Types of sofas for the kitchen, main selection criteria

If the kitchen in your home is not only a production room where food is prepared, but also a place for relaxation and cozy gatherings, then you cannot do without a sofa. It is this furniture that will add charm to the kitchen and make it a place of attraction for the whole family, as well as for your guests. In addition, the sofa will add functionality to the kitchen: you can store all sorts of kitchen little things in it, and it will successfully separate the dining area from the work area.

Varieties

The modern market offers consumers a large selection of soft sofas, varying in color, shape, size, padding materials, and the presence of additional elements and functions. When choosing this piece of furniture, it is recommended to take into account the dimensions of the room where it will be located. In Soviet-built apartments, the room has a small area, so it is better to choose compact sofas for a small kitchen. Manufacturers offer customers several types of furniture.

Direct

A straight sofa is a classic that many have become accustomed to since childhood. The furniture is a linear structure with a back and armrests (or without them), without protrusions, roundings or changes in shape. It can be used for zoning space if you need to separate the dining area from the food preparation area. Other advantages of the model include:

• many length options;
• the presence of various transformation mechanisms;
• versatility;
• Possibility to use as a sleeping place;
• compatibility with any room interior.

But there are certain disadvantages that should be considered when choosing a sofa. The disadvantages include:

• difficulties when climbing into the apartment (relevant for long models);
• the inability to place it close to the wall (applies to transformers);
• loosening of the armrests during use;
• reducing the service life of the product due to constant transformations;
• the presence of a narrow seat;
• Models with fabric upholstery have an unpresentable appearance from the back of the back.

Straight modern sofas for the kitchen are divided into 2 groups.

Name	Description
Stationary	Without a transformation mechanism (do not move apart). Fits well into narrow spaces due to the shallow seats and high backrest. You can sleep on such models, but it is very uncomfortable.
Transformers	Easy to unfold. More suitable for use in spacious rooms. Some models have special storage boxes.

Straight transforming sofas differ in the direction of the berth in relation to the back of the structure:

1. Longitudinal - the headrest is the armrest. These models do not have cross seams, making them more comfortable for sleeping.
2. Perpendicularly directed - the back is used as a headboard.

For a small kitchen, stationary sofas are most often purchased, as they are more compact.

Space zoning

Stationary

Transformer

For a small kitchen

Corner

A corner sofa is a product consisting of several modules connected to each other and has an L-shape. The design allows you to place it close to the wall, using the corner. With the help of such a sofa you can highlight the dining area.

The advantages include:

• variety of sizes and shapes;
• presentable appearance;
• compactness;
• functionality;
• availability of additional storage space.

The corner sofa has no significant disadvantages. The only caveat: the product is usually equipped with a hard back and seat, so sleeping on it is not very comfortable.

Kitchen corners are divided into several types. They are described in the table.

Name	Description
Modular	They consist of separate parts that can be arranged as desired. Easily move from one place to another. You can make several separate armchairs from a sofa.
Transformers	Equipped with a sliding mechanism, thanks to which you can organize a full-fledged place to sleep.
Monolithic (stationary)	The models have a one-piece design. They differ from analogues in their high strength. Manufacturers present products in different variations.
U-shaped	Not suitable for small kitchens. The modules are arranged in the shape of the letter “P” and occupy a significant area of ​​the room.

A corner in the kitchen interior will not only help to zone the space, but will also become an additional storage space, since most models are equipped with drawers and shelves where you can lay out things or dishes.

Stationary

Zones the space

Modular

U-shaped

Transformer

Sofa-couch

The couch is a compact sofa that can even be transformed into a double model. Looks good in a small kitchen space and, if necessary, creates a full-fledged place to relax. There are modifications:

• with storage boxes;
• on legs, of various sizes;
• with backrest of different heights;
• with and without armrests.

The design is quite light, moving it is not difficult. The sofa-couch has a compact size, so it does not take up much space. The product has other advantages, including:

• availability of models with an orthopedic mattress;
• versatility;
• affordable price;
• functionality;
• storage space.

Among the disadvantages are:

• more complex product care;
• damage to upholstery;
• accumulation of dust.

Problems can be avoided if the sofa in the kitchen is used carefully. To prevent the upholstery from getting dirty or deteriorating, you should put on a cover.

With orthopedic mattress

With storage drawers

Without armrests

Semicircular

A sofa in the shape of a semicircle is upholstered furniture with a seat curved in an arc. The bending of the structure can be either obvious or slightly noticeable. The model is more suitable for use in spacious rooms.

