Getting a Sectional the Right Way Round

Sectionals are ordered in a configuration, and the terminology is a common source of expensive mistakes.

Left and Right Are Not Obvious

The convention that catches people out. Handedness is described from the point of view of somebody sitting on the sofa facing outward, not from somebody looking at it.

A left-arm-facing chaise is on your left when you are sitting on the sofa, which is on the right as you look at it from across the room.

Getting this wrong produces a sofa that blocks a doorway or points into a wall, and it is the single commonest sectional error.

Check Before Ordering

• Stand where the sofa will go and face the room
• Decide which side the chaise or return should be
• Then translate into the listing’s convention deliberately
• Many sectionals can be swapped, which removes the risk
• Some cannot, and that is worth knowing before ordering

Notes that the chaise can usually be swapped left or right, of the kind in the sizing guidance at signaturedesign-by-ashley.com, are worth confirming for the specific piece rather than assumed.

Modular Is More Forgiving

Genuinely modular sectionals are separate pieces that connect, so the arrangement can be changed later or split across a move.

Fixed-configuration sectionals are one shape permanently. For anybody who moves, or who is not certain about a layout, modular is worth the premium.

Measure Both Sides

Sectionals are quoted as a total width and a total depth, and each leg has its own length.

The long side against a wall and the return projecting into a room is a different footprint from the reverse, and the return frequently defines the walkway.

The Walkway Behind

A return projecting into a room needs around thirty-six inches behind it where people walk past.

Without it, a sectional turns a room into a corridor.

Delivery in Pieces

Sectionals arrive in several cartons, frequently on more than one day.

Each piece has to reach the room individually, which is usually easier than a single sofa of the same size.

Connectors Loosen

The brackets that hold sections together work loose with use and need occasional tightening, or the sections drift apart.

Rotate the Cushions

Everybody sits in the same seat on a sectional, and the corner takes the most use.

Tape the Footprint

Both legs, on the floor, before ordering.