Eccentric sofas are designed to suit special spaces
Recently, I moved my 5-foot long wicker sofa from the sun room into the kitchen, in front of our French doors. It floats in the wide passageway. Mr. AM described the placement as “eccentric,” by which he means interesting and quirky. But the definition of an eccentric sofa also could be applied to a specially shaped couch made for an irregular space.
Designer David Easton created an intimate nook adjacent to the fireplace of a grand home in Aspen [top] by building a custom banquette in two uneven parts, like a sectional, into the corner of the room. Curved arms help define the area visually and while they are too narrow to be perfectly comfortable the romantic scalloped base of the platform draws you in. Outlining the arms and base in nail heads beefs up the cream-colored Brunschwig & Fils fabric and keeps the corner from looking too decorative. It’s fancy, it certainly is an eccentric sofa and yet I can imagine flopping down in that corner and having that low sconce provide good light for reading.
The French have names for specialized furniture and while I cannot locate the precise term for this type of three-part, sofa-in-the-round I believe there is one. It was a popular shape in Victorian parlors and while any three people are unlikely to sit with their backs to each other in this hexagonal room – a landing in a New Jersey manse — what I like is that it’s usable on all sides just like a classic circular hall table. The undulating front of each section is fun and while the super-serious fabric and fringe renders it highly conventional, a contemporary fabric would make this eccentric sofa a killer.
In the living room of the same New Jersey house, interior designer Frank Delle Donne updated the form of the Louis XV veilleuse, a short lounging piece traditionally made with one high and one low end plus a serpentine back. These sofas were often used in pairs — one on each side of a fireplace. This back is deftly sculpted under the oval window and fit precisely into the inglenook. The floral fabric softens the severe lines a bit and emphasizes the daybed attitude. I could see a pair of these being even more intimate with a bedroom fireplace.
(Source: Veranda, New York Spaces)
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