How to Choose the Best Ottoman

Ottoman is a great furniture piece for living room. The furniture piece is really functional: it offers place to rest our legs as well as offer sitting place. Some ottoman also provides storage space. Follow our tips to get the best ottoman.


Research different style ottomans at your local department stores and online furniture stores. Choose a shape of ottoman that works well with the rest of the room in which the ottoman will be placed. If you have a round area rug or other round featured (such as a clock or round side tables) you may think about choosing an ottoman that is rectangular in design to add contrast in the space.

The purpose will determine the size of the ottoman you choose. While you will need a fairly large one to use as a coffee table, even those used for seating may be either one huge ottoman or a bunch of several small ones, depending on the level of formality of your living room. As you can see, the large ottoman blends in well with the formal living room, whereas the smaller ones add a burst of color and lend a casual appearance to the other living room.


Choose an ottoman that either matches exactly or compliments the furniture in the room. An ottoman should match the seating in a room, but can do so in a variety of ways. For example, a brown couch pairs nicely with a cream ottoman that has brown feet or a brown stripe in the middle. If your seating is a solid color, a complimentary pattern on an ottoman would also look nice and add a different texture to the space.

Consider carefully how you intend to use the ottoman. In some cases, this piece of furniture is used exclusively as a footrest, in which case a padded unit will be best. In other instances, the ottoman may be used as a coffee table, in which case a solid surface will work much better. It is possible to buy a unit that features a flip top; on one side of this top, the unit will be upholstered and padded, while on the other side, the top will be hard and flat. This allows you to use the footrest for comfort as well as functionality.