Most people start with a photograph of a sofa they like. A better start is a sheet of paper with the terrace drawn on it. Minotti builds outdoor sofas in two ways: some are systems of separate modules that you can set out in a row, a corner or a curve, and some are single pieces with a fixed shape. The Minotti sofa that suits your terrace depends on which of the two your floor plan asks for.
Draw the terrace first
Measure the floor and mark what cannot move: doors, steps, planters, a grill, the edge of the pool. Then draw the routes people walk, from the kitchen to the table and from the house to the lawn. Keep those lines clear, about three feet wide.
A lounge group needs more floor than most buyers expect. The sofa, a pair of armchairs facing it and a low table between them take up the width of the sofa plus a chair on each side. Leave 14 to 18 inches between the seat edge and the coffee table, so a glass stays in reach.
A lounge group from above
Modular: a system you arrange
A modular sofa suits a terrace with a shape of its own, or a household that changes its layout with the seasons. You buy units, and the units make the sofa.
Minotti Florida, drawn by Rodolfo Dordoni, Minotti's art director since 1998, is the one to look at when one terrace has to serve two scales. Its separate units line up along a wall or bend into a curve around a fire bowl or a view. Each seat has a metal frame treated against corrosion, wrapped in foam and covered in water-resistant fiber and fabric. Solid teak supports stand behind the back cushions, and the cushions hook onto that wood with pewter metal fasteners. They come away fast, which helps before a storm and on cleaning day. A coffee table with a brushed Pietra del Cardoso top and an outdoor bed complete the family. See the Florida collection.
Minotti Patio by GamFratesi, from 2021, works like a set of tiles. Seats, benches, ottomans and tables are plain geometric blocks on an extruded aluminum base in matte ecru or dark brown. You fix the back panels at set points along the base: on one side for a conversation sofa, on two sides for a corner, or on opposite sides so two seats face each other. Two seat depths fit a narrow city terrace or a wide garden. The backs are steel frames woven with polypropylene cord, and some seats carry a small tray in teak or dark mahogany, grooved so rain runs off. See the Patio collection.
Other Minotti systems follow the same logic with a different look. Quadrado by Marcio Kogan / Studio MK27 builds the sofa from teak duckboard platforms in two module sizes. Saki by Nendo comes in two, three and four seat versions with two seat depths, on fixed feet or a swivel base.
Single pieces: a sofa you place
A single sofa suits a terrace with one obvious spot for it: against the house wall, facing the view, across a low table from two chairs. You plan its length and little else.
Aston Cord by Rodolfo Dordoni is a set of individual pieces with no modules to lock together, from a sofa and armchairs to a chaise longue and a high stool. Emmi Cord by Hannes Peer is a sofa and an armchair with a footstool, each on a slim tubular frame wrapped in cord. Lido Cord by GamFratesi offers two-seater sofas with curved cord backs. These pieces also move with you: a single sofa fits a new terrace in a way a twelve-module corner may not.
Four questions that decide it
Answer these on the drawing before you ask for a price:
- Does the seating follow a wall, turn a corner or wrap around something? A corner or a curve points to a modular system.
- Will you change the layout for parties or for winter? Modules come apart; a single sofa stays whole.
- How deep is the strip of floor you have? Patio and Saki offer two seat depths for this reason.
- Where do the cushions go in bad weather? Florida's cushions come off the frame in seconds, and cord seats dry fast after rain.
Minotti outdoor sofas side by side
| Collection | Designer | How it is built | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minotti Florida | Rodolfo Dordoni | Modular units on teak supports, removable cushions | A straight run on a wall or a curve round a fire bowl |
| Minotti Patio | GamFratesi | Modules on an aluminum base, backs at set points, two seat depths | Narrow city terraces and large gardens |
| Minotti Quadrado | Studio MK27 | Teak duckboard platforms in two module sizes | Large decks planned like architecture |
| Minotti Saki | Nendo | Two, three or four seats, two depths, fixed or swivel feet | Family terraces and pool sides |
| Minotti Aston Cord | Rodolfo Dordoni | Single sofa, no modules | A home terrace or a hotel bar |
| Minotti Emmi Cord | Hannes Peer | Single sofa on a tubular frame | A small outdoor living room |
Mixing a sofa with the rest of the range
A sofa needs a table beside it. Florida and Patio both have coffee tables in their own family, and Minotti's teak and stone tables from other collections sit well beside them. On a Patio terrace, a Bellagio round table with a Basaltine or teak top can serve dinner a few steps away. Beside a Florida corner, a low Block table in solid teak adds one heavy object among the soft seats.
Keep one material in common across the terrace. Teak feet on the sofa and a teak frame on the dining chairs tie two zones together, and the eye reads the space as one room.
Send us your drawing with the form below, with the number of seats you want and the spots where the sun falls. We reply with a sofa plan from one Minotti family, the fabric and finish options, and a written price for each piece. Production is to order, and we confirm the lead time with the quote.
