Ottomans: types, sizes and examples in the interior

A pouf is a low, soft chair without a back. This is a surprisingly successful piece of furniture: it is comfortable to sit on, it does not take up much space and is stylized to suit any interior. The beautiful soft product makes the atmosphere varied and cozy. The furniture industry produces a wide range of poufs of various designs and shapes. In order not to be mistaken with the purchase, we will tell you what types of poufs are, what they are made of and how to choose the right piece of furniture.

The history of poufs began in Egypt, where the pharaohs used a small soft stool. Traces of his presence were found in Ancient Greece and Rome. They began to use it with success in Europe, until the ascetic Gothic style of the Middle Ages took a comfortable piece of furniture out of fashion for some time.

The Renaissance was happy to return the poufs to their surroundings, giving them a special pomp. Small stools were made from expensive materials: wood, leather, ivory, fur, and rich fabrics. They were especially fond of the ladies, whose magnificent dresses did not allow them to sit on a chair with a back.

The features of the pouf are as follows.

• It is low, small in size and easy to carry to any part of the room.
• Despite its compactness, the product is very comfortable thanks to the soft seat.
• Poufs are easy to integrate into the style of the interior, for example, they can be upholstered with textiles present in curtains, tablecloths or bedspreads.
• A large assortment will allow you to choose a model to your liking: with or without legs, with leather, fabric or fur upholstery.
• Practical people can opt for transformers. Additional stools or a storage box are often hidden inside the cube.

Poufs are furniture with rich functionality, they can be used in different places and for different reasons.

• They sit on them in living rooms.
• In the bedroom, they are often used as a bedside table, so that there is somewhere to put a book, glasses, a telephone or a remote control.
• Low soft stools for children's rooms are very comfortable. They are stable, safe, suitable for babies in height, you can climb on them from any side.
• In the hallway, it is easy to change shoes with the help of an ottoman.
• The product can be used as a footrest while relaxing in an armchair or sofa.
• If the pouf is made of leatherette, you can put a tray with a cup of coffee and sweets on it by constructing a small tea table.

Despite the fact that poufs are not the most necessary piece of furniture, the designers treated them with special love, creating a large number of types that differ in styles, shapes and purposes.

Not all poufs are soft, there are also hard ones, the seats of which are made of balsa wood or wicker weaving, rattan and other suitable vegetation.sti. They come with a frame or frameless (poufs-bags). There are open views on legs and closed ones, which stand in the form of cubes on the floor.On sale you can find a pouf-chest, a pouf-shoe rack, a pillow-pouf or an inflatable unusual model.

Let's take a closer look at each of the types.

Most models belong to frame poufs. Such products have a rigid frame that supports the weight of an adult, and a soft seat with a spring or other filling. They can be of different shapes: square, round, oval or rectangular. They can be open or closed, mounted on legs or on a barely visible base.

Such products are called beanbag, which means "a bag of beans". They look like small colored cases with filler. The content can be artificial - polypropylene, expanded polystyrene, or natural - hay, loose cereals, horsehair. The bags, although they do not have a frame, contain a recognizable shape of a ball, pear, triangle, rectangle.

For those who like to use space rationally, a sliding / collapsible pouf or a model with a lifting mechanism is suitable. The functionality and compactness of the products makes them ideal for small apartments, high-tech styles, minimalism. Depending on the purpose, the models can be small or impressive in size.

On examples, it is easy to be convinced of a wide variety of similar products:

• clamshell pouf;

• pouf mattress;

• small soft cube contains five stools in a set;

• large pouf bed.

The product with legs is perhaps less reliable, but more extravagant. It can be high curly, carved legs or small squat, but very strong. Such models look more graceful, they suit the imperial style, baroque, classicism.

The pouf is already comfortable in all respects, and if you put it on rollers, you won't need to carry it, but simply roll it over. Some models are equipped with soft loop handles for easy movement.

Everyone knows the inflatable mattresses used during travel. Poufs are made in the same way, they have a chamber, which is filled with air with the help of a pump. But unlike mattresses, soft stools are endowed with removable covers with zippers, and they can be removed and washed at any time.

