LET'S GET COMFY
François Halard via Apartamento Magazine
Comfort has come a long way from wooden and stone benches in the Middle Ages, when it was thought that the body was diametrically opposed to the soul—and pulled us toward the sensual and earthly rather than the spiritual and divine. The Renaissance was not only a fervent period of cultural, artistic, political and economic rebirth; it was also when we began to embrace the body alongside the soul, and the idea of comforting the body led to comfort in the home. By the 1600s, pillows softened hard benches and, soon after, upholstery integrated comfort directly into furniture during the Elizabethan period in England and the Louis XIV period in France. From there, upholstered chairs, settees, chaise longues, canapés, daybeds—and yes, love seats—spread across Europe and England.
WRJ Design via @rushjenkins
As comfort evolved, entire rooms were dedicated to it—drawing rooms and living rooms with the sofa as mainstay. Earlier designs often combined carved wood frames with upholstery, until the English chesterfield retired the exposed carving and embraced a fully cushioned, tailored silhouette.
Delicately carved frames with swirls, stars, animals and angel wings eventually gave way to rectilinear forms, then to the simplicity of fully upholstered sofas as we know them today.
So where do “couches” fit into the story? Traditionally, sofas evolved from chairs with backs and arms to sit on, whereas couches evolved from daybeds and chaise longues intended for reclining. Sofas tend to be larger, accommodating more people in social spaces—sitting rooms, living rooms, family rooms. Couches are typically smaller and more suited to lounging in private spaces like bedrooms or dens.
Simply put: a sofa for social, a couch to slouch.
Clements Design via Architectural Digest
Tufted Sofa, England circa 1880 — Lee Stanton
Sources:
1) François Halard via @ApartamentoMagazine
2) WRJ Design via @rushjenkins
3) Clements Design via Architectural Digest
