Are Low-Back Sofas Comfortable? A 6 Factors Theory.

Let’s say you are trying to decide on a sofa set for your living room décor, but you are confused about the suitable size of the sofa. The best approach to determine the suitable size of the sofa is to consider the person with greater height in your family. A low-back sofa is specifically designed with a lower backrest and lumber support which is unable to provide enough support to the upper neck. However, the main focus in designing a low-back sofa is to create aesthetic and stylish décor for a living room. But I don’t think it is enough to decide whether low-back sofas are comfortable or not, and following a detailed analysis of low-back sofas will be helpful for you. A few examples in terms of images of low-back sofas are displayed in this blog post.

Factors affecting the comfort of a low-back sofa

1. Seat depth

It may cause a confusing impact that the depth of the seat means how down a person goes while sitting on the sofa. But it is totally wrong the depth of the seat actually means the distance of the seat from the front to the end of the backrest support. It means if the height of the tallest person of your family member is 5 feet 8 inches then the low back sofas are comfortable for your living room but with reasonable seat depth. But if the seat depth in a low-back sofa is lower than the average seat depth then it will not fulfill the requirements of comfort even if its seats have extra padding to enhance the comfort level. It means you can’t ignore the seat depth while determining the comfort of a low-back sofa.

Are low-back sofas comfortable — Image credit : Pexels

2. Height and weight of the user

As indicated earlier height is one of the important factors to evaluate whether low-back sofas are comfortable or not. The best approach is to keep in mind the height of the tallest person in your family member. If the height of the tallest person of your family member is more than 5 feet 8 inches then a low-back sofa will not be comfortable for your living room besides the fact it is satisfying all other relevant factors like sofa cushions and seat depth etc. The weight of the person is another important factor in determining the comfort of a low-back sofa. If the person using a low-back sofa is overweight then there is a probability that he is uncomfortable while sitting for continuous hours. The weight of the person may also cause discomfort with the high-back sofas because of the challenging body postures of the person.

3. Backrest design

Two important factors in backrest design have a direct relation to the comfort of the low-back sofas. The first factor is the tricky one which is normally ignored and it is the angle of the seat backrest of the sofa. If the seat backrest is slightly tilted or reclined then it is good from a comfort point of view but if the seat backrest is straight then it is not comfortable for a long-term sitting schedule. The second factor is the average height (28 to 36 inches) of the seat backrest of the sofa. If the height of your low-back sofa is lower than the average height then it will be uncomfortable while using. It will also help you to judge the most comfortable back height for a sofa.

4. Seat cushions

It is one of the simplest and most common ways to determine the comfort of not only low-back sofas but any kind of sofas. The seat cushions are made with verities of sofa cushion fillings like memory foam, hybrid padding, down cotton, etc. Memory foam is the most popular and durable sofa cushion filling in today’s modern world. However, the best way to evaluate the foam’s comfort is through the density of the foam. If the foam density is high then the seat cushion will be comfortable but if the foam density is low then the seat cushion will be less comfortable. You can ask the manufacturer about foam density and type while selecting the sofa. The external fabric of the seat cushion didn’t play an exclusive role in the comfort of the sofas but its main role is to make the sofa cushion visually more appealing.

5. Armrest design

The height, width, and upholstery material of the armrest are the main factors to determine the comfort of the low-back sofas. Here the general height of the backrest of the low-back sofa is also required consideration. The general height of a low-back sofa ranges between 28 to 36 inches from the floor. So the suitable height for the armrest of the low back sofa is 20 to 26 inches from the floor, and the suitable width for the armrest ranges between 4 to 10 inches. So if you want to determine whether low-back sofas are comfortable or not then you must be well aware of these armrest measurements.

6. Frame

Low-back sofas are mostly made with wooden frames. Sometimes the backrest, armrest, upholstery, and other making materials are ok but all these things are engineered on a poor frame, which ultimately leads to poor comfort level. All of the above mentioned factors also facilitate you in making a low-back sofa more comfortable.