It’s no secret that rooms look more spacious when furniture appears to float above the floor. The reason is simple: the eye visually expands the space when it can see beneath pieces of furniture. Selecting seating with wood or metal legs and no skirts is one way to create the floating look. But what if you want to take floating seating to another level?
Air
The Air upholstered furniture system…[is] modular and transformable. The sofa backs and seat cushions are completely interchangeable… A single sofa can be taken apart and reconfigured to become three armchairs or two sofas, depending on how you arrange the frames, seats, backs and arms… The glass legs contribute to making the sofa extremely ethereal, giving further lightness to the room.
PK 26
Poul Kjaerholm’s PK 26 suspended sofa has no legs at all with the bent brushed steel frame affixing the sofa directly to the wall. You will need to reinforce the wall and ensure PK 26 is properly and securely hung before use. If you admire the style, you may want to search for a replica; an authentic PK 26 sofa can cost upwards of US$60,000.
Kagan
Vladimir Kagan has used lucite legs on many of his designs, in some cases even adding lighting on the underside to further highlight the floating effect.
A fantastic example of the Omnibus series of furniture designed by Vladimir Kagan. This extremely comfortable sofa offers three sections upholstered in beautiful tufted baseball-glove leather with a loose cushion design. The right angle section is a solid sofa structure with a built-in ottoman. The left section has two pieces – a love seat, and an ottoman – resting on Kagan-trademark lucite slab legs. The entire structure (for the exception of the ottoman) has hidden lights on the underside, which enhances the sofa’s floating appearance once lit.
Hollywood
An increasing number of designers are playing with lucite, glass, and acrylic for bases and legs, which means the look will become more accessible to various design styles and budget levels.
Are you a fan of floating seating?
