At long last, you’ve garnered the strength to invest in a statement piece—be it fringe, stripes, bold florals, or bright pink, kudos to you on your bravery. Let the white couch devotees live their simple lives. That said, with great statement sofas come great responsibility— styling them in your space while avoiding full-on kitsch. It’s no easy task putting your new iconic piece in conversation with the rest of the room.
We tapped the AD PRO Directory for interior designers with notable more-is-more philosophies for their expert advice. Enter Michelle Gage, Michael Aiduss, Carmen Smith, and Corey Damen Jenkins. The refined maximalists gave us pointers for how to curate a space that plays with bold patterns, bright colors, and various textures without going overboard. With varied interior design styles, they talk through color palettes, eye-catching details, and achieving maximalist living rooms even in small spaces.
We asked each designer if a statement sofa could work in a small space, and each one answered with a resounding yes. “Thoughtful maximalism is guided first and foremost by restraint,” says AD100 designer Jenkins. “Smaller spaces will require a designer’s eye to be specific, look for balance, and know how much to pop and where.” If you’re working with a small space, Aiduss suggests painting the walls and trim one color to unify the space, and then fill the walls with art. To Smith, a small space is where maximalism does its best work: “In tighter rooms, the relationships between objects matter even more. Each element should have qualities that let the others shine,” says Smith, “That’s what turns a small space into a jewel box.”
A maximalist sofa often has a bold fabric or strong silhouette, so Smith likes to mix contrasting surfaces: “Think silk pillows against bouclé, velvet next to leather, or a quilted throw layered over a clean frame. The conversation between materials is what makes the sofa feel rich and dynamic.” Gage often opts for a solid or patterned velvet sofa with a print mix in the pillows. “I mix up textures and patterns to tell a story, often pairing things that are not matched but are contrasting and therefore add interest,” says Aiduss.
This philosophy of texture contrast is exemplified in Greco Deco’s design of Rosendale-based inn Six Bells, where Adam Greco uses small prints to make a big impact, with Victorian-style sofas, matching throw pillows, meticulously drawn wallpapers, and drapes that match the couch fabric to create a sense of unified design. Color-drenching, or leaning on a unified color palette, keeps the room from looking crowded.
Gage suggests solid walls and a vintage rug to set the foundation for a room where the sofa will be the star. “Treat the sofa as the anchor,” says Smith. “Pull one or two colors or textures from it and repeat them in smaller accents across the room.” Aiduss concurs: “Unify the space using a chic color palette. Consider painting the walls and ceiling the same color if the room is small, or pop the walls or trim with contrast.” Statement pieces, or home decor like books or vases can help support the chosen color palette and incorporate it more subtly throughout, as seen in Christopher Meloni’s home, where the deep blue and turquoise books reference the marbled modular sofa.
“The best maximalist rooms are those that allow you to focus on a view and not feel overwhelmed with neighboring seating areas,” says Jenkins, who broke up this living room with a blue statement sofa to disrupt the eye, paired with a bold animal print throw pillow. Chinoiserie table lamps or patterned lampshades create a visual appeal that can make a patterned sofa feel right at home with more powerful design elements, instead of opposing its surrounding home decor. “A strong side table, art with scale, or a well-chosen vintage rug keeps the eye focused. When every item has a role, the room reads as bold and confident rather than chaotic,” says Smith.
All designers agree on the importance of an ongoing edit, emphasizing scale and balance as the trademark of well-executed maximalist style, instead of packing materials and textures into one space.
The key to any good color combination is balance, says Aiduss. “For a monochromatic scheme, make sure to have enough variation of light and dark otherwise the result will look flat. For a more colorful scheme, start with a base color; then plan around it with contrasting colors, but avoid confusing the point of view of the room with contrasting colors in large volume.” Both Gage and Jenkins laud opulent or jewel tones as a great place to start when building a room out from a maximalist sofa. “Add tassels too,” says Smith. “Everything is better with a tassel!”
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