Suite nothing: We’re ditching the 3-piece (but snapping up bar carts)

FoR anyone still reclining on matching settees in a room complete with swag curtains and tie-backs, it could be time to call in the decorators.

John Lewis has released its latest sales figures – and revealed the three-piece suite is no longer a staple of the modern lounge.

The retailer said the changing function of the sitting room – which has replaced the kitchen as the hub of the home – also led to a slump in sales of pleated curtains and mantel clocks.

Customers are instead opting for remote controlled blinds and smart speakers – with sales of the latter up 35 per cent year on year. Meanwhile the standard TV size has increased from 47in in 2014 to 70in today, it said.

As new homes are increasingly being built with combined livingdining space, three-piece suites are being replaced by adaptable modular furniture.

John Lewis’s home buying director Johnathan Marsh said the suite has also fallen victim to the age of individualism – with shoppers opting for statement sofas ‘to express personal styles’.

Mr Marsh said demand for the suites has ‘all but diminished’ – adding sales of tie-backs are down 20 per cent on last year, and mantel clocks down 30 per cent. The report comes after the office for National Statistics this week dropped the three-piece suite from its list of products used to measure changes in the cost of living.