Any kitchen design with a sofa in the shape of a semicircle will have its own zest. Other advantages of this type of furniture include:

• the ability to smooth out sharp corners in the room;
• creation of exclusive design;
• functionality.

The disadvantages include high cost. Semicircular sofas for the kitchen are classified into several types.

Name	Description
One-piece	They have a monolithic structure that cannot be disassembled into modules.
Modular	Consist of sectors connected to each other.
Bay windows	They are an excellent solution for filling niches. Made to order.

Stylish design

For a small kitchen

Bay window

With storage drawers

Can be used as a bed

It is difficult to sleep on such a sofa, if its longest part is less than 1.9 m, without placing a pair of stools or a chair under the feet of the person going to bed. The ideal solution would be a kitchen sofa corner made in the form of a transformer.

Its modular design with lifts allows you to turn it into a universal lounger that can be used in any room. This design is an ideal minimalist option for kitchen-living rooms: there is no need for a regular sofa bed used in the bedroom.

The typical dimensions of a transforming corner with the function of a double bed are 2x1.5 m, which allows two guests to comfortably spend the night if the apartment is small and one-room. This corner combines three useful functions at once, including storage. There are corners that come complete with additional seat-stands that resemble something between a stool and a pouf. These elements extend the sleeping place (or both sleeping places, if the sofa corner is folding) by 50-60 cm.

“Eurobook”, or a folding sofa, which, if necessary, turns into a double bed in the likeness of ordinary sofas for the bedroom - a smaller version of the latter. One of the berths serves as a backrest for those sitting during the day.

Materials and upholstery

The sofa consists of a frame, filling and upholstery. Modern models, including designer ones, are made from various materials to suit any needs and finances.

When choosing a sofa for the kitchen, it is better to give preference to products whose frame is made of natural materials. They are treated with a special impregnation that protects the structure from moisture and fungus. For example, wood is safe, environmentally friendly, and has a long service life. In addition, a kitchen with a sofa, the frame of which is made of solid wood, looks stylish and elegant. The best breeds are:

• pine;
• birch;
• oak;
• beech.

LDSP (laminated chipboard) is also a fairly popular material, which has a significant drawback - it absorbs moisture. At the same time, it is inexpensive.

On a wooden frame

On a metal frame

Modern raw materials are used for packing, which are durable and have a long service life. For example, polyurethane foam is a porous, synthetic substance. Has high density. There are two types:

• cast;
• blocky.

Features include environmental friendliness and the ability to restore shape after high loads. The material has antifungal, hypoallergenic and thermal insulation properties.

Holofiber is a new generation padding polyester. Consists of small fluffy spiral-shaped lumps. Its features are: the ability to quickly take on its original shape and copy contours. The material does not pill, is light in weight, has high breathability, and does not absorb foreign odors.

Sofas filled with foam rubber are rarely produced. The material is a low quality polyurethane layer. Due to its shortcomings - fragility, tendency to crumble, dry out, it is used to fill armrests and nothing more.

Polyurethane foam

Holofiber

Foam rubber

Various materials are used to upholster kitchen sofas:

1. Genuine leather has a high cost. In a kitchen interior with a leather sofa, this piece of furniture will attract the main attention. The advantages include: durability, ease of cleaning from dirt, long service life.
2. Leatherette. A material, one side of which has a porous coating based on polyester knitwear. Withstands loads and is easy to clean.
3. Textile. Fabrics are used less frequently. They have a shorter service life. Textiles are more difficult to clean and also absorb odors. When choosing a fabric sofa, you should choose options with Teflon impregnation.

It is difficult to say which upholstery is better; it all depends on the individual preferences and financial capabilities of the consumer. If you do not need to save money, you should choose genuine leather.

Genuine Leather

Faux leather

Fabric upholstery

What is a narrow sofa?

A narrow sofa is ordinary upholstered furniture, limited in size. Its seating area is smaller than its peers.

The width has also been adjusted downwards. As is clear, such a product is needed for small rooms where it is not possible to place full-sized furniture.

What is attractive about the product? Among other things, given its reduced size, the sofa does not lose in functionality. Stores sell such models with characteristics equal to regular ones.

Expert opinion

Smirnova Ekaterina Anatolevna

7 years of experience in interior design, professional architect

Of course, downsizing takes away some of the comfort and convenience. Short people, on the contrary, love such products for their compactness.

For them there is no difference.

A narrow sofa takes up very little space, but still brings a bit of coziness to the kitchen.

Availability of additional elements

Kitchen furniture often has storage space. These can be small drawers, shelves, cabinets. You can even purchase a custom-made stylish sofa that has a built-in mini-fridge.

