A Designer's Guide to Sofas: Alexandra Donohoe Church of Decus Interiors

Alexandra Donohoe Church, founder and director at Decus Interiors, shares her guide to sofas, revealing her favourites and her thoughts behind the designs.

As well as highlighting the sofas on her radar, Donohoe Church dives into the finer details, probing aspects like value for money, design ingenuity, material choice and practicality. As a designer, Donohoe Church describes her style as “intuitive, a little unexpected and with a little sprinkling of shambolic”. When working on a project for Decus Interiors, she says that 99 per cent of the time the team will choose all of the furniture. “For us, it’s about less but better.”

The first sofa Donohoe Church highlights is the Bon sofa by Jardan. “It’s so simple, streamlined and clean … it kind of has a bit of a retro feel and ‘70s vibe to it, but it’s not overly twee or stylised, so I feel like it could work in almost every space.” Next is the Za Za by Zannota from Cult. “It’s a little bit of a paradox; it’s heavy and solid on top but sitting on tiny legs.” She continues; “I’ve also heard it described as a bean bag on matchsticks.” Donohoe Church believes that as a piece from a celebrated Italian design powerhouse, it’s good value for money.

The Muir sofa by Hannes Peer by Sem from Moebel is another sofa that Donohoe Church praises for its detailing and flexibility, swooning over its beautiful timber undercarriage and the clean lines of the elevated plinth. “It is an incredibly flexible piece because you can put one in the middle of the space, you can sit at either end and have a conversation in any direction,” she notes. As it is highly textural and exclusive, the sofa appeals to people who value quality and craftsmanship above all else. “It’s not a piece that’s made in thousands,” she says, hedging her bets that the Muir will be a collectible piece in twenty years’ time. Finally, the Alpha by Pierre Paulin from Ralph Pucci is described by Donohoe Church as “iconic, sultry, futuristic and age-defying. We have designed customed pieces of furniture using the exact pitch of the seat and backrest of this sofa”.

While it’s difficult to pinpoint which sofa exceeds others, it seems that each triumphs in certain categories. Donohoe Church affirms that the Alpha is the best value for money, while the Muir is the best example of design ingenuity. The most practical sofa is the Bon and the Za Za boasts the best material choice in its contrast between oxblood powdered coated legs and chevron fabric.

Interior design by Decus Interiors. Filmed and edited by The Local Production.