Modular Ottomans

Modular ottomans are usually bought to finish a sectional, so the seat you already own decides most of the choice. Each module here is sized to sit with the chair and corner pieces of its own seating system, and each also stands alone the way any piece in the wider ottoman and pouf collection does. Pushed against the seat it extends the lounging surface. Pulled away, it becomes a footrest or a low soft table.

Sizing an ottoman for a sectional

Start with depth. A module that shares the seat's depth looks built in, and several here match the square of their series' corner chair or the depth of its seating pieces, so set in line they read as one continuous surface. A module shallower than the seat looks like a late addition, however well the fabric matches. Measure the seat depth of a modern sectional, then find the module that repeats it. Widths here run from about 31 to 52 inches.

Square modules and wide rectangles

Some modules are true squares with rounded corners and no visible legs, a soft block at floor level. Others are wide rectangles that cover the space in front of a long sofa. A square sits naturally at the corner of an L, and a rectangle extends a straight run. Leave a clear path past at least one side, because people still need room to walk around a module pulled out from the seat. Where a module this size would take over the floor, a round ottoman handles the footrest job in far less space.

Matching sectional ottoman height to the seat

Heights here run from about 16.5 to just over 19 inches. The lower modules sit close to the floor and look relaxed. The taller ones put feet and a tray at a more useful working height. The error that shows from the doorway is a module taller than the seat beside it. It blocks the view across the room and makes the sofa look sunk. Keep it level with the seat or a step below, and apply the same rule to modern sofas that sit outside a modular system.

A modular ottoman as footrest, seat or table

Kept close to the seat, it is a footrest. Floated out into the room, it becomes a seat for a guest. A table is the harder ask, because the tops are soft, so set a tray with a flat base and a low rim in the center to give cups somewhere steady to land.

Modular ottomans with tufted or pillow tops

Grid tufted tops repeat the tufting on the matching seat cushions, so the pattern runs from seat height down to the floor and the system reads as one material. Pillow tops use a memory foam cushion that rounds past the edges of the base, a softer outline that suits a room built around curves.

Storage inside a sectional ottoman

The storage modules have a cushioned top that lifts on a hinge to an interior compartment. In front of a family sofa that is where throws and remotes go, and once the lid is down it works as a footrest like any other module.

Choosing a modular ottoman color

In the sectional's own fabric, a module disappears into the seating, which is the point of a system. In a darker tone than the seat, deep green or a warm brown, it becomes the anchor instead and holds a pale arrangement down at floor level.

Get the depth and the height right and the module stops reading as an extra. It becomes the part of the sectional people put their feet on first.