The corner sofa set is equipped with pull-out tables, which is especially important for small rooms. Monolithic models are often sold without additional elements. And modular designs come with ottomans and pillows. A modern couch can be paired with an orthopedic mattress. You can also find stylish kitchen sofas with built-in lighting. Such furniture will not leave anyone indifferent.

With drawers

With mini fridge

With bar in the armrest

Types of frame

There are three types: wooden; tree derivatives; metal.

With wood and steel it’s clear. Derivatives from wood are plywood, chipboard, fiberboard, Finnish plywood, MDF.

Fiberboard is used exclusively for cladding, sealing the back walls of cabinets and shelves. That is, for decorative purposes.

This material is not capable of bearing a functional load. Other materials, MDF, chipboard, plywood, are used to make the frame of sofas.

Corner kitchen sofa with wooden frame and sleeping area

The advantage of wood substitutes is their low price. This frame does not affect the service life. Here the overall quality of the products is determined more. Depends on the manufacturer, specialists, and the quality of the supplied material.

Kitchen sofa made of Sonoma oak

Wooden frames are the most beautiful. They are better suited for design than others.

The surface of the wood is warm - this is an additional plus. Metal frames look beautiful in modern High-Tech and Minimalist styles.

Wooden - for classic (Provence, English). Folding fittings are available only in steel version.

This is necessary so that the narrow sofa can carry a functional load.

A corner sofa made of wood looks great in a modern kitchen interior

Criterias of choice

A large selection of sofas can make choosing very difficult. To prevent this from happening, before going to the store it is important to decide on your preferences:

1. Purpose of use. If furniture is needed only for meal times, then you can choose a simple monolithic model. If you plan to use the product as a place to sleep, then you should pay attention to transformers.
2. View. It is recommended to decide where the furniture will be placed. If you need to close a corner, then L-shaped options should be considered. To zone space in a room with large dimensions, you can pay attention to U-shaped or semicircular models. In a small kitchen it is better to place a straight sofa.
3. Material. Lovers of all things natural should take a closer look at leather models. If you like furniture covered with fabric, you can consider beautiful kitchen sofas with textile upholstery.
4. Additional functionality. Answering the question of what kind of sofa should be placed in the kitchen, we note that it should have space for storing things (drawers, cabinets, niches).
5. Transformation method. The structures can be expanded in length or width. When choosing a product, you need to check that it is easy to disassemble. An unassembled sofa should not take up all the free space.
6. Having removable covers will be an advantage. Cleaning dirt from such a sofa will not be difficult.

If you determine in advance what exactly the owners want to see in the room, there will be no problems with the choice. Otherwise it's easy to make mistakes.

Dinner Zone

With removable covers

Stylish leather

Angular

Space zoning

Choosing a place for furniture

First of all, you need to take into account the size of the kitchen, measure the allocated area for the sofa and decide how many seats there will be furniture. You can choose a sofa for every shape of kitchen. For example:

• rectangular kitchen - a bench or corner furniture is suitable;
• combined room - a semicircular or modular sofa will fit perfectly.

Make sure that the product does not block the passage, and the length should be at least 60 cm. If you have a small kitchen, avoid models with armrests. To zone a spacious kitchen or studio apartment, you can use corner furniture, which will create a separation effect.

Accommodation Tips

After purchasing, the question arises of how to install the sofa so that it fits organically into the interior:

1. A straight, oversized model would look good under a window or along an empty wall. It is better to place a small sofa with a built-in tabletop opposite the work area.
2. In a spacious room, upholstered furniture can be placed away from the tabletop.
3. For a rectangular design, it is recommended to find a place behind the table.
4. If the room is small, then you can choose a corner model. Any kitchen design with a sofa in the shape of the letter “L” will save space. Plus the product has additional storage space.
5. Modular structures can be disassembled and placed instead of chairs.

The main rule of arrangement is functionality. Furniture should not interfere with movement. Placing a sofa in the kitchen is not difficult if you approach it responsibly and choose suitable designer products.

Under the window

Extra bed

With kitchen island

Modular designs

Corner for a small kitchen

The most popular sofas for the kitchen

• Straight - traditional models, located along the wall and designed for two or three people.
• Corner ones are practical, save a lot of space and, thanks to the presence of spacious niches, solve the problem of placing kitchen utensils.
• Sofa-couches - their design does not provide a frame, so they are mounted on the wall, which saves usable space.
• Semicircular ones are the best option for a spacious kitchen. These models make the room more comfortable and are ideal for accommodating a large company.
• Bay windows are creative solutions for the interior of a non-standard kitchen. Such furniture is more intended to create comfort rather than provide additional functionality to the room.
• Sofa beds - this type of kitchen furniture provides a sleeping place. The models are more expensive than traditional ones, but they can solve the problem of receiving overnight guests.

