Sofas and chairs — available today from Lee — are great fits for traditional-retro styled living rooms
50sPam on Jan 17 2008 at 12:38 pm | Filed under: attic & basement, furniture, living room
It’s nice to see that furniture manufacturers are bringing back sofas and chairs that have more traditional scale and lines like those in the 1954 Simmons ad above and in the thumbnail.
By scale, I mean, not over-sized, like most of the sofas on the market today that are made for new construction home interiors. Today’s oversized furniture can be very comfy. But postwar furniture was modestly sized — “long and low” — to fit the lower ceilings, the more defined architectural spaces, and in many cases, the long narrow living room-dining room combinations. By lines, I mean fitted backs, the availability of skirts, rolled arms, and backs that were kind of split in two with piping - as in both the 1954 (above) and 2007 models (below).
The manufacturer I’ve found so far that has several great choices is Lee. Scroll over the images or thumbnails to get the model numbers:
I’ve also included a lounge chair — a recliner — because what red-blooded American man doesn’t want one, really and truly? I think this one is actually quite acceptable looking.
The advantage of buying new, and from a major manufacturer, is that you get, well…. new, and easy. With a gazillion fabric choices. My husband, as an example, has a real aversion to smelly old sofas. Unless I rip the guts out and totally reupholster, he won’t let me bring ‘em in the house. So, cost for new is probably pretty similar to buying vintage then having to reupholster. The downside to new, is that everyone says that the old sofas were made better, with harder wood. And, the exact lines on vintage sofas are often that much nicer, that much more perfect - as in the vintage ‘54 Simmons. And if you find get mint with vintage upholstery - oh my.
In either case, though — it’s good now to have more choices.
5 Responses to “Sofas and chairs — available today from Lee — are great fits for traditional-retro styled living rooms”
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Judi's Lexington ranch
Amy's San Diego bungalow
Our 90s era couch looks a bit too big for our 50s living room. I knew the plaid fabric was too large in scale for the room, but now I understand that the entire shape of the piece is out of proportion — the back and the arms look positively clownlike compared to what is pictured here. I love how the lamp and end table are just the right scale, something I haven’t come up with for my clown couch!
I agree, the size of today’s furniture is just too big for 50’s houses. Of course, the people were smaller, too!
What’s more fun that hanging out of the sofa, playing accordion and recorder? So adorable and sweet…
Everything was smaller then, I guess–plates, bar glasses, portion sizes!
I love the furniture! Depending on its size, the beige-y (at least in my browser) chair could be used in a bedroom or a living room.
Maddy, you are right, everything was smaller then. For instance, the dinner plates in my mom’s Fiesta china are about 9 inches in diameter. A 5′ x 8′ bathroom was considered perfectly adequate for a family. (Master bath? What’s that??) Funny how houses - and people! - have gotten bigger as families have gotten smaller.
The generation buying the 50’s and 60’s houses had vivid memories of the Depression and WWII. What seems small to us was the lap of luxury for them.
[...] I ran the post including the Simmons hideaway a few weeks ago, I have to admit, I didn’t even notice that the couple was playing musical [...]