Your By-Inch Guide to the Best Sofas for Small Spaces
Because, sometimes, size matters.
Updated Jul 19, 2023 4:24 PM
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This story was part of Sofa Week, our seven-day stretch of, you guessed it, sofas. After years spent styling, sitting on, and searching for the best of the best—from bespoke designs to rare under-$500 gems—we’re compiling our couch knowledge in one comfy spot.
If you live in a small space and actually have enough room to carve out a little living area, consider yourself one of the lucky ones. (Studio dwellers, you know what we’re talking about.) An oversize sectional sofa is the sort of living room staple we tend to take for granted until we find ourselves struggling to source a viable option that fits within the spatial constraints of our homes—we may or may not be speaking from personal experience here. Finding a comfortable couch is difficult as it is. Finding one that’s design-forward and compact? Decidedly more so. That’s where we come in, with a knack (and passion) for scouring the entirety of the web for the style-focused essentials your home deserves. From generous single-seaters to elongated svelte frames and everything in between, we’ve got the shopping intel on the best sofas for small spaces organized by inches, below. (Continue your search for the best coffee tables for small spaces here.)
Our Favorite Sofas for Small Spaces
- Best chair and a half: Hay Quilton Single Seater Sofa
- Best 50-inch (and under): OKA Coleridge 2-Seater Linen Slipcover Sofa
- Best 51-inch to 59-inch: Serena & Lily Spruce Street Slipcovered Loveseat
- Best 60-inch to 69-inch: Industry West Prado Sofa
- Best 70-inch (and up): West Elm Arianna Modular 3-Piece Ottoman Sectional
The Best Chair-and-a-Half Sofas
While its name might suggest otherwise, the chair and a half is verging on the sofa category where small spaces are concerned. Toss an ottoman in front of one and it is big enough for one to two people to cozy up in—yet still small enough to fit inside spaces that might be even too tight for a love seat. Additionally, a chair and a half is usually comfier in construction than other svelte small-space sofas, offering plusher cushions, deeper seats, and lounge-friendly frames. Our favorite from Hay boasts an inviting armless silhouette with marshmallow-like upholstery and a nice 43-inch deep seat.
The Best 50-Inch (and Under) Sofas
The 50-and-under sofa category is tricky, as many of these smaller-width seats tread into the chair-and-a-half category. While we tossed in a few single-seaters, still generously sized enough to squeeze two, in the low 40-inch range, our favorite is a true 50-incher from British homewares brand OKA. From its traditional 20th-century-inspired silhouette to its brass caster–clad stained-birch legs and 100% linen slipcover, this elegant sofa is a worthy small-space investment.
The Best 51-Inch to 59-Inch Sofas
The over-50 range opens up a comfier category for small-space couches, with more formidable and spacious designs verging on three-seater capacity. Our favorite is, unsurprisingly, Serena & Lily’s Spruce sofa—a top pick from our guide to the best love seats. The slipcovered style is available in a wide range of patterns and materials, from 100% linen upholstery to stain-resistant performance fabric. It’s custom-built in the U.S. with a sturdy kiln-dried, hardwood frame and legs, featuring fiber-wrapped, soy-based foam cushions.
The Best 60-Inch to 69-Inch Sofas
If you can swing a sofa from the 60-and-up crowd, we recommend going with a deeper seat—like our favorite from Industry West. The soft, cloudlike silhouette of the Prado sofa cushions the blow of its bulkier 62-inch frame inside a smaller space. We love the cocoon quality of its low seat-bed paired with a high back and overstuffed cushions. Our other favorites feature either similarly softened frames or, in the case of a vintage 1stDibs find, pair their longer dimensions with a narrower and taller frame.
The Best 70-Inch (and Up) Sofas
Our top picks for 70-inch-and-up sofas range from a compact slipcovered cloud couch by Domino-favorite Leanne Ford to a collaborative Herman Miller x Hay design with barely there legs to a ’60s-inspired Urban Outfitters creation featuring a comfy, curvaceous profile. Our top choice, however, is West Elm’s Arianna sofa, as it’s one of the most space-conscious sectionals we’ve come across. The soft modular design can be reconfigured to fit within whatever size space you’re working with—standing alone or clustered together.
