What should be the ideal proportions of your sofa?
It happens that someone buys a sofa just because it looks good. But usually the buyer wants the seat to be usable. The comfort of the seat, especially the depth and height of the seat, therefore plays a decisive role.
Firm or soft upholstery?
Today's modern sofas can be divided into two groups when considering the type of seating comfort. Which one you choose depends on your personal sense of comfort.
Firm upholstery makes it easier to get up
This classic type of upholstery comes from the era of feather upholstery. When you sit on a seat with this type of upholstery, you don't 'sink into it', so to speak. The upholstery fabric is taut, firm and almost crease-free on the surface. This is what creates a perfectly smooth, even appearance.
Due to the higher tension of the fabric, the cover is subjected to extreme wear and tear. When buying firmly upholstered seats, therefore, you should be particularly careful to ensure that the upholstery material is sufficiently abrasion-resistant.
Firmly upholstered seats make it easier to get up and are therefore particularly suitable for older people or people with spinal problems. But many other people also find the slightly firmer seating comfort particularly pleasant.
Soft upholstery for a particularly relaxed sitting experience
This type of upholstery has found more and more fans in recent years. Many people today appreciate seats that are easy to sink into when you sit down. The soft upholstery material, often foam flakes or down, elastically conforms to the body and thus provides support for the muscles - ideal for very relaxed sitting and lying.
To ensure the necessary surface flexibility, the cover is not stretched but loosely laid over the surface. Waves, creases and depressions are therefore common in soft seat upholstery.
To ensure that getting up is not too difficult, even with soft upholstery, the edges of the front seats are often given a slightly firmer support.
Which upholstery material is better:
Spring core or foam padding?
In the past, spring-core upholstery was considered to be of very high quality. Today's foam fillings are so sophisticated that they can be considered at least equivalent. In other words: both types of padding can be very comfortable and of high quality. At the same time, however, they can leave the customer with unfulfilled expectations. It all depends on the specific design.
You should refrain from seats that show obvious defects when tested, such as individual springs being visible.
For foam padding, you should enquire about the quality of the foam used. Are there noticeable differences in the firmness of the foam filling inside the seat cushion or backrest? This may be deliberate and serves to improve seating comfort if, for example, the back of the seat cushion is softer than the front.
However, the differences may also be due to unwanted variations in foam density. Therefore, you should ask and have the dealer explain the structure of the upholstery.
Anatomical profile of the seat cushion
In addition to the upholstery, it is above all the anatomically correct seat profile that determines the comfort of the sofa. In the following list you will find out which aspects are particularly important.
Seat height
For classic upholstered furniture, the seat height varies between 43 and 45 cm. However, it depends on the depth of the seat of the upholstered furniture. As a general rule, the lower the sofa, the greater the seat depth.
The seat depth of the sofa
For classic upholstered furniture, the seating depth is between 52 and 55 cm. However, it depends on the height of the seat cushion: the greater the depth of the seat cushion, the lower the sofa.
Seat width
In order to allow for the necessary changes in posture when sitting, the seat width for the sitter should not be less than 55 cm. Ideally, the seat cushion is 60 cm wide. The overall width of the seat is the sum of the width of the seat and the width of the armrests.
Back height
The higher the back, the more relaxation it offers to our back and neck muscles. The most comfortable seats are therefore so-called high-back seats, where the backrest extends beyond the sitter's head. However, they are not very suitable for 'lounging'. High-back seats have a relatively steep seat angle. Low-back sofas can also have a slightly wider seat angle. The back of the seat is usually between 39 cm and 45 cm high. A lower back is better for lying down, a higher one for sitting.
Seat angle
The angle between the seat and the back of the seat should be between 108 and 115 degrees. Again, how you want to use your seat is key. With a sofa bed, the angle is less steep, i.e. the backrest is more inclined than with a so-called "sofa seat". Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
Sit or relax?
Choose the right seat cushion depth for your sofa!
The above information and dimensions give you a useful guide when buying a seat. However, today there are also many sofas with significantly greater seat depths. The reason for this is that many people do not want to sit on a sofa the way they would on, for example, an armchair or chair. That is, in a classic sitting position, where both feet touch the floor and the upper body makes a slightly obtuse angle with the thighs.
Many people prefer to put their feet up on the couch, lean sideways or pull their legs close to their body. Everyone has their favourite relaxation position. Modern sofas are therefore often offered with an extra deep seat and/or in a corner shape. Such sofas offer better opportunities for relaxation, lounging or napping than a classic sofa.
Conclusion
Choosing the right sofa depends on how you want to use it. Seats with adjustment features offer a possible compromise. They meet most requirements. You can normally sit or relax on them.