The Differences Between Modular and Sectional Sofas

Both modular and sectional couches can have multiple pieces that interlock to create a larger sitting area, and both are designed to help with tricky spaces like larger open floor plans, work around protruding support structures along a wall, and seating in the corners of rooms.  With that said, the terms are interchangeable and most people will know what you mean.  If you want to define what may make them different, an easy option is to say that modular sofas transform shapes and purposes while sectional sofas are designed to be for seating only.  

This means that some modular sofas can be sectional sofas, but not all sectional sofas can be modular and vice versa.  For example, if you have a sleeper sofa that is stand alone, it is not sectional because it is one piece, but it is modular because it trasnforms.  If you decide to purchase a lounge adapter piece to the sofa, your modular sleeper sofa is now a sectional couch as well.

Bunk bed couches are modular, but not sectional if they lift up as they’re still one piece of furniture and not movable around a room or able to be separated.  If the bunk bed couch splits into multiple pieces, now it is both a modular couch and a sectional sofa because there are multiple sections to provide different seating arrangements and at least one piece that transforms its purpose.  

An example of a non-sectional but modular option is our Dormire V2 which lifts the seating section upwards and reveals a bed underneath.  But it cannot be split to provide multiple seating configurations like the Compatto Sofa Bunk Bed which has a spare bed that slides out and can be placed anywhere in your home, although the section that slides out is more of a bed than a couch or seating option.

Sectional couches made up of a middle seat, a lounge, and a corner piece are sectional, but not modular because they don’t transform.  If you replace the middle seat with a sleeper loveseat, now the sectional sofa is able to be moved around the room and reconfigured, and a piece transforms making it both sectional and modular.  

When all is said and done, sectional and modular couches are roughly the same, it comes down to defining modular as something that can transform to serve another purpose or configuration, like a sofa bed.  Sectional sofas simply mean they can be split and reconfigured into different patterns, shapes, and moved for seating in different rooms or tricky spaces.  We hope this helps if you were wondering what the difference between modular and sectional sofas are.