Paris Grey Sofa: a 72.5cm back and what fits above it

A Chesterfield is usually a tall, heavy-looking thing in a room. The Paris Grey Sofa is not: every unit in the set is listed at 72.5cm high, which is lower than a kitchen worktop. That one figure is the reason it is worth a look in a room with a window on its longest wall, and it decides what you can hang or stand behind it.

A 72.5cm back, and what can go above it

Set against a wall, the top of the back lands at about hip height on most adults. Three things follow from that. A window board usually sits around 90cm from the floor, so the sofa can go under a window without blocking the glass or cutting the light across the room. A picture or a mirror hung above it has somewhere to be: designers tend to leave 20cm to 25cm of clear wall between the top of a sofa back and the bottom of a frame, and a 72.5cm back gives you that on almost any wall. And a radiator behind the sofa will still throw heat into the room over the top, rather than into the back panel, though it is worth checking how close the two actually sit.

The trade is head support. A back this height supports the shoulders rather than the head, which suits upright sitting and television at a distance better than lying down to read. The listing gives no seat height and no seat depth, so if you want to know how it will feel to sit in, that is a question for the shop or a visit.

The three widths

• 3-seater: 216 x 82 x 72.5cm
• 2-seater: 171 x 82 x 72.5cm
• 1-seater: 104 x 82 x 72.5cm

Depth and height hold steady across the set, so only the length changes. The figures run in that order on the listing without labels, and if you are dropping a unit into an alcove it is worth having the shop confirm which is which.

For an alcove, measure at the narrowest point, which is usually across the skirting rather than the plaster above it, and then add a margin. A 216cm unit in a 218cm recess will physically go in, but it looks wedged and makes vacuuming impossible. Five to ten centimetres of air at each end reads much better.

Buttoning, rolled arms and chrome legs

The description sets out deep button detailing and rolled arms on a quality grey fabric, with polished chrome accent legs. It also makes a point of mixing and matching the units, which the configuration menu on the product page supports: you can take one unit on its own rather than the full set.

If you prefer warmer metal, the G-Paris Grey Shimmer Sofa is the same silhouette at the same listed sizes, on gold legs and in a shimmer upholstery. For something lower in capacity but much easier through a tight hallway, look at the Lucy Sofa. If the room would rather have one long run of seating than separate units, the Siena 08 5 Seater (LH/RH) Sofa is the other shape to compare.

What the listing does not cover

No fabric composition, no frame or filling description, no seat height, no weight, no boxed dimensions and nothing about whether the legs detach for the journey in. On a 216cm unit the last of those matters, because the legs are often the difference between clearing a door frame and not. Ask the shop to check the packed sizes against your hallway.

Ordering

Pick your unit on the Paris Grey Sofa page, or browse the whole Sofas range to compare shapes. Delivery is free within 50 miles of the Glasgow store and £50 beyond, and the shop can tell you the current lead time when you place the order.