Couch's History

The sofa is one of the most loved furniture pieces in the home. People who spend a lot of their time in the living room watching TV, movies, or simply chatting with loved ones and/or visitors surely have built quite a good relationship with the furniture. We know it by many names such as "settee" or "lounge" but "couch" seems to be the most popular as the term for a person who spends a lot of time watching TV is called "couch potato", not "sofa potato" or "lounge potato". Like recliners, the sofa has also evolved from its previous designs.

In modern times, we know the sofa or couch as a long upholstered piece of furniture that can be seated by two or more people. The word "sofa" was originally an Arabic word that referred to raised section of the floor that was furnished with rugs and cushions reserved for the council or esteemed guests. The word "sopha" was first written during the early 18th century but the term "divan", a type of couch, preceded it.

The earliest form of the sofa can be traced back to ancient Egypt of around 2000 BC. The Ancient Romans also had a form of sofa called the triclinium which is positioned around a low table where men reclined while eating. The women sat on normal chairs so the piece of furniture was considered part of the elite during that time period. It was only until the industrialization period that couches were made available for the middle and lower class. The sofa was formally invented between the end of the 16th century and earl y 17th century. The "Farthingle" chair in Europe was one of the earliest sofas.

It was only until 1828 that springs were included in sofas. An improvement was made later on with the invention of the Pocket Spring by Morris in 1904 whose concept became the basis for modern spring sofas we see today. Later on, newer technologies allowed for other materials to be used as fillers instead of feathers that were popular since early 17th century. Since the 1960s, even air (inflatable) or water can serve as fillers for sofa cushions. The material used for couch covers have also been improved with more choices aside from just leather or fabric. Microfiber technology has created a fabric that is durable and easy to maintain. The advancement of technology has improved what sofas can do as well.

Modern sofas produced by companies like Berkline furniture has incorporated the functions of their Berkline recliners into Berkline sofas and loveseats. BenchCraft sofas allow the furniture to recline so nowadays, not only can people enjoy the comfort of recliners by themselves but by other members of the family as well. Other features brought about by newer technologies allow the furniture to have designs for saving space allowing greater flexibility in decorating rooms. Admittedly, sofas do take a lot of space in the living room. However, with design features such as Wallaway, which allows the sofa or loveseat to recline with only inches of wall space, it has become less of an issue.