For a neutral piece of furniture, a cream couch can feel like an incredibly bold choice for your living room. However, done right, cream couches are a pretty staple addition to modern living rooms and can look both stylish and classic at the same time. A neutral couch can also form a great base for the rest of the space and may inform your color choices and overall finished design goals.
Unfortunately, cream couches aren’t the right fit for everyone. In fact, for many of us, a cream couch could end up being the worst possible addition. Others will thrive with this neutral to drive them. But are you in the former or latter group? Answer these crucial questions to find out.
1 – Do you have pets or children?
Before you can even consider investing in a cream couch, you need to ask whether this addition would fit well with your current lifestyle. Namely, you’ll want to think about any pets or children in your life. While it isn’t impossible to make a cream couch work with kids and pets, there is a much higher risk that it will quickly become tired-looking and stained as a result.
If you don’t have any pets or kids, then it should be far easier to keep your couch looking pristine. If you do, then consider how likely they are to soil the sofa (e.g. how old are your kids, do your pets regularly jump onto the sofa?), and whether you’d be willing to accessorize with things like protective throws throughout the day. If not, and you think the soiling risk is pretty high, then perhaps a cream couch isn’t right for you quite yet.
2 – Are there colors elsewhere in your room?
The neutral base of a cream couch is an undeniably fantastic style starting point, but let’s be honest – it could also look surprisingly bland if the rest of your styling is in a similar tone.
Even a minimalist living room needs some colorful elements or undertones to add interest and ensure a cohesive decor finish. Luckily, neutral cream couches can work with a wide range of color pops, including bold, bright aqua blue or pink feature walls, as well as more subtle rose gold or silver accents. If you don’t have any color in your room, ask yourself whether you’re willing to introduce it through additions like bold cushions, or even a colorful rug that’s chosen with your particular cream couch in mind. Otherwise, dare we say that your decor could end up looking a little lackluster?
3 – Are you willing to put in the cleaning work?
Whether you have kids and pets or live in an all-adult household, cream couches inevitably pick up visible dirt that would remain hidden on a darker couch base. While this shouldn’t put you off this addition in itself, it is important to consider whether you’re willing to put in the cleaning work.
According to the experts, we should all aim to invest in professional couch cleaning at least every six months to avoid lasting stains or dirt that becomes ingrained in couch fibers. While most of us wouldn’t necessarily keep on top of this expectation, it’s something you will need to make time for with your cream couch. That’s because even a seemingly invisible layer of ingrained dust could result in a muted or grayed appearance. If you’re not willing to put in the work and cleaning investment, then your cream couch might not look anywhere near as sleek and may become an eyesore rather than a top decor choice.
4 – Do you know how to style it?
To truly get the best from a cream couch, you must know how to style this addition. This is the best way to bring this neutral addition truly into the room, and is sure to make your sofa ‘pop’.
As mentioned, adding colorful features like bright cushions can work well in this sense. The addition of an underfoot complementary rug, and a coffee table that ideally sports gold accents can also help to make your cream couch shine. It’s especially worth playing with textures, as the addition of simple things like a fluffy cushion or textured rug can add the depth, interest, and fun that your cream couch needs in order to shine.
Cream couches might not be for everyone, but if you’re keen to invest even after answering these questions, then this could be a winning style choice for you.
