Four choices affect both the softness of your upholstered furniture and the amount of comfort wrinkles you can expect. And it is always a trade-off between softness and wrinkles. Softer almost always means more comfort wrinkles while firmer means less. Nevertheless, you have four factors to work with:
(1) LOOSE CUSHIONS vs TIGHT CUSHIONS
A tight or fixed cushion is integral to the piece and cannot be removed. It is typically tightly packed with cushioning and is therefore firmer. Fixed cushions generally have a sleeker, more tailored look and require less primping and adjustment. Fixed cushions will usually have little comfort wrinkling.
Loose cushions can often be removed from the piece. However, semi-attached cushions give the appearance and comfort of loose cushions while providing more control and neatness than completely loose cushions. Since loose cushions aren’t stuffed as tightly, they generally have a softer sit. And, they will have more furniture comfort wrinkles for these same reasons.
(2) CUSHION CONSTRUCTION
Custom upholstery will often offer several cushion construction options from loose down fill or soft foam all the way to over-stuffed, high density foam. Each level of softness corresponds to a higher amount of furniture comfort wrinkles.
(3) FABRIC OR LEATHER SELECTION
That soft hand that we love on our sectional or sofa is a big contributing factor to furniture comfort wrinkling. A buttery soft leather can wrinkle as much as a fabric! And we all know from our linen shirts and cotton t-shirts that those comfy fabrics wrinkle as a matter of course. Please discuss fabric choice and comfort wrinkles with your designer!
(4) CUSHION LENGTH
This is NOT a softness tradeoff like the first three. A long, single cushion has long, elegant lines and is often a great design choice for your room. However, that extra length will always tend to have more wrinkles.
(5) BONUS? FACTOR
Time. As much as we hate to admit it – time does add comfort wrinkles to all things. Even furniture.
So what is best? There is no general best. There is only the best combination of choices for you and your lifestyle. Furniture Comfort Wrinkles are a matter of taste – not a matter of truth. For the most part, at BY DESIGN we don’t find comfort wrinkles objectionable at all. But if you do… we really want to know. And our goal is to help you understand the trade-offs that you have to work with in making your choices.
