Article: How to Choose a Sofa: Four Sofa Families and the Way You Live

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Tateyama curved sofas in white bouclé in a garden-view lounge

Nov 5, 2026Carmel

How to Choose a Sofa: Four Sofa Families and the Way You Live

A sofa is the piece you live with most. It holds family evenings, guests who stay too late, naps, arguments and reconciliations, often for ten years or more. So when clients ask us where to start, we never begin with fabric or colour. We ask: how do you actually live in this room?

The short answer: Choose a sofa by the way you live, then by its shape: a curved sofa for conversation, a sculptural sofa that can float for a gallery-like room, a modular sofa for homes that keep changing, and a low, deep sofa for lounging. Fabric and colour come last.

The new Maison Burgos collection is organised the same way, into families of shape. Here is how to tell them apart, and how to know which one is yours.

Tateyama: for conversation

Tateyama curved sofa in green velvet with a wavy floor lamp in a wood-panelled living room — The curve turns people toward one another, not toward a screen. Tateyama Curved Sofa

The Tateyama Curved Sofa is what we call a conversational sofa. Its curve turns the people seated on it toward one another, the way chairs naturally drift into a circle at the end of a good dinner. A gap is carved into the backrest so the sofa never closes itself off from the room, and side tables are built right into the form on a continuous steel band finished in satin or polished metal, or in a lacquered colour.

Choose Tateyama if your living room is built around talking rather than television. It wants to float, ideally facing a fireplace, a window or another seat.

Tateyama curved sofa in cream and olive velvet beside a round coffee table — Cream and olive velvet with a round table: the conversation set-up. Tateyama Curved Sofa

The family grows with your space. The Tateyama XL Sofa stretches the same idea to 118 inches with low, individual backs, and the Tateyama Cloud Sofa softens every edge into something closer to a cloud.

Tateyama XL curved sofa in cream bouclé under globe pendant lights in a wood-panelled living room — Tateyama XL: room for the whole family, still a single gesture. Tateyama XL Sofa

Tateyama Cloud sofa in a dark room with a green curtain and blush pillows — Tateyama Cloud in a darker room, every edge softened. Tateyama Cloud Sofa

Carmel: for sculpture

Some sofas are furniture. Carmel is closer to sculpture. The Carmel Sofa has generous, rounded volumes and a low profile that look as considered from behind as from the front, which is exactly the point: Carmel is designed to stand in the middle of a room, not hug a wall.

Carmel sofa in ivory bouclé in a beamed living room with a green rug and terracotta chairs — Carmel in ivory bouclé: architectural lines, softened. Carmel Sofa

The Carmel Marble Modular Sofa goes one step further, setting the modules on solid blocks of natural marble. The upholstery seems to hover, and because the stone is natural, the veining and tone change from block to block. Choose Carmel when the sofa is the art.

Carmel marble modular sofa in cream with a travertine coffee table in a concrete loft with arched mirrors — Marble feet lift the modules so the sofa seems to hover. Carmel Marble Modular Sofa

Mosaico: for rooms that change

Life rarely stays in one layout. A new apartment, a new baby, a party for forty, a teenager who suddenly needs the den. The Mosaico Sectional Sofa – Composition 2 is built for that. Its upholstered modules lock together like tiles, each marked by the signature arched cut-out that gives the family its name, and they can be rearranged or added to as your life moves.

Mosaico modular sofa in cream with a matching ottoman on a green rug in a sunlit living room — Modules that lock together like tiles, and come apart when life changes. Mosaico Sectional Sofa – Composition 2

Choose Mosaico if you rearrange furniture as often as you change the seasons.

Slide and Moritz: for soft, low living

And then there are the sofas you sink into. The Slide Sofa is built from soft, stacked volumes that seem to glide past one another: a rounded back resting on a deep seat, floating on a recessed base. It is fully upholstered on every side, so it looks finished from any angle.

Slide sofa in brown velvet in a loft living room with a patterned armchair — Slide in brown velvet: stacked volumes, fully upholstered. Slide Sofa

The Moritz Sectional draws one long, gentle curve with a sweeping chaise and a 16-inch seat. Low seats change how a room feels: sightlines open up, ceilings feel higher, and everyone instinctively relaxes. Moritz is the one family in this story that is in stock, in Licorice or Alabaster bouclé. (We designed a whole evening room around the Licorice version in After Dark.)

