How to order a custom sofa: the decisions that matter

Ordering a custom sofa comes down to a short list of decisions: the style, the length, the seat depth and height, the cushion fill, and the fabric. At Architexture in Woodland Hills you make most of them sitting down, in the showroom, before anything is built.

Here is how each decision works, and what to think about before you order.

Why should you sit on a sofa before you order it?

Because comfort is personal, and a photo cannot tell you how a seat feels. The Architexture showroom has several sofa styles and a sectional on the floor, and visitors are encouraged to sit or lie down on them to find the one that feels right. Once you have chosen the style, you order it in your fabric and can specify its exact height and seat depth.

There is a practical reason to take your time here too. Custom pieces are made for you, so they are final sale. The moment to find out that a seat is too deep for you is in the showroom, not after delivery.

Custom or semi-custom: which one do you need?

Architexture offers upholstered furniture at two levels.

• Semi-custom starts from one of the sofa and chair designs in the store. It can be made in any size, with the details as shown or changed to suit you: a deeper or shallower seat, a different number of cushions, wider or narrower arms.
• Custom starts from a picture. Bring a photograph of a sofa, chair, ottoman or bench from a magazine, a catalog or the internet, and it can be made as shown to your measurements, or modified to keep some elements and add others.

Either way, any sofa can be made to any length, as a sectional, or as a sleeper sofa. If you are not sure which level fits, start in the showroom: if one of the floor models is close to what you want, semi-custom is usually the simpler path.

What measurements do you need to decide?

Three numbers shape how a sofa fits your room and your body.

• Length. Set by the wall or the space it floats in, and by what else has to fit around it.
• Seat depth. Some people like a deep seat they can tuck their feet into; others want a shallower seat that supports them sitting upright. Sitting on the floor models is the fastest way to learn which you are.
• Seat height. Worth deciding on purpose, especially if the sofa has to work with a coffee table you already own.

Before you order, measure the room with the whole furniture layout in mind, and measure the way in as well: doorways, hallways, stairs and tight corners. If the layout itself is the question, space planning is part of Architexture’s residential design services: Abby Rose will come to the house to look at the shape and flow of each room, or work from floor plans if the rooms are still under construction.

Which cushion fill should you choose?

Every seat cushion starts with a foam core, which is then wrapped in the fill you choose. There are three options.

Think about how the sofa will be used. A sofa for sinking into on a Sunday afternoon and a sofa that has to look neat every day may call for different fills.

How do you choose the fabric?

This is where most people get stuck, and where seeing the real thing matters most. The Architexture showroom has a large library of textile and wallpaper samples, so you can hold the actual fabric up in the light instead of guessing from a screen.

Choose for how you live as well as how it looks. The studio helps clients pick a fabric that works with the other furniture and fabrics in the room and with their lifestyle, and when several fabrics are involved, makes sure the sofa, the chairs, the ottoman and the drapes all work together. If your sofa has exposed wood, you also choose its finish, and there are many finishes to choose from.

What happens after you order?

Architexture makes its own upholstery, which is what makes the size, seat and fabric choices possible. When the piece is ready, a local delivery service brings it anywhere in the Los Angeles area, and other delivery services can take custom furniture anywhere in the country.

The same approach works beyond sofas. Arm chairs, sectionals and headboards are among the most frequently ordered custom pieces, and hardwood pieces can be made in your size and finish. You can see the full range on the custom-made furniture page, and the sofa and chair options on the custom upholstered furniture page.

Come sit on it first

The best way to order a custom sofa is to start on one. Visit the Architexture showroom at 21410 Ventura Blvd in Woodland Hills, Tuesday to Saturday, 11 AM to 4 PM, or call 818-760-3399.