or: How to make a chair more comfortable

Most houses from my childhood had a formal lounge area that was just for the grown-ups and that had the ‘good televsion’. You know the one, the bigger screen and in colour yet still before the days of the remote control so one of the children of the house would be called from wherever they were to change the channel. When you think about it, that was a very, very remote control. Adults would be in big trouble if they lost that one with the police and not just the others in the house.

This isn’t about remote controls,  tv, or the incidental exercise of children of that generation. It’s about chairs.

Back in those days, when children needed to be invited into the good lounge (and when the good lounge still existed), there always seemed to be that one chair with the extra straight back that no-one sat in. I remember this being called the grandpa chair for some reason which is kind of weird since all three of my grandfathers had died prior to my birth. Maybe it was reserved for their ghosts. Or I’ve read that name somewhere and it’s stuck in my head.

Or as I realized as I grew taller and could sit on that chair when no-one was around and try to figure out what was so special about it, it could simply be that with its ultra straight back and elongated length, it just wasn’t comfortable. This doesn’t explain the name though.

Anyway, where I am staying now has a number of similar chairs though the back is slightly lower. The same as the grandpa chair of my youth, the top part of the back cushion sticks out a little further than the bottom part. The frame is also is wood. They are great to sit on in the later part of the day as the sun sets, the birds start to noisily find their resting places for the evening and my stomach begins to remind me of its existence.

While this all sounds idyllic, the same as the grandpa chair, they are not comfortable as it pushes the top half of my body forward while offering no lower back support.

Until I had an epiphany.

I turned the cushion upside down and my life hasn’t been the same since.

I now have lower back support and can lean my head back in comfort.

Aesthetically it doesn’t look quite so good as the zip now rests on the top however it has improved comfort-wise by at least tenfold.

I haven’t caught my hair in the zipper yet.

Now I’m wondering what I missed out on with the grandpa chair and not turning its cushion upside down when no-one was home and then sneaking a sit on it. It would have been great to curl up with a book on this one.

I may find out next time I visit my Mum as she still has this lounge setting though the cushions have changed from the orange, yellow and brown stripes of the 70s to something a little more floral. Maybe the padding has changed too though and this will all remain a mystery.

 

* Thanks to  The Verve for the title to this post.