How to Get Full Love From a Chair-and-a-Half
Larger than an armchair and smaller than a loveseat, a chair-and-a-half might be just the right size for you
Somewhere between a loveseat and a club chair lies the impossibly cuddly hybrid known as a chair-and-a-half. Despite their unparalleled coziness, they are not widely popular, which may be due to their uncommon dimensions. Too big to substitute for a chair and too small to replace a traditional living room sofa, they occupy a unique niche and fill a very particular set of needs. Read on to discover whether a chair-and-a-half might be just what your space could use.
1. Let there be light. In this open-concept living and dining space, a sofa by the back window wall would have blocked the entire lower third of the windows, while two standard armchairs wouldn’t have filled the space. Using two chairs-and-a-half instead gives the room a more open and flexible feel that invites circulation around the chairs and provides access to the views.
2. Fireplace favorite. Merge easy conversation with fireside lounging and napping by facing two chairs-and-a-half toward each other instead of toward the fire. To many people, a seat by the hearth is the ultimate domestic luxury, and enlarging the fireside furniture is one way to enhance that feeling to its extreme. This type of furniture is ideal because, unlike a larger loveseat or sofa, it offers a more intimate cocooning effect while still providing ample room to stretch out, curl up or change positions at will.
Alternatively, you might pivot two chairs-and-a-half toward the fire so that you and your significant other can spread out lazily in your own oversized bliss. The chair-and-a-half is, by definition, wider and deeper than a standard club chair, making it perfect for tucking your legs underneath you or extending them onto an ottoman. If you prefer a firmer sit with your feet firmly planted, however, you may want to think twice.
3. Conversation starter. A conversation pit consisting of four armchairs facing inward around a central coffee table is a classic furniture arrangement. The chair-and-a-half takes the comfort of this arrangement to the next level, allowing four couples to snuggle and toast by the fire all at once. That’s a whopping eight people seated comfortably in a fairly normal-sized room — no grand salon needed here.
4. Pair with a grand sofa. When you have an extra-long sofa and a large room, it can be a challenge deciding what furniture to pair with it. Enter the chair-and-a-half. Since they’re about 50 inches wide each, spacing two of them 8 inches apart will mirror the length of a 9-foot sofa. Varying the height of the furniture and contrasting a tufted piece with non-tufted upholstery will add even more interest and break up the large masses of furniture in the room.
5. Movie theater magic. If ever there was a more suitable piece of furniture for TV and theater viewing, I haven’t discovered it. A rounded chair-and-a-half is commonly known as a “cuddle chair” because of how well it embraces two people and enmeshes them into each other. This convivial media room allows each family member to cheer for the home team or enjoy a flick without having to share the remote.
6. Add it to your reading list. That same curved cuddle chair is a top choice for avid readers who want to lounge in luxury but only have a small corner of the home to work with. Its proportions make it easier to sneak into a room than a long, rectangular chaise, which often commands its own floor space and several feet around it. Any piece of furniture that allows itself to be “tucked” somewhere is surely the ideal book lover’s lair. All you need is some soft throw pillows to prop yourself up and a good lamp.
7. Stylish slumber. Chairs-and-a-half are so great for napping, you might be inspired to recruit them to the bedroom, where they’ll be a welcome retreat at the end of the day. Many models are built with twin-size sleepers inside, but these two beds appear to be made from high-back chairs-and-a-half that have been cleverly repurposed as headboards.
8. Dining room duo. A wider dining table can accommodate a chair-and-a-half at its ends that can serve as a host and hostess chair in one. However, because of their size and the difficulty of sitting upright in them, they might be better for show than for daily use.
9. A natural outdoors. One of the most common places to see a chair-and-a-half is outside. Outdoor-furniture makers have picked up on our collective desire to bask in the sun for hours and have long been designing cushioned chairs-and-a-half to accommodate us.
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More
Creative Ways to Mix and Match Your Sofas and Chairs
Breaking the Rules: Living Rooms Without a Sofa