Sofas at Marcotte Style
Bespokesofas
Choosing a sofa without taking the rest of the room into account is an expensive gamble. We draw the seating area as a whole: the size, the fabric, the rug beneath it and the light above it. Everything you see here comes from homes we have furnished.
The size of the seating area
A sofa is bought either too small or too large. We start from the walking space around the seating area and from the distance to whatever you look at; only then is the size settled. We make corner sofas up to five metres long, with returns of three metres.
Because it is bespoke, a corner does not have to be a fixed corner. A rounded arm on the window side, a longer leg on the walkway side, a back that stays lower in one place because there is a window behind it: those are not surcharges but drawings.
- Up to five metres long with returns of three metres, in one piece or in sections that fit up the stairs
- Seat height and depth to choose measured on whoever sits in it most, not on a standard size
- Rounded or straight arms set per side, different left and right if need be
- The walkway first the sofa follows the circulation space, not the other way round
The same fabric in the chair, not the same shape
The swivel chair by the window is made in the same fabric and the same colour as the sofa. The two then read as one piece rather than two purchases that happen to stand together. The shape may differ: the chair swivels, so you can face the window or the room without a second seating area being needed.
Fabric and colour are not chosen separately
A swatch in the hand says little. A fabric reads differently in a north-facing room than in a south-facing one, and differently beside oak than beside dark panelling. So we lay the sofa fabric, the colour of the rug and the tone of the curtains side by side before anything is ordered.
In practice it comes down to one warm line and calm for the rest. A cushion that picks up the colour of the curtain does more than three accents each pulling their own way.
- Fabric, leather or velvet stain and wear resistant where there are children or dogs
- Rug and curtain chosen together from the same sample card as the sofa
- Cushions from the curtain fabric so the colour line runs from the window into the seating area
Three tones, not three colours
The cushions here are light blue, dusty pink and taupe: three tones from the same family. They differ enough not to be dull and not enough to fight. It is the simplest rule there is and at once the hardest to keep, because in a shop there is always one cushion that stands out just a little too much.
The same approach, other homes
What is settled before anything is made
Three things on paper before you decide.
- 01A first design on your roomA design based on your space, your taste and your budget, with photorealistic 3D. Twelve revisions are included, so a sofa may change size three times before anything is made.
- 02No design feeIf you carry out the work with us, you pay no fee on the design. The plan, the drawings, the 3D and the specification are part of the work.
- 03One point of contactThe same person from the first conversation to the delivery. We draw and design, the sofas are made to measure for you by fixed makers in Europe, directly and without middlemen, and our own team puts them in place.
Country: buttoned and on legs
In a country interior a sofa on legs works better than a model that comes down to the floor. The floor carries on underneath and the room stays light. A buttoned back also gives the relief that a flat back lacks.
Two wing chairs by the fireplace often do more than one large sofa: they leave the hearth clear, they can be moved, and they give the room a second place to sit without a second seating area being needed.
- Buttoning set by hand the diamond size follows the width of the piece
- On legs in timber or lacquered steel in the colour of the rest of the joinery
- Wing chairs by the fireplace rather than a sofa that closes off the hearth
Why buttoning either works or does not
On good buttoning the diamond ends neatly on the edge, not halfway through. That only works if the diamond size is calculated in advance against the width of the piece and the buttons are set by hand. It is the detail by which a made-to-measure sofa is recognised, and at once the first thing that shows when it has not been done.
Loose covers
Where children or dogs come, a fixed upholstery is a risk. With loose covers the sofa simply goes in the wash, and after ten years a new set can go on without replacing the frame.
The look changes with it: a cover falls more loosely and folds at the corners, which softens a room compared with tightly stretched upholstery. That is a choice, not a compromise.
- Washable covers removable per section, so only what is dirty goes in the wash
- A second set possible later the same frame, another fabric or colour
- Loose fall or tightly stretched two very different looks on the same sofa
The order of things
First the rug, then the sofa
The rug determines how large the seating area may become. That is why we settle it first, together with the walking space around it.
A sofa whose front legs land just beside the rug makes a room look untidy at once. So we draw the rug first, with the rule that all legs are on it or all legs are off it. Only then is the size of the seating area settled, and with it how much room is left to walk past.
The same goes for the light. A floor lamp bought afterwards almost always ends up where a socket is rather than where you read. Whatever belongs to the seating area belongs on the lighting plan.
Classical: leather beside fabric
Leather and fabric in the same room work, provided one of the two takes the lead. A buttoned sofa in white linen facing two brown leather armchairs reads calmly; two equivalent leather sofas facing each other read like a waiting room.
Leather also changes with the years. That is not a fault but the reason to choose it: the creases and the sheen only come with time.
- One material in the lead and the second as a counterpoint, not as a mirror
- Leather patinates the colour and the sheen change with use
- An ottoman instead of a table softer than a coffee table and easy to move
A footstool instead of a second sofa
The footstool belongs to the chair and is made in the same fabric. It does three things at once: feet up, extra seating when people come, and a side table with a tray on it. In a room where a second sofa would close off the walkway, that is the better answer, and it can be tucked away afterwards.
Contemporary: low, wide and clean
In a contemporary seating area the back comes down and the seat comes forward. That makes a room look taller and keeps the glazing clear. The price you pay is comfort over a long evening, so we usually draw in an armchair with a higher back alongside.
Clean here also means: as few separate pieces as possible. A low cabinet running on under the window replaces three side tables, and the coffee table may then be a single block.
- Low back, deep seat keeps the glazing clear and makes the room look taller
- One armchair with a higher back alongside for anyone who wants to sit upright for longer
- Fewer separate pieces a continuous cabinet rather than three side tables
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Come and try it out
Seating comfort is not something you judge from a photograph. In the showroom in Kapellen the models and the samples stand side by side, and you can really try the seat height and the depth. We also come to you, because that is where the room in question is.
Bring the dimensions of the room, or a photograph of the seating area as it stands today, and we have enough to make the conversation concrete.
