Watch out, loveseats! Settees are sitting pretty
By David Perry -- Furniture Today, October 28, 2001
HIGH POINT — Loveseats, look out! Settees are settling in for a long run in upholstery.
Settees, accent upholstery pieces stylish enough to stand on their own, are rising stars on retail floors. That's one big reason producers showcased a wide assortment of new settees here. They say consumers like the variety of roles settees can play in the home.
Unlike loveseats, settees aren't confined mainly to living rooms. And they aren't companion pieces to sofas. Lighter in scale than loveseats, they are part of the rise of the item business in upholstery.
"Upholstery is becoming more item oriented," said Lillian August, who added a settee to her collection for Drexel Heritage. "The settee is a conversation piece."
Her new Belvedere settee is a scaled-down version of her popular Belvedere sofa. It features a shelter silhouette with integrated arms.
Clayton Marcus, which showcased a patriotic-themed settee here, is doing well with settees.
"They have become very important, especially with some of our exposed wood collections," said Ken Church, president. "We have used our settees to feature many of the beautiful landscape designs from our fabric suppliers. The settee offers enough back width and size to do the patterns justice."
The new all-American settee, for example, features stars and stripes in a dramatic treatment.
"Settees are a little more dainty and a little more decorative" than loveseats, said Brian Lange, vice president of sales and marketing at Best Chairs, which now has four settees in its line with the addition of a ball-and-claw settee with a shortened back and deep seat. The piece can be placed at the foot of a bed without appearing too large.
The authoritative Dictionary of Decorative Arts says that settees are "large enough for two or more persons … more formal than a sofa" and invite the user "to sit but not to lounge or recline."
Flexsteel made a major push in settees, showing seven in its new Christopher Lowell Home collection. That includes backless, half-back and bedroom settees.
"The fainting couch has made a comeback!" Lowell says in his popular book, "Christopher Lowell's Seven Layers of Design." He adds: "They can be sofa-sized and act as a cross-linking device that joins one furniture grouping to another. A backless settee with rolled arms and a deep seat is ideal. Guests can sit on either side and face opposite conversation areas, and if it has a deep enough seat, can sit back to back. The arms still provide leaning room for standing guests. On a rainy day with a cashmere comforter it's ideal for stretching out. Why faint when you can snuggle?"
Keith Feuerhaken, Flexsteel's vice president of sales, summed up the appeal of settees: "They can go in any setting and in any room."
Settees are key pieces for Highland House, said Tom Staats, general manager. "We've been doing them for a number of years," he said. "They are best sellers. You can use two of them together. You can use them in smaller rooms, in studies and in larger kitchens. They are just easier to use" than some other upholstery pieces.
"Settees make a decorating statement," said Bob Wilkinson, vice president of sales at Fairfield Chair. "We sell more settees than sofas. Everybody in upholstery makes sofas. But not everybody makes settees. We get a lot of credit for the woodworking we do. All of our settees have exposed wood."
Designer Laura Orsborn, who added the Natchez settee this market to her upholstery collection at Morgan Stewart, is sold on settees.
"There are many places in a home where you need something bigger than a chair but smaller than a sofa," she said. "Settees are graceful pieces. There is an elegance to a settee."
Also doing well with settees this market were Rowe and Pennsylvania House, among others.
| Designer Christopher Lowell relaxes on a backless settee, part of his new collection for Flexsteel. |
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