Photo

Style ensemble of the room

In order to replace the chairs, the straight kitchen sofa will have to work a little harder. You need to fit into the style ensemble of the room and match the color scheme of the table.

Ideally, have the same upholstery as the dining room set, the same texture of wooden parts or coating of metal elements. Making a sofa the accent of the kitchen composition is one of the best solutions; you only need the color support of a few other items.

The dimensions of the sofa depend on the area of ​​the room and the space allocated for the dining area. The proportions of the setting are also taken into account. A massive set, for example, will include upholstered furniture with a high back and a powerful base. A single-tier or lightweight kitchen, on the contrary, will require an airy structure.

The straight shape allows you to place the sofa in any convenient place, and rearrange it if desired. The iron rule of the eating area is that sunlight should fall on the table, but not blind people, so it is better to place the sofa with its back to the window or opposite the kitchen unit against the wall to the side of the window.

Kitchen sofa care

Keeping kitchen furniture clean is not an easy task. The room tends to be almost always humid and warm. The interaction of the sofa parts with the atmosphere is constant, so the following is necessary:

• Choose a sofa with a frame made of wood whose species is resistant to moisture (beech, oak, larch), and is also processed accordingly.
• Give preference to upholstery that is inert to moisture and can be easily cared for - cleaning, steaming, etc. It is better if the covers are removable and the fabric is machine washable.
• Regularly check the operation of the folding mechanism - tighten, lubricate, replace parts if damaged.

If the kitchen sofa is expensive, then it is better to entrust its cleaning to professionals. Thus, its operation and original appearance will remain durable.

Where is the best place to place it?

Of course, installing a sofa in the center of the kitchen is impossible. Unless the kitchen has decent meters. However, even in country residences, such furniture is rare, since the kitchen is intended only for cooking, and table conversations are transferred to the dining room. Therefore, the traditional and therefore successful installation options are as follows:

Near the wall

Placing the sofa opposite the kitchen unit is a common and correct solution. If the sofa is intended for a separate sleeping place, this simplifies its operation. The table can be moved away or taken out, and in the daytime it is convenient to sit on the sofa behind it.

In the corner

Option for corner models. There is a caveat - the purchased sofa cannot be rearranged, so, as a rule, there is only one free corner in the kitchen. This position is very functional - it allows you to accommodate a dining table and comfortably sit around it for the whole family.

By the window

A similar installation, similar to the option against the wall. In this case, long curtains behind the back of the sofa are not recommended - only blinds, curtains or Roman curtains. The space under the window should not have functionality - built-in wardrobes, etc. Otherwise, it will become difficult to use them.

In the center

If the size of the kitchen allows, but there is no possibility for a full-fledged dining room, a sofa in the center will allow you to divide the space into zones. In this case, the installation can be anything - with the back to the kitchen set, the bar counter, or, conversely, around the table. There are many variations in a large kitchen. There is a nuance - the upholstery of the back of a kitchen sofa, designed to stand in the center, should not be inferior to the appearance of the front part.

Care methods

Since the structure is used in the kitchen, where there is a high probability of various contaminants getting into different parts of it, it is important to know how to properly care for it. To do this, it is advisable to initially select products whose upholstery is easy to remove various contaminants.

If stains appear on the upholstery, it is initially important to try to remove them with water, after which folk remedies, such as vinegar or soda, are used. If they do not help, then stain removers are used. Dust constantly accumulates in upholstered furniture, so it should definitely be vacuumed, washed or knocked out.

Thus, for the kitchen, choosing a straight sofa is considered rational. It is presented on the market in numerous forms, differing in parameters. To purchase the optimal model, the preferences of the premises owners and their financial capabilities are taken into account.

For a spacious kitchen and studio apartment

If square meters allow, feel free to expand the geography of your “sofa” searches and choose not only among kitchen models, but also standard sofas for the living room.

Magni Latte Daybed

Daybed Deans Sherst Gray

Magni Daybed Beige

Daybed Magni Red

This rule also applies to a studio apartment: its free space is enough for almost any sofa - both kitchen and ordinary. Place a model with massive armrests on the border between the intended dining room and living room, or delimit the cooking and relaxation areas with a bright and laconic option in the Scandinavian style.

The height of the sofa should match the height of the table and your height.