Furniture serves a very clear purpose in your home. Whether visually, aesthetically, or through the utility it provides, your furniture exists solely to enrich your life. So why would you furnish your home with something that not only doesn’t benefit you, but actually causes pain or inconvenience? Your furniture should be a benefit to your life, not a liability. Yet, many shoppers unfortunately choose furniture that isn’t the best fit for them.
Nowhere is this more prevalent than with seniors shopping for new furniture. We’ve seen and heard the objections ever since we first started selling furniture back in 1988. “Well, I ain’t that old. I certainly don’t need a lift chair or adjustable base.” And maybe that’s true. If so, we fully respect that!
However, if certain features would be helpful or make your life easier, why not consider them with an open mind? For that matter, why would you even consider seating with features that would make your life harder or less convenient? The honest truth is that there are several factors that can make sofas and other seating much better (or worse) for seniors.
That’s why we wrote an article to help! Have you ever felt like you were drowning in a sea of deep cushions or had to rock yourself back-and-forth on a sofa to get enough momentum to get up? If so, this article is just for you! If you’re looking for the best sofa for seniors, check out our 6 quick and easy tips below for a nudge in the right direction.
What Should Seniors Be Looking for In a Sectional, Sofa, Loveseat or Chair?
We’ve previously discussed the wide-ranging benefits of lift chair recliners and how they’re not just for the elderly anymore. For seniors shopping for recliners, you really can’t go wrong with a power recliner with a lift option. Beyond that, you may be wondering what recommendations we give for other upholstered seating like sectionals, sofas, loveseats and chairs. Well, we’re glad you asked!
That brings us to the real questions consumers need answered. First, what characteristics make an accent chair, sofa, sectional or loveseat a good fit for seniors? Second, what features should you avoid entirely?
Keep reading for our solutions to these common senior seating questions. We believe the 6 easy tips below will help you make the choice that’s just right for you. For that matter, you don’t even need to be 60+ to benefit from these helpful furniture shopping tips. If you have a history of knee, leg, hip or lower-back problems, this is for you too!
1) Stability Is Key
If you have joint problems, weakness in the arms or legs, or other mobility issues, stability is the single most important factor when choosing upholstered seating. This is true when you’re seated, but this goes double for when you’re in the process of sitting down or standing up. Why? Because these are the moments when you are the most imbalanced. For this reason, your new seating must be stable above all else.
This is why we don’t generally recommend swivel chairs, gliders, or sofas/loveseats with glider mechanisms, or even many push-back recliners to our senior shoppers. These types of seating are less stable because they can shift or move while you’re trying to get up and down. For that matter, manual recliners of all kinds can present a problem for seniors since they require a certain degree of arm or leg strength to open and close the footrest.
While stationary furniture is typically much more stable, that doesn’t mean that you have to avoid all motion furniture. There are many suitable recliners out there that are ideal for seniors, including power reclining options. However, you should always test them out in person first to make sure getting in and out isn’t a challenge.
2) Avoid Low Deck Height
This one is absolutely crucial. The deck of a chair or sofa is the part of the frame that sits beneath the cushions and houses the suspension system. Naturally, the measurement from your floor to the deck is called the deck height.
Why does this matter? Lots of casual, contemporary seating has a very low deck height and oversize cushions. The problem is that when you sit super low, getting up and down puts a ton of strain on your knees. As a result, we recommend seniors look for upholstered seating with a deck height of no less than about 20 inches.
3) Avoid Extra Deep Seats
Upholstery with a low deck height usually goes hand-in-hand with deep cushions or deep seats. Sometimes you’ll hear these cushions called oversized. This refers to the depth of the seat or cushion as measured from the front edge to where the cushion meets the seatback. Yet another element of the trendy, casual style, the appeal of deep seats is that you’re supposed to just sink into the sofa or chair.
However, for similar reasons as above, deep cushions aren’t great for seniors or for those facing mobility challenges. For them, sinking in isn’t a good thing. Sitting too far back into a couch or sofa places your center of gravity way far back, making it much harder to get up. If the backside of your knee touches the cushion or you have to rock back-and-forth to sit up, deep seats may not be the best choice for you.
4) Consider Cushion Firmness
In case you haven’t noticed, there’s kind of a trend here. Sinking too low and sinking too far back into your seat are both bad things if it’s hard for you to sit down or get up. The same goes for sinking into your cushions. For most seniors, the firmer the cushion, the better.
While industry standard 1.8lb density foam cushions are perfectly fine for most seniors, you should steer clear of down-filled or other extra plush seat cushions. For an extra bit of firmness, some manufacturers offer customers 2.0lb density foam seat cushions. Others, like England Furniture, Kincaid, and Craftmaster, offer seat cushion options with embedded spring coils for a firmer, more responsive feel that makes it easier to sit up.
5) Consider Back Angle & Height
The height and angle of the sofa back or seatback is another important factor. The same contemporary style trends that lead to low deck heights and deep seating, also lead to lower, laid-back, seatbacks. This is especially true when it comes to sectionals and sofas.
As you may guess, these lower, more reclined sofa backs are less supportive for those attempting to sit up and better suited for lounging. Which is perfectly fine if you’re 25 years-old and do sit-ups at the gym every morning. Less so for your average 65 or 70 year-old. One final factor is that most modern low-back sofas also have low-profile track arms or similar, which are harder to use to push off of when going from sitting to standing. Stick to mid to higher back chairs and sofas and you’ll be just fine.
6) Lose the Loose Pillows & Plush Seatbacks
Finally, you want to avoid too much loose fabric and fluff. Having detached back cushions and a bajillion pillows may be comfy, but it is yet another recipe for getting stuck in your own sofa or sectional. When you go to sit up or stand and need to push against something firm, you need more than just down or plush foam to push against.
In our opinion, the best sofas for seniors in this regard are traditional tight-back, or button-tufted designs. Unlike the fluffy, oversize back cushions of more modern sofa designs, these designs have the back cushion fully attached to the seatback. That being said, other attached and semi-attached back cushions should work just fine as well.
Find the Best Sofas for Seniors & More with North Georgia’s Best Selection of Upholstered Seating for ALL Ages!
To wrap up our senior seating advice into a nutshell or elevator pitch, we recommend seniors stick with more traditional and transitional pieces and avoid extremely casual, contemporary styles. There are simply too many features within contemporary style upholstery that ultimately end up putting too much pressure on the user’s muscles, bones and joints – from low deck height, to deep seats, to ultra-plush, low, reclined seatbacks and cushions.
Conversely, traditional (and many transitional) pieces have a more stable and upright frame, a higher deck and shallower seat actually meant for sitting, and firmer cushions and seatbacks. As such, these pieces are much more suitable for seniors and others with limited mobility. Ask yourself if a piece looks more for sitting or lounging. If it’s the latter, you’ll probably want to pass.
[Editor’s Note: Don’t forget to learn everything you should know about the 3 upholstery design styles here.]
Are you over 60 years-old or do you have a history of knee, leg, hip or lower-back problems? Let us help you find your next sectional, sofa, loveseat or armchair today! If you have more questions about how to find the best sofa for seniors, drop us a line on our convenient web chat or visit our upholstered seating experts at any of our North Georgia or Atlanta area furniture stores. See you soon!
