Sectionals - What's the Big Deal?

I am just going to come out and say it, I am not a fan of sectional sofas. I just don't get it. Most of them are pretty unattractive and they really don't give you as much seating as you think. When people sit in a living room together they usually do not sit next to each other. Sectionals make for a really awkward conversation layout. It is very uncomfortable to talk to someone who is sitting parallel with you.

Also, no one sits in the corner of the sectional unless their kids or your watching TV. You have to sit further back and your legs don't fit comfortably. So really, a sectional only seats three people. Two on the long side and one on the short. Unless of course you have one of those sectionals with a chaise on the end and then no one is going to sit there either. Those are for reclining and watching TV and your guests usually don't feel comfortable just kicking back on your chaise while you chew the fat.

This is why I believe a sofa and a couple chairs is a much better option. Unless it is a family room or den where the main function of the room is to watch TV with your family. But if this the room that you also receive guests in, I say nix the sectional.

Here is an example of a furniture plan, one with the sectional and one without. 

Here you can see the room with a very large sectional. But really, only three people are probably going to sit on it at one time unless they're kids or a family watching TV together. The corner and the end are too deep to sit and talk with guests and 4 people are not going to sit all in a row on that long side. There is some room to add a couple chairs because this a very large room so that puts the conversation seat count at 5. The focus of this layout is TV viewing.

Here is the same room with a sofa instead of the sectional. Now even though it's a three seater sofa, there will probably only be two people sitting on it at once because no one likes to sit in the middle of a sofa. It's just awkward  for conversation and American's really like their personal space. So, with the three chairs this room also has seating for 5. This layout is better for conversation without losing the TV viewing value. It's not as good for TV watching as the sectional but I think it's better to have a more dual function room. 

I will admit that there are some good looking sectionals out there. Here are some pretty good looking rooms with sectionals. I just personally prefer a sofa. 

I prefer a sofa with a couple chairs. It could be because of my phobia of being too close to people, I like my personal space. When visiting with a friend I would much rather sit in my own chair than on a sofa with someone!

Oh I love this! There are so many chairs, you can have six people over and everyone gets their own piece of furniture!

What's your opinion on sectionals? Do you like sitting close to everyone? 

~Jessica