.

Hygge-Style Lawson Couch

For a piece on types of couches, a Hygge-Style Lawson Couch pictured

Jodie Johnson/Shutterstock

Rich layers of texture amp up the comfort factor of this cozy Lawson couch in this Scandinavian-inspired room.

With a monochrome palette and nature-inspired touches, this couch offers the perfect place to cuddle up and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee.

If you’re going for a cozy, traditional Scandinavian hygge style for your living room, a Lawson couch is a must. Hygge is all about coziness and comfort and relishing in it.

So the plush backs and arms of a Lawson couch make the perfect match for this kind of design vision.

Versatile Lawson Couch

Versatile Lawson Couch Type pictured in a boho-style living room

Photographee.eu/Shutterstock

Dress it up or dress it down: this Lawson couch serves to ground luxe gold and black room accents, balancing the almost cold, minimalistic details with a softer, more welcoming focal point that ties it all together.

Because it’s become so popular, you can find Lawson couches in any kind of style, color, or size you want or need. For this reason, this style of sofa is one of the most versatile.

Lovers of comfort will find that a well-made Lawson couch can last years and serve them well through multiple moves, overhaul decor changes, and smaller style updates.

What can we say? You really can’t go wrong with this style of couch.

Things to Consider

Even though the term “style” denotes design or appearance, that’s only one of the things you need to keep in mind when choosing which style of couch to incorporate into your living space.

  • Comfort first: Consider the comfort factor of each style and how it would interact with your lifestyle and your expectations for a living area couch.
  • Style second: Make sure your chosen couch fits into your intended vision and design aesthetic. Use a mood board to help you decide the overall effect your couch needs to have in your living space.
  • Stick to a budget: Consider the differing price points of the available styles and be honest with yourself about what you can comfortably afford.
  • Remember size: It can be easy to get carried away and end up with a couch too large or small for its intended space. Take room measurements and compare them to the piece of furniture multiple times to be sure.
  • Longevity: Depending on your budget, you may be looking for a couch that will stand the test of time and be a “lifer,” or you might be looking for a piece of furniture you use for a few years and then move on from. Decide this ahead of time.

What’s Your Favorite Type of Couch?

Image for a piece titled Popular Couch Types featuring a well-dressed woman in a black and white striped skirt with a sleeveless blouse

Matej Kastelic/Shutterstock

With so many couch types to choose from, it can get a little overwhelming trying to pick the best fit for your lifestyle and living space.

When designing a living room, it’s a great approach to pick out your couch first and build the rest of the room around that focal point.

Remember that whether your couch will be a long-lasting investment or a short-lived fling, it needs to fit into your lifestyle and meet your expectations for day-to-day use.

Stick to your budget and measure, measure, measure to prevent buyer’s remorse.

A couch is an integral part of a living room space because it represents both comfort and time spent with friends and loved ones.

Create a welcoming space that is good for hosting and lounging by choosing a couch type that checks all the boxes as your perfect fit.