Estate Living Magazine Estate Living Issue 29 May | Page 48

A chair that tells your story
In essence, seating
design has become less
commercialised and more
personalised. “With the rise of
social media, we are all putting
our homes on show more than
ever before, and as our private
spaces become more public,
so they are also becoming
more personal, and a better
representation of who we want
to be. This is having a big
impact on seating design, as
there is a much greater drive
for customisation, and the
need for furniture to help tell
your story,” says Gibson.
Mobile seating
Another strong trend in 2018 is the mobile chair, a seat that is
no longer clunky-looking and awkward to recline. Walk around
the Grafton Everest and L-Z-Boy showroom in Johannesburg
and you’ll see a large range of mobile seating in every colour
and covering, including generously proportioned full suites with
individual recliner seats that look like normal sofa seats when
set straight, the only telltale sign being discreet recliner buttons
on the sides.
“Mobile seating today comprises recliners as well as incliners,
which means the seating can be placed much closer to the
wall, so you can recline without using any more space. This is
an important consideration if you’re living in a small space, as
you need more compact furniture that doesn’t take up too much
valuable floor space,” says Gibson.
Vintage with warmth
Vintage glamour is still in vogue, meanwhile, although today’s
take on this decadent trend is very different from the stark and
glossy glamour that has been popular for the past few years.
Says Gibson: “Today’s modern glamour still means lots of
jewel tones, luscious velvet-type fabrics, deep-pile carpets,
tufted and quilted patterns, and shiny metallics – but it is being
delivered with a much softer touch. It’s subtle, with old-world
shapes, intensely rich, warm hues, and the glamour of a time
gone by, but delivered in a personalised, modern way.”
48 | www.estate-living.com