Let's talk comfort

January 24 2025, by Ruth Wilbur, 4 min reading time

What does comfort feel like to you?

Comfort is a very personal thing, whilst we stock plenty of gorgeous 3 seater sofas - no one size suits all. In this blog we walk you through comfy considerations to help aid your research when shopping for your dream sofa.

Comfort is a sliding scale from cloud-like squish to supportive comfort:

Soft and squishy > Balanced > Supportive Comfort

We’ve touched on this recently in our Chesterfield considerations blog but it’s worth a recap as sofas vary in construction considerably.

Soft and squishy

Our softest sofas mould to your shape when you sink into them, they offer the cosiest kind of comfort, being super squishy but less supportive than other options.

One example of this is the Marnie range, sumptuous feather filled arms, bolster and scatter cushions provide cloud-like comfort - with the gloriously soft velvet being the icing on the cake.

Balanced Comfort

A balanced sofa gives you a little more middle ground - you’ll find it offers more support to your back, with less of a squish when you sit. The Stanley or Albert are good examples of this mid-ground.

Supportive Comfort

On the firmer side sit our more traditional Chesterfield sofas, these come with less squish and a little more bounce. You tend to sit on the cushion rather than ‘in’ it, with the added benefit of them being very low maintenance. Our Chessington, Oskar, and Liberty sit in this category.

How do you relax?

This sounds like a personal question, right off the bat, well, it is. Now’s the time for us to get to know you. Considering how you spend your time lounging is something we take seriously. If you are kicking back, feet up - remote in hand then you’ll find your sitting position and sofa requirements quite different to someone who spends the majority of their time reading their favourite book, sat upright.

One thing we see all the time is lovely visitors coming to our showroom and being terribly polite, perching on the sofas treating them as if they belong in a museum. It’s time to ditch your manners (I mean, not entirely!) but certainly for the greater sofa buying good! We invite you to sit back and relax just as you would at home - throw yourself onto one, curl up in a corner - no perfect posture hovering, as that won’t be a clear indication of how you’ll be sat in the comfort of your own lounge.

Most Comfortable Sofas for Back Support

Here we move onto the topic of ergonomics. There are three things that determine back support on a sofa: the interior support of the sofa (its material and construction), seat depth and seat height.

As a general rule, sprung sofas are a better option for those wanting back support, the springs often help to support your back better, supporting your posture. Head over to our award-winning Spink & Edgar Lamour if this sounds like something that would suit your needs, it has pocket sprung seat and back cushions - the creme-de-la-creme of supportive comfort.

Your preference over seat depth and height will depend on your size - for the best posture you are aiming for a seat position with legs closer to a right angle when sat, the taller amongst you might prefer a slightly higher or deeper seat.

Our Howard, Dalmore and Sunday have slightly shallower seats, these suit those that want to be more supported and sit rather than fully recline, as well as those that are slightly more petite.

For deeper seats head in the direction of the Liberty, Marnie, Oskar, Warwick, Constable and Eaton collections.

Would you like a little help?

Why not get in touch to speak to our showroom experts, our team are experts on all things seat related and will guide you through considerations and the different ranges we offer. One of the many benefits of buying a British made sofa is that many of our makers can often customise your sofa to suit you - our team can tell you more. You can also ask for fabric samples to be sent free of charge (up to 6) for a first-hand fabric experience. Just give us a call on: 01422 761000 or drop us an email at sales@vintagesofa.co.uk