Can a comfortable sofa look as good as it feels? Country Life interiors editor Giles Kime welcomes the advances in sofa design that mean ergonomics and style can go hand in hand.
There’s a common misconception that the only comfortable sofas are huge and sprawling. The reality is rather different: comfort (as anyone lucky enough to fly in business class will know) is more about ergonomics than scale.
Bulky furniture also creates a multitude of problems, not just because it puts pressure on precious space, but also because escaping the clingy embrace of a sprawling sofa can be like trying to extricate yourself from a beanbag – or, in extreme examples, a bouncy castle. The answer – like all successful, carefully considered design – lies in balance and proportion.
For much of the 18th and 19th centuries, comfort and beauty were mutually exclusive, not just in furniture but also in clothing (think bustles, corsets, and those caged crinolines endured by many women). In upholstery, the emphasis was more on enhancing the appearance of neoclassical, Regency and Victorian interiors. A high price was paid for elegance, and relaxation took a back seat; the only concession to comfort was the rise of the coil spring, developed by coachbuilders keen to ensure passengers were protected from lumps and bumps on untarred roads.
It wasn’t until stylistic rules were relaxed in the Edwardian era that upholstered furniture became more comfortable and easier to move. At the forefront of this revolution were the innovative workshops that popped up around Berners Street and Tottenham Court Road in London’s West End, the beating heart of the Victorian and Edwardian interiors industry. It’s a testament to the craftsmanship of good quality upholstery dating back to that period – the appeal of which lies not just in the materials employed but also finely tuned geometry – that they remain so sought after at auction today. My own such sofa is not only enduringly comfortable but has also been passed between four generations of my family.
Increasingly, strength lies not in bulk but in the infrastructure, which also creates opportunities for more elegant silhouettes, notably in the Art Deco period. These leaps and bounds were reversed, however, with the arrival in the 1950s of both mass production and synthetic materials that degraded quality, longevity, and aesthetic appeal. The ‘squashy’ sofa, however alluring it might sound, tends to be a euphemism for a large and graceless piece of furniture with little structure – and little in the way of support.
The good news is that a new generation of upholstery is demonstrating that good-looking furniture can be comfortable. It’s an area in which Neptune has always excelled – from the softly rolled arms and pleated detailing of the new Louis sofa and the fine lines of the beautifully pared-down, Edwardian-inspired Eliza to the elegant, button-backed George. Then there is the timeless East Coast simplicity of the Long Island, whose deep cushions are significantly enhanced by elegant arms that inject a light touch, and which ensure that Long Island complements a space rather than dominates it. With their elegant proportions and generously deep seats, the best of today’s sofas prove that comfort and good looks can make a happy marriage.
Meet Louis
Inspired by the elegance of classic French interiors, our new two- and three-seater Louis sofas combine relaxed comfort with a more formal silhouette. Softly rolled arms flow around the frame, complemented by pleated detailing and deep feather-wrapped cushions. Finished with solid oak bobbin-inspired legs and a beautifully shaped back, it’s a sofa designed to look and feel inviting from every angle.
