One of my favorite things to talk about with friends (and relative strangers, even) is couches. You can tell so much about a person by their approach to shopping for a hulking piece of furniture intended for a space dedicated to lounging. You’re going for comfort. You’re going for style. And most importantly, you’re going for something that won’t give out after a year of naps. But the couch conversation gets a little more complicated when I’m talking to my plus-size friends. As a larger person myself, I know the feeling of leaving a party with burning quads after an hour (or more) of balancing on the very edge of a sofa or chair. Some seats are meant to be seen, not sat in. They’re fun, not functional.
Finding sofa options that are (1) sturdy, (2) cute as hell, and (3) vetted by plus-size people can be tough. Alyse Whitney, a writer who told me about her couch for this story, said something that really stuck with me: “If you’re not comfortable, then you’re thinking about your exit strategy.” Lately, the conversation has gotten even more intricate. We live in a world where approaching the topics of body positivity, inclusivity, and even neutrality doesn’t feel completely unlike walking a tightrope with an undefined weight limit. With seemingly magic weight-loss medications on the market, it’s hard to be comfortable existing in any body as self-image talk—sometimes both intriguing and uninvited at the same time—swirls in the social media space around us.
My hope is that we plus-size folk can find ways to, at least, enjoy a never-ending stream of comfortable lounge sessions in the sacred space we call home. So without further ado, here are eight couches that have been vetted and tested by plus-size people with seriously good taste.
My picks: Sarah Ellison’s Muse sofa and OMHU’s Teddy sofa
I was first introduced to the first of these designs while writing another story about couches. The Muse is AD senior digital design editor Sydney Gore’s dream couch, and, very unexpectedly, it also became mine. I love the look of velvet but trembled at the thought of maintaining it (not an issue with this one). My biggest pet peeve when it comes to couches are the tapered, fragile legs. I see this feature and immediately look around for another place to sit—let’s call it a spicy memory from the one time I sat down a little too hard on my own midcentury-inspired IKEA sofa only to hear the crack of the frame snapping. There’s something beautiful about the recessed round feet of the Muse that make it appear like it’s floating—that’s certainly not a vibe you get with some of the more heavy-footed couches out there that promise stability over grace. I have yet to find an uncomfortable position.
To dig into another new favorite, the Teddy gives me nostalgia for a folding chair I received from a crush decades ago during a roller rink birthday party. (There’s a lot to unpack in that sentence—I’ll give you a moment.) It’s essentially two mattresses that can be stacked to form a couch or, laid next to each other, to create a bed. Anchored with chrome bars, it’s sleek and a nod to Italian designs past…. And it also comes in a ton of rich colors in a corduroy fabric (I opted for dark green). The best part? I can buy a new cover when I want to test a fresh hue. Both of them pass the most important test of all: My partner and I can both sprawl out in a way that feels like comfortable cuddling. You know, when your legs get all twisted, but you still get your own side of the couch and your own airflow.
Michelle Bablo, creative director
Design personality in a few words: “Recovering maximalist and color enthusiast who likes to mix high and low.”
Are you a picky person? “Very picky, but decisive once I choose something. Overall form and function need to go hand in hand.”
The perfect couch:
What is the most important element of a plus-size-friendly couch? “Comfort and sturdiness are always the most important. For plus-size folks, that means a couch that doesn’t feel too small or crowded when there’s more than one person on it. And it has to feel substantial and well made.”
It only took Michelle Bablo a week to find the couch that would soon grace her Rockaway Beach bungalow. “When I’m on the hunt for something specific, I tend to hyperfocus until I find what I’m looking for,” she says. “I read a lot of online reviews.” The space she was working on furnishing with her partner was hard-working—a single room with a Murphy bed and a fold-down desk, desperately in need of seating that could multitask. There was another very specific need outside of serving as a place for leisure, sofa-side meals, and friend hangouts: “Our space is also constantly filled with salt, sand, and water from the beach,” she says. “So the couch needed to be durable, low-maintenance, and not too nice that we’d have to worry about ruining it.” A perfect match was found in a modular design from Burrow—a Goldilocks find that was firm without being rock-hard, deep but not tough to get up from, and had a high back and cushy arms that made it easy to sit in lots of different ways. “Every arm, back, and side is interchangeable so you can change the configuration or layout really easily,” she says. “You can also purchase individual side or back pieces. We weren’t sure how long we’d stay in our bungalow, so it was really important that it could move with us to other spaces.”
Kellie Brown, host of the Home Decor Homies YouTube series
Design personality in a few words: “Modern eclectic.”
Are you a picky person? “Everyone who’s ever met me might say yes. I’m gonna say that I’m intentional—I am a curator. I’m very sure about what I like and don’t like.”
