Wydeven Designs: Furniture Style Series - Chaise Lounges

Friday, October 7, 2011

Furniture Style Series - Chaise Lounges - Part I

French Style Chaise - Duchesse Brisee

I have addressed this subject before but find that I have added several new chaise lounges (or loungues - more on that later) to my inventory and thought a new blog would be a good idea. Also, since I am no longer working full time away from my home, I am starting to spent an hour or more EACH day on my very own chaise lounge to read, nap and have a cup of tea and cannot imagine doing without it. It is by far the most comfortable spot in the house - too comfortable in fact and too enticing!

My very own chaise lounge - way too comfortable!

I looked up the definition, history, and recommended uses of chaise lounges. Wikipedia offers the following:

A chaise longue is an upholstered couch in the shape of a chair that is long enough to support the legs. It is sometimes erroneously written as "chaise lounge", which has persisted so strongly in America that it is no longer considered incorrect.
·      Duchesse brisee – this chaise loungue is divided in two parts: the chair and a long footstool. Or two chairs with a stool in between. The origin of the word is unknown.
·      Recamier – this chaise has two raised ends, and nothing on the long sides. It is sometimes associated with French Empire and named for Madame Recamier (1777-1849), who posed elegantly elegantly on a couch of this kind.
·      Meridienne – this chaise has a high head-rest, and a lower foot-rest, joined by a sloping piece. Meridienes are asymmetrical day-beds and were popular in the grand houses of France in the 19^th century. Its name is from its typical use – rest in the middle of the day when the sun is near the meridian.

I particularly like the reference to the "typical use" in the last style - I do find myself drawn to the chaise when the sun is high and I am getting sleepy - even if the style is not typical of the "meridienne", I think I will use the name to refer to mine!

I am in the midst of doing a "standard" chaise lounge in a crisp white textured fabric and looking forward to seeing it - it is going to be very plump with lots of down in the removable cushions. I love chaise lounges but have to be careful to not "over collect" since they take up a lot of my valuable storage space and are a little more difficult to ship. Here are some of my favorites from my current inventory!