Moritz 3-piece curved sectional in Alabaster in a sunlit desert-style lounge with a low wood coffee table — Moritz in Alabaster: a low seat that opens the whole room. Moritz Sectional

The supporting cast: what goes around the sofa

A sofa is only half a room. What sits in front of it and beside it decides how the room is used. A low, generous coffee table invites people to lean in; a pair of tables at two heights makes room for a drink and a book; an armchair facing the sofa turns a seating area into a conversation; an ottoman is the most flexible seat in the house.

A few pairings we return to: the Fragment Coffee Tables, a set of three in red marble at different heights, grouped beside a pale modular sofa or pulled apart for a party; the Pangea Coffee Table, two monolithic halves in stained ash, each on a single leg, for a deep lounging sofa; the Bonnie & Clyde Coffee Table, carved from a single block of Nero Marquina, with a curved bouclé chair; and the Panorama Armchair in green velvet as the colour in a cream room.

Fragment coffee tables in red marble with metal bases beside a cream sofa — Three heights, one stone: grouped for everyday, apart for guests. Fragment Coffee Tables

Pangea coffee table styled with books and a lamp on a round rug — Two halves in stained ash, together or apart. Pangea Coffee Table

Bonnie and Clyde coffee table in Nero Marquina marble beside a pink bouclé armchair — Black marble and blush bouclé: a pairing with a point of view. Bonnie & Clyde Coffee Table

Panorama armchair in green velvet facing a cream modular sofa with marble tables — One chair in colour, facing the sofa: the conversation begins. Panorama Armchair

And always one ottoman. The Malibu Ottoman in terracotta velvet is a footrest on Sunday, a seat when the room fills, and a tray table with the right tray.

Malibu ottoman in terracotta velvet on a blue rug in a living room — The most flexible seat in the house. Malibu Ottoman

Which sofa family is yours?

You host and talk: Tateyama, Tateyama XL or Tateyama Cloud.
Your room is a gallery: Carmel or Carmel Marble Modular.
Your life keeps changing: Mosaico.
You lounge, read and nap: Slide or Moritz.

A designer's rule of thumb

Leave about 18 inches between the sofa and the coffee table, and 30 inches for walkways. In Feng Shui, place the sofa in the command position: its back to a solid wall, facing the entrance, so you can see who comes in. If your sofa floats, as curved and sculptural sofas often should, a console behind it gives the same sense of support.

Frequently asked questions

How do I choose the right sofa shape for my living room?

Start with how you use the room, not with fabric. If the room is for conversation, choose a curved sofa that turns people toward one another. If it should feel like a gallery, choose a sculptural sofa that can float. If your life changes often, choose modular. If you lounge more than you sit, choose a low, deep seat.

Are curved sofas practical?

Yes, when the room allows them to float. Curved sofas need about 18 inches of clearance in front and 30 inches for walkways, and they work best with a round coffee table. They are excellent for conversation and for breaking up a boxy room.

What is the difference between a modular and a sectional sofa?

A sectional is a fixed configuration, usually with a corner or chaise. A modular sofa is made of independent pieces that can be rearranged or added to over time, like the Mosaico and Carmel modular sofas.

How far should a sofa be from the coffee table?

About 18 inches, close enough to reach a cup and far enough to walk past your knees. Leave around 30 inches for main walkways.

Where should a sofa go according to Feng Shui?

In the command position: back against a solid wall, facing the room's entrance, without being directly in line with the door. If the sofa must float, a console behind it gives the same sense of support.

How long does a made-to-order sofa take?

Most Maison Burgos sofas are made to order in your choice of fabric and ship in 10 to 16 weeks depending on the model. The Moritz Sectional is in stock and ships in two to four weeks.

Every sofa in this story is made to order in your choice of fabric. Explore our sofas and sectionals, or write to info@maisonburgos.com to request swatches. Designers can request project quotes through our Trade Program.

Written by Marie Burgos, founder of Maison Burgos and of Marie Burgos Design, the New York interior design studio she established in 2007. Marie is an NYU-trained interior designer and Feng Shui Master. She founded Maison Burgos in 2018: a collection of furniture, lighting and objects curated by Marie, including pieces of her own design, brought to life with the craftsmen and artisans she works with.

Written by Marie Burgos