This is the New “It” Sofa

他们say that the kitchen is the heart of a home, but there’s a strong argument to be made that the real soul of a space is the sofa. It’s more than just a place to sit at the end (or beginning, or middle) of a long day. It’s the anchor for your style, and given what an investment piece it is, it can be hard to settle on a sofa that looks good right nowandwill feel timeless for years to come.

Needless to say, when a professional designer gives their seal of approval to a sofa, you should pay attention. Just this past weekend, Apartment Therapy had 20 designers decorate 20 rooms for the first everSmall/Cool Experience at Home. There was so much style on display (you can shop all 20 rooms hereif you haven’t already), but it was hard not to notice the “it” sofa that kept popping up across several spaces:the elegant, yet functional, chaise.

Here are a few places we spotted real-life chaises (that you can bring home!) inside the illustrated spaces. And if there’s anything else in the designs that strike your fancy, you can click the room to shop the entire space!

With “The Dark Side,” designer Angela Belt makes a moody color palette come to life. When you want to go dark in a small space, Belt’s advice is to “play with texture, scale, and materials.” She chose the sculpturally scallopedCloth & Company Marguerite Chaise Loungefrom World Market (in black, of course, though it also comes in pink) which functions like an art piece in the lounge area of this bedroom.

Buy:Cloth & Company Marguerite Chaise Lounge, $1,399.99 from World Market

Designer Carmen René Smith’s “Mix & Match” living room does masterful work of print-mixing (“This room is a complete icebreaker, with plenty of conversation pieces and a magical moment in every corner,” she writes). But it’s all centered around one classic—yet colorful—chaise lounge: theBloke Velvet Chaisefrom Blu Dot.

Buy:Bloke Velvet Chaise, $2,199 from Blu Dot

If you prefer a refined approach to color, designer Kelley Carter proves that monochrome doesn’t have to be boring. We spotted the sameBloke Velvet Chaisefrom Blu Dot (so versatile!) in Carter’s “Bright Monochromes” living room. The earthy ochre shade of this chaise is the perfect complement—or inspiration—for a grown-up palette. “Bright solids inspired by desert colors is a sophisticated twist on a trend that can easily go the way of a preschool classroom,” she writes.

And hey—if a chaise isn’t quite your thing, or if you’re in the market for designer-approved finds for a different area of your home,the 20 rooms of the Small/Cool Experience(including more living rooms, bedrooms, and dining rooms) are still open and shoppable right now!