The perfect couch: Hay Quilton chaise sectional in Bonsai
What is the most important element of a plus-size-friendly couch? “Well, the biggest deal-breaker for me is when it’s on the actual floor—I don’t feel like climbing on the ground. Also, any thin, wobbly legs—especially without support in the center. It’s not going to take a very sizable person to sit down in the center at the wrong angle and hit the ground.”
Kellie Brown spends a lot of time asking other people about their spaces in her YouTube series, Home Decor Homies. But she has something in common with her design-enthusiast friends—she’s got incredible taste, much of which is evident in the Palm Springs Airbnb that she styled, which you might have seen on Instagram via Deeply Madly Modern. “My background in decor is that I grew up loving furniture,” she says. “I had a mother who loved flea markets, and our house was really cool. I always liked decorating my apartments, but it certainly expanded, and I learned so much from the process of being in California with a lot more access to vintage.”
Through trial and error, Kellie nailed down an equation of sorts for her ideal couch. “I’m five ten, I’m not 22, and I like comfort and also to feel supported as a bigger person,” she explains. “Some people love to sink in and feel engulfed—that, for me, is anxiety-inducing. I like to feel held up, but I don’t want it to be hard.” Kellie’s couch of choice is far from vintage, but it checks all the boxes and delivers a powerful color statement. “Honestly, it’s my favorite sofa that I think I’ve ever had,” she insists. “It’s such a vibe, it looks incredible, and the fabric is so adorable. And you can just plop into the neck of the L-shape, and it’s just so cozy.”
Laura Ann Young, managing director at the Future Perfect
Design personality in a few words: “My mother would say ‘eclectic.’ I think most people would agree.”
Are you a picky person? “Absolutely—specifically in regards to design.”
The perfect couch: Customized Armstrong sofa by Matthew Hilton for De La Espada
What is the most important element of a plus-size-friendly couch? “From a functionality perspective, I like the higher seat and I don’t like the sofa to be too deep. The reality is, what I actually want is to get lost in the sofa and stay there forever.”
“I’m serving Diana Vreeland, and that’s what I’m always trying to serve—she’s one of my idols.” If you’re trying to figure out what possible couch could play into this iconic vision, you won’t find it for sale. Laura Ann Young, one of the visionaries behind the Future Perfect, worked hard to make her couch a reality. “Basically, this is a super-basic sofa, and I reupholstered it with red-and-beige silk and a skirt,” she says. “It couldn’t be more different than their original design. It’s so different, in fact, that when I showed it to the founder of De La Espada, he gasped.”
Laura works outside of trends—both in work and in her own world of design. “My fashion taste is extremely conservative: neutrals, black denim, et cetera—I very rarely am in a pattern,” she says. “But for furniture, I go nuts, and I feel a lot more free to do so. Here’s an example: I have this red-and-beige silk striped sofa, but I ground it with a solid navy blue high-tuft rug.” Laura’s pick is proof that the quest for a perfect seat can be contradictory. The Armstrong Sofa isn’t a design you’d immediately assume you can get lost in, but the heart wants what the heart wants. “It’s one of the most rigid sofas in the world,” she admits. “The Future Perfect is known for having what we jokingly call backbreakers, but ultimately they’re actually back savers. I love it.”
Alyse Whitney, food writer and TV host
Design personality in a few words: “Puts the fun in functional.”
Are you a picky person? “I consider myself picky. My superpower is that I can see something and know immediately if it’s for me or not.”
The perfect couch: Custom daybed couch from Total Design Company
What is the most important element of a plus-size-friendly couch? “Versatility. The thought of some of the trending couches—like the Cloud sofa—is cool in theory. In practice, you sink in and you can’t get up. I think a design where some people can sit with their legs on the floor and others can recline is where it’s at.”
Alyse Whitney—a food writer (you may be familiar with her Cosmopolitan column “Doing the Least with Alyse”), editor, and TV host with a cookbook called Big Dip Energy on the way—has been curating her maximalist space in LA for years. There are “moments” everywhere you look, from the Boursin (yes, the cheese brand) neon sign hanging out in the fireplace to her collection of realistic teapots. It’s a game of I Spy in the best way possible. So how do you search for a couch that fits such a spontaneous space? “I saw an apartment tour of a woman’s home that had three living rooms. I was like, ‘Wow so this is LA,’” she recalls. “One couch in particular caught my eye—it was a double chaise queen-size daybed.”
After conducting some research, Alyse came across Total Design Company, a custom furniture business that could help her create a couch that would house her many friends and family during parties and overnight stays. “I sent a picture from the apartment tour and was like, ‘Hey, I really like this, can you create something for me?’ It has these big amazing cushions on the back that you can really dig into. I’ve had the couch now for almost three years and I’ve had people of all sizes packed onto it—it hasn’t once felt like it’s going to cave in.”