On sale you can find many types of ottomans: fabric, leather, forged, rattan wicker, jute. The imagination of the people is even richer than that of furniture manufacturers. Craftsmen make products from car tires, plastic bottles, and even from the drum of an old washing machine.

Let's take a closer look at what materials are used to create poufs.

Fabrics for soft products are chosen beautiful, durable, and pleasant to the touch. They can be velvet, velor, flock, jacquard, tapestry or matting. Sometimes water-repellent materials are used to make them easy to wash. Poufs that match the textile interior design look harmoniously. Quilted items look rich.

For expensive products, natural leather is used, it looks impressive, presentable, emphasizes the status of the owner. More loyal prices have leatherette and Euro leather, which is able to "breathe". These poufs are easy to clean, they do not absorb moisture and can be found in any room, even in the kitchen.

Various materials can be used here, but most often it is vine, bamboo and rattan. Naturally woven poufs are distinctive and environmentally friendly, but they cannot be left outdoors in the rain or for all seasons, they can swell or crack. Artificial rattan is ideal in this respect - if you leave it on the terrace, it will not dry out in summer and will not freeze in winter. It needs to be washed periodically, since the dust gets clogged into the textured pattern of the weaving, but this is not difficult to do, the polirotang is not afraid of moisture.

Often, an open pouf is installed on a forged base. The product turns out to be strong, reliable and durable, withstands a lot of weight. The forged bench is unusually beautiful, it can be on woven graceful legs, directed upward, or have a squat, but the same figured base, with a fabric cushion or a leather seat on a carriage tie.

Wood looks organically in any furniture design and is suitable for all interiors. Puffs on curly graceful legs or in the form of wooden chests draped with leather look romantic and cozy. The wood carving is amazing when the pouf is presented in the form of an animal carrying a soft seat on its back.

Bright plastic poufs are invaluable for modern interiors. Their energy and positive attitude are priceless. This is not an old primitive plastic of the last century, but a durable glossy material with a perfectly smooth structure.

If you put aside the traditional approach to creating furniture, you might wonder what materials are used in folk art, how rich the imagination of home craftsmen is.

• The easiest way is to crochet or knit the cover of the product.

• More painstaking work will have to be done by those who decide to decorate the product with flower appliqués, because each bud will have to be made by hand.

• An old car tire is almost a finished pouf, you just need to modify it a little.

• Empty plastic bottles are also suitable for filling a soft stool.

• The original ottoman is obtained from the drum of the washing machine. Such a product is suitable for modern styles (high-tech, minimalism, loft) using chrome-plated metal in the interior.

• A figured two-tone pouf created from felt at home.

In the classic version, small soft stools are considered poufs, but in any case there are exceptions to the rule. On sale you can find a wide variety of shapes and sizes of these products.

Turning to transformer models, it becomes clear that the bed cannot be expanded from a small cube. A large pouf can become a convenient box with a lid for storing many things. Large poufs adjust the setting and create coziness in spacious rooms. Their size allows not only to sit comfortably, but also to lie down, relaxing with a book or watching TV. Large items include round or oval ottoman beds with a carriage coupler, soft pedestal seats in the hallway, frameless bean bag chairs.

The models are compact in size and are most often used as a footrest. Sitting on low small-sized items is convenient only for children. In tiny ottomans, the seat is actually next to the floor, located on a base a few centimeters high, and ottoman pillows are completely devoid of a base. There are mini-puffs with short curly legs.

Poufs can be found in any geometric shape, curly (in the form of animals, flowers) and even completely shapeless. The variety of appearance allows them to be matched to any setting. For example, interiors are created where smooth lines are taken as a basis, and round or oval products are suitable for them. For a classic style, it is better to choose a square or rectangular model. Let's consider the shapes of ottomans in more detail.

They belong to the classic type of models, they are made in the form of a cube soft on all sides on almost invisible legs. They are made from leather, leatherette and fabric, most often they use a carriage coupler. Cubic products are framed and frameless. The latter contain a variety of fillers, you can sit on them from either side, since there are no legs. Frame models often contain a spacious box for things.

