Sectionals went out of fashion for a few decades, but they are back and taking over the living room furniture market. A sectional sofa has huge potential for large families or those who like to entertain frequently. They can create a pleasant environment that facilitates lively conversation and enjoyment. It is little wonder that many families are turning to sectional sofas.

But unlike in years gone by, there is currently a large selection of sectionals available. While your local furniture store may offer only a few, turning to the internet gives you many more options. You will be able to find the best sectional for your home online, but you need to narrow down your choices first. Here are some criteria to consider.

Choose your style

Even if you are not the best decorator, you can create the perfect living space on your own. Online furniture stores provide you with detailed descriptions, including what style the collection falls under. This makes it much easier to narrow down your choices once you choose a style. The most common styles of sectionals are:

• Traditional
• Contemporary
• Eclectic and Bohemian
• Modern 
• Coastal and Topical

The style in which your home was designed will play a big factor in what style you choose for your living room or family room. For example, a weathered coastal style would look entirely out of place in a traditional home with intricate crown moldings. On the other hand, the traditional and eclectic styles do work well with almost any design.

Choose your ideal colors or patterns

If you are only buying a sectional and need it to compliment your other living room furniture, colors and patterns can be extremely important. While a sectional is the focal point of any space due to its size, you don’t want to draw attention to unpleasantly clashing colors or patterns. You can contrast colors and patterns, just make it seem like it naturally fits into the rest of the room.

Measuring your space

Do you even have room for a sectional? A sectional takes up much more space than your typical sofa. Most people don’t realize how much usable floor space they need for such a large piece of furniture. If you have never owned a sectional before it can be even more difficult to visualize if a sectional will fit into your room comfortably.

Start by measuring the usable space you have to dedicate to the new sectional sofa. It can help to look up a few common sectional dimensions and make templates to see how they will fit. It is important that you leave at least 18 inches of space available around the seating of the sectional so that people can sit comfortably. If you have limited floor space, you may also be limited in your options for sectionals.

Budget

In a perfect world you could buy any sectional that met your fancy and fit your space, but most of us live in a different reality. Budget is an important consideration when buying any furniture, but especially so with sectionals. A sectional sofa can be the most expensive item in your home, so it is important to have a reasonable budget. It is equally important to stick to that budget.

Thankfully, there are some ways that you can get a really good price on a new sectional, giving you style at a lower cost. Retail holidays, sales events, and clearance sales can provide deep discounts on the most popular sectional sofas. You can also sometimes save if you buy the matching pieces to the sectional furniture collection.

The best way to stick to your budget is to shop online. Online furniture stores are able to offer much lower prices than brick-and-mortar retailers. They have access to larger inventories, giving them the ability to offer prices lower than list price. Online retailers are also more likely to have large selections of sectionals on sale. Check price for sectionals on 1SB.