Come, sit with me

 After a hard day at work, the first thing you want to do at home is  relax on a sofa, a recliner or a bean bag. Bindu Gopal Rao brings the latest in these comfort providers.

Seating arrangements are elementary features in any home. The market today is, however, flooded with options like never before that can leave a novice confused. Read on to decode sofas, recliners, couches, chaise lounges and more!

When you are out shopping for seating options there is a mind boggling variety to choose from. It is a wise idea to have a basic understanding of some options that are likely to be available. Of course there will be more but that can be best explained by the store owners. A chaise longue is of French origin and looks like a long chair that has an upholstered couch in the shape of a chair that is long enough to support the legs.

A sofa is a long upholstered seat with a back and arms, for three or more people and is usually part of a set with two more one-seaters. However you can even get a two-seater sofa. A recliner is an upholstered armchair that can be tilted backward and usually comes with a footrest that simultaneously extends from the front. A recliner reclines when the occupant lowers the chair’s back and raises its front.

A couch is a long upholstered piece of furniture for several people to sit on. A squab is another name for a couch or a stuffed cushion. Apart from that bean-bags are also in vogue as they are portable, yet stylish. Thus, fashion-savvy consumers are opting for them. Another thing with bean bags is that they are available in several colours and even in printed versions.

Archit Gupta, an interiors expert explains, “Around 1850, the French introduced a reclining camp bed that could serve as a chair, a bed and a chaise longue. The first reclining chair was reportedly owned by Napoleon III. Knabush and Shoemaker were the first persons to fetch a patent and when it comes to India, earlier, the sofas were inspired from French-Louis that focused on tradition and comfort.

Apart from that sofas were inspired by the throne of Shahjahan, a Mughal ruler–their dynasty is credited with bringing royal sofas and couches into India.” A couch and sofa are altogether similar but on couch many people can be accommodated whereas on sofa only a few people can be accommodated.

The modern sofa trends this year are leaning more towards neutral and solid colours, thus making it easier to match them with the colour of your living room wall colour. This year the colour of sofas such as khaki, black, gray, brown, white and beige are in vogue. “Not only that, the metallic colour is also being inspired from some colours such as burnt orange, royal purple and deep red.

Trends repeat themselves and designers have been reaching for styles from the past and bringing them back to the interior design world. Our past includes our tradition our culture which people were forgetting day by day. It seems weird, but in order to update, you have to look to the past for inspiration,” opines Gupta. This is also the reason why retro is coming back in a big way and furniture designs are certainly not very far behind.

Manoj Kumar Goyal, a realty expert adds, “while providing fully furnished apartments as a developer we need to understand the requirement of families and most of them wish for space saving furniture which are smart, user friendly and suitable for studio and small apartments.

Their portability factor makes them highly congenial at their usage. The use of dormitory beds and folding chairs and cupboards prove to be good options to save on space. The retractable slabs save space too. When it comes make optimum use of space for any furniture, we suggest two basic shapes; square and rectangle are the best as these shapes make the best use of space available.”

Naturally with changing times, new age materials are being used as well. Leather couches are preferred more as it is easier to clean them–a wipe once with a wet-cloth is sufficient and they are so fashion-savvy that there is no need to cover them with any other cloth. Good quality leather is not prone to getting cracked due to moisture.

A buy in the category of sofas, a recliner or a couch is much more than just a purchase. Rather it is an investment that lasts for many years. Home makers look only for high-end furniture brands that will ensure durability and suit their style and design requirements. “These high value products run through generations in some homes and hence customers make an informed and thought-out decision for the same.

We have been seeing an increase in sales in this category as customers are getting more comfortable with online shopping.  The other reason for a shift in the trend of sales is also the great deals and discounts on these products apart from alternate payment options like COD and EMI,” says Narasimha Jayakumar, a furniture expert. Go ahead and pick your seating with care. After all it is your first option to relax!