They differ from square models only in their elongated shape. They are also provided with boxes. They can be very low or higher, with or without a comfortable seat. Rectangular poufs are often purchased for hallways, you can sit on them to change your shoes, and put your shoes inside.

Round poufs are "classics of the genre" as they are loved by many. On sale you can find frame and frameless options of different heights and radii, with and without boxes. Round pieces suit soft styles. But sometimes angular rectilinear interiors require softening of the lines, in such cases they resort to the help of round, oval and cylindrical ottomans.

Modular products can be called curly, they are folded from different parts into a single whole. Disassembled, each section does not always have a strict geometric shape. Modules with irregular lines are called curly.

Puffs of unusual shape surprise and delight. Designers have developed many extraordinary designs. We suggest looking at examples to understand the variety of design ideas.

• Poufs in the form of sea pebbles of different sizes attract with their simplicity and uniqueness. They can be placed in the interior only in a group design; individually, they lose their attractiveness.

• From the skin of different colors, plot products are made in the form of animals: turtles, hippos, pigs, which become an adornment of expensive interiors.

• In continuation of the plot theme, we propose to consider unusual ottomans of rigid structures in the form of bottle caps. The seats are made of balsa wood.

• The unexpected sloping shape of the pouf is somewhat reminiscent of a streamlined rectangle.

• The leather square two-tier model, decorated with beautiful braid, looks great.

• Soft balls adorned with tassel bedspreads lend an oriental feel to the interior.

• Unusual ottomans in the shape of cute fluffy deer will surely appeal to children.

• Boys will be able to appreciate in their room a soccer ball in the form of a large leather bag filled with filling.

The color of upholstered furniture does not obey clear rules and can have an endless palette of colors: pink, yellow, turquoise, orange. This can be seen by considering examples of various models.

• Small neat poufs with drawers, pockets, shelves are presented in different colors: green, purple, beige, blue.

• Beautiful aristocratic cream-colored ottoman.

• Spectacular monochrome pouf with different shades of brown.

• A beige pouf shoe rack can accommodate a large number of pairs of women's shoes.

• Delicate lilac ottoman in the form of a women's skirt.

• A beautiful pouf made of variegated fabric and braid.

• Retro pouf in patchwork technique.

• White satin ottoman for the little princess.

• Small black ottoman with carrying handle.

• The red velvet pouf matches the historical orientation of the interior.

The pouf belongs to small pieces of furniture and is not too necessary, but its influence on the formed interior will be noticeable. He will either support the theme of the situation, or "ruin" it in an incomprehensible way.

Before purchasing a model, you need to know where it will be located. Poufs are small, lightweight, come on casters, with a carrying handle, they can travel throughout the apartment, but they must have a permanent place of deployment. You need to immediately understand for which room the pouf is purchased: in the bathroom, hall, hallway, for the kitchen or on the veranda, balcony. The choice of material, size, style and color of the product will depend on this.

The model intended for the hallway should not be a brand, and since the corridors suffer from a shortage of free space, it is better for a pouf to have additional functionality - a drawer or shelves for shoes.

In a large living room, you can put a large model on which you can relax not only while sitting, but also lying or half-sitting. A small assistant is acquired in a small room, who will always be on hand.

A beautiful textile cover can be sewn into the bedroom on a pouf that matches curtains, pillows or bedspreads.

A model for a children's room must be sustainable and safe, made from environmentally friendly materials. You can choose a bright plot structure, but at the same time take into account the wishes and taste of the baby.

In the bathroom, on the veranda or balcony, a product with waterproof upholstery, not too soft a seat, is selected so that it can be used as a table.

General recommendations for choosing a product are the same as for any purchase:

• check for defects;
• you can see the certificate;
• do not buy a product that is too easily soiled, because in addition to its direct purpose, the pouf can be used as a footrest and a table for morning coffee;
• not to buy goods at too low a price, recalling the popular wisdom "not rich enough to buy cheap things."

Finally, we propose to see how poufs look in interiors of different styles.

• Baroque.

• Moroccan style.

• Loft.

• Minimalism.

• Provence.

• Classicism.

• Country.

• East style.

For information on how to make an ottoman out of tires, see the next video.