The versatility is what has given this couch a reputation among her friends, who often fill her space for parties and impromptu hangouts. “Regardless of what size you are, this couch is beloved, and it’s the most comfortable thing I think I’ve ever sat on,” she says. “I literally will only go to movies with reclining seat theaters, because why would I leave my comfortable couch?” The couch also fulfills a bit of a life mantra for Alyse, who prioritizes making sure everyone in her space feels as comfortable as possible: “Furniture, especially couches, should encourage people to stay relaxed, be comfortable, and really enjoy their time,” she adds. “This is my heirloom—someone special in my life will get this couch.”
Amanda Richards, writer
Design personality in a few words: “Pleasant. I have such a hodgepodge of pieces and objects, and my approach to styling the apartment really varies with my mood. The one thing that it all has in common is that I find it all very pleasant to look at, and others seem to think so too!”
Are you a picky person? “Definitely! I can’t really explain why I choose the pieces I do, but when it’s a yes, it’s a 100% confident yes, and when it’s a no, it’s a hell no.”
The perfect couch: IKEA Klippan sofa with a slipcover
What is the most important element of a plus-size-friendly couch? “Depth, and just a general sense of sturdiness. You don’t want a couch to give you a distress signal every time you sit down. The worst design feature is hairpin legs. I get why people like the look, but the risk of a bend-and-snap is just too high.”
One of the greatest things about Instagram is spotting a piece of furniture that instantly chips a little heart-sized hole into whatever brain segment houses “home decor inspiration.” This is what happened when I saw Amanda Richards’s green-striped couch in a photo many years ago. The writer behind Fat Hell, a newsletter tackling everything from her own childhood memories to size exclusion in the news, had a vision. “I knew I wanted a Klippan—I once sublet with someone who had one and thought about how shockingly comfortable it was all the time,” she says. “Admittedly, though, the green striped slipcover is what made the decision for me. They don’t make it anymore, but I have a backup I found on eBay.”
Case and point: The Klippan is one of those classic IKEA designs that can be easily transformed to fit whatever space it’s inhabiting. What makes the couch even more special is that it doesn’t live in a traditional lounge space. “I am uniquely blessed in that my Brooklyn apartment (despite only being two rooms) has a large enough kitchen for the almighty kitchen couch,” she says. “I’ve always loved having soft seating in the kitchen: an armchair to read on while you're waiting for the oven, a loveseat for friends to drink on while you're cooking for them.” But the fact is, it’s still a workspace—one that can get very messy. “I wanted something at a lower price point with a slipcover, should I (predictably) spill something,” Amanda adds. “The Klippan sofa was perfect since it’s relatively compact, deep enough for my height (five ten), and supportive enough to lounge or sit up straight.”
The Klippan is also a rare wallet-friendly pick. “As a plus-size person, it’s important for me to have a couch with upholstered arms that come up a bit high, as I really like to feel cozy and tucked into the couch itself, as opposed to those kinds of couches where you feel like you're perched on it like bird,” she says. “I don’t just want to be on my couch, I want to be in it.”
Nikhil Kapoor, student and fashion stylist
Design personality in a few words: “Minimalist or elegant.”
Are you a picky person? “I think so. My parents would definitely say that I am.”
The perfect couch: 5-foot Beanbag Chair
What is the most important element of a plus-size-friendly couch? “The number one thing is the width of the seat. I know it started getting very popular for chairs to have a bowl shape, and your ass and hips have to be very fitted into that small little bowl part. I love those chairs and it looks really beautiful with the whole circular shape to it, but I just can’t sit in that and feel comfortable.”
“Originally I wanted a green beanbag,” Nikhil explains. “It wasn’t gonna be purple, but they sent me the wrong color.” I’m going to put words in all of our mouths and call this a happy mistake, but the beanbag checked a lot of practical boxes before it became a chic centerpiece for his Chicago space. “I was able to sit on this for a good three hours before I had to get up. I could lay on my stomach and type,” he recalls. “Also, I didn’t need a table at all: My legs were in the perfect position where I could rest my laptop on my lap. You can also flatten it enough to turn it into a bed.” This kind of versatility is important for anyone, but in particular for a law student studying for exams late into the night. “It saved me through those final exam weeks when I didn’t feel like being stuck in my room and sleeping in my bed,” Nikhil continues. “I just wanted to fall asleep in front of a window.”
You may be scratching your head, wondering what kind of beanbag chair would be comfortable to sleep on. “You don’t really feel the floor when you're sitting on it,” Nikhil insists. “It’s essentially a very big sofa. Logistically, it was big enough for my back—I wanted something that would fit my shoulders and still close me in.”
