Mavromac Perfect Size Sofa

Your sofa, your way.

Whether yours is large or small, Mavromac & Gatehouse is sure to have the perfect size sofa for your family.

From extra-wide Sofa Chairs and sink-in Pasha Sofas to extra-large Family Sofas and Modular Sofas, Mavromac & Gatehouse has the perfect seating solution for big and small, old and young.

Here, MD and owner Hanneke Swart shares how her search for the perfect family couch inspired the design of the company’s Family Sofa.

“The Gatehouse Family sofa. My very favourite piece of furniture. I suppose with more than just the normal amount of sentiment attached.

I designed this sofa when we did our first renovation, just after we arrived in Johannesburg and when my two oldest kids were still very small.

Our first house was not big at all and we had to be very clever in re-organising and designing the space.

One of the things we did was to break down the walls of a couple of adjoining small spaces to create a kitchen, dining and family room all in one. We had to have the basics for the kitchen, decided on a very long table, with chairs and benches right around, instead of a counter. This had to double up as a dining table for when friends were coming over, as well as informal meals for the family and a workspace to prepare the food on.

We, of course, like most people in Johannesburg, also could not live without a fireplace and the TV, which we fondly referred to as our babysitter, those days.

After all of the latter had been put down on the plan, there was just about no space left for any furniture to relax on. I had to come up with a plan.

I had to have something which would work for kids lying having their bottles and afterwards falling asleep, accommodating more than four people at a time sitting comfortably around having a chat, and furniture that can easily be cleaned as this will be the space in the house where all the socialising will be happening and last but not least, furniture that can look, decent, neat, comfortable and inviting, without crowding a very limited space.

The outcome was one enormously scaled sofa.

The sofa had to have, a super thin/slick and stylised back and arms for it not to appear, vulgar. It had to have a slipcover which could be pulled off and get washed regularly like you would wash your bedding. 

Furthermore, I included a duvet, which added a long and wide soft layer on top of the structured foam base of the seating area. This could be pulled and tucked in at no time at all, to make the sofa look neat and presentable.

The family sofa is now our bestselling sofa. Every truck which leaves the warehouse to any one of the Gatehouse showrooms in the country always has one, if not a couple on board for orders and to replace the ones in the showrooms which had been sold. In fact, when the shelving in our long-haul truck was designed, it was designed in such a way to accommodate first and foremost, the Family Sofa.”

www.mavromacandthegatehouse.co.za