What to Know Before You Buy a Sectional

Even though sectionals are a family-friendly alternative to the traditional sofa and love seat, they’re one of the more polarizing elements in room design. People either love them or hate them. Add to that the available configurations and myriad options (which can be confusing at best, and mind-boggling at worst), and you have a full-blown case of design angst.

Let’s take some of the mystery out of sectionals, and help you avoid a costly mistake.

First, let’s get comfortable with sectional terminology. “Right arm facing” (RAF) means that when you are facing the piece or section, the arm is on your right. “Left arm facing” (LAF) means that the arm is on your left. Getting the proper-facing arm is critical, because you will be joining two or more pieces, and the placement of the arm will determine if your new sectional works in your room.

The sectional shown here is composed of a left-arm-facing love seat and a right-arm-facing chaise.

A sectional is usually made up of two or more pieces. Generally speaking, the fewer pieces you use to create your sectional, the more reasonable the price will be.

This sectional appears to be made of a left-arm-facing sofa (three seat cushions), a square corner and a right-arm-facing love seat.

If you built that same sectional, still using the LAF sofa but using a RAF corner sofa rather than the RAF love seat and the one seat corner, you would have used two pieces, not three, and would have saved some major bucks. The corner sofa has a back that forms the corner and saves your having to purchase an additional corner piece.

Check out American manufacturer Miles Talbot’s spec sheet on sectionals, where you will find a line drawing describing each of the most common sectional components.

Read more of What to Know Before You Buy a Sectional

What to Know Before You Buy a Sectional