Traditional chinese low seatings

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the concept of traditional low seating furniture, particularly in the context of creating low daybeds, couches, and tables for a living space. Participants explore various approaches to achieving a lower seating arrangement, considering both aesthetic and practical aspects.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant expresses a desire to lower their living space to improve flexibility due to tight leg muscles, suggesting a DIY approach to building low furniture.
  • Another participant shows interest in ancient Chinese furniture and suggests that making low furniture might be easier than finding it, though they acknowledge it may lack elegance.
  • A practical suggestion is made to modify existing furniture by shortening legs or using saws to create low seating.
  • One participant proposes using large pillows on the floor with a coffee table as an alternative to traditional seating, emphasizing comfort while sitting on the floor.
  • Another participant suggests modifying a futon for low seating, noting that homemade sofas may not provide the same comfort as traditional options.
  • A creative idea is shared about using a car seat as low seating, highlighting its comfort and potential availability from junkyards.
  • A participant expresses enthusiasm for the futon idea, mentioning the challenge of finding affordable options with wooden bases instead of metal legs.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants present various ideas and approaches to achieving low seating, with no consensus on a single method or design. Multiple competing views and suggestions remain throughout the discussion.

Contextual Notes

Participants express limitations based on budget constraints and the practicality of modifying existing furniture. There are also considerations regarding comfort and aesthetics in relation to low seating options.

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does anybody use this? I'm trying to find somewhere that can provide some images and info on low daybeds, low chairs and platforms, cause i want to build a low daybed or low couch for the livingroom, along with a low table...

i have decided to lower my space of activity towards the floor, due to my leg muscles being very tigth and unstrechable... i bycicle at least 16 kilometers a day and skate a lot... i also train tai chi, and it seems those activities are almost incompatible, no matter how much i strech my legs, they simply won't strech more easily... my tai chi instructor says this probably has to do with my elevated way of living, and if i want to become flexible, i will need to lower myself to ground level much more... changing the furniture is the best way of doing this, but i simply don't have the money to buy this kind of furniture, cause it's expensive like hell... and i like these kind of projects and working with my hands anyway...

anybody got a suggestion?
 
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Hello Sir, I am very much interested in our Ancient Chinese furnitures as well. Too bad they aren't inhereted to households of this generation.

There are a rare few selling these furnitures. But to make them is probably easier. But... probably not as elegant.

Are you talking about those furnitures Japanese now uses? Low in height, so you can sit on floor and use the table to drink some tea? Bored of modern sofa like me? :D
 
Here's the I care 2 hoots about aesthetics approach :

1. Take your existing tables and chairs,
2. Grab your favourite saw
3. Put 2 to the legs of 1 and you have your low furniture
 
PrudensOptimus said:
Are you talking about those furnitures Japanese now uses? Low in height, so you can sit on floor and use the table to drink some tea? Bored of modern sofa like me? :D

yeah... something like it... and yeah... modern furniture is a bore... i never changes.. and when it does, it's either called "retro" which is old, and even more ugly, or "futuristic" which is both impractical and so ugly that my eyes have to be surgically removed and replaced in order for me to function just fractionally normal after having seen a piece... i would rather have my bollox smashed repeatedly with a dead gopher, while my teeth is being committed to 24 hour high frequency dental surgery, than i would own a piece of modern furniture...

goku, i love your handy approach, and that was my first thought as well (which is why i love it...) ... unfortunately this is impossible with our couch. which is the most important part of the furniture... i don't use much other than the couch and the livingroom table...
 
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One easy approach is to just buy a bunch of big pillows, toss them on the floor alongside a large coffeetable, and voila, instant low seating around a table. You don't actually have to sit ON the sofa, you know? I am often far more comfortable sitting on the floor than on a sofa, just using the sofa as a backrest...probably because I'm somewhat short and I'm not comfortable with my feet just dangling.
 
i'm already looking for a good, thin mat to do that, but i still want to make a couch...
 
How about modifying a futon? Unless you really know what you're doing, a homemade "sofa" won't likely be much more comfortable than a futon (if you want to get an idea, toss your sofa cushions on the floor and sit on them for a while...they aren't very comfortable without the springs underneath if you're looking for sofa comfort). Futons are already pretty close to the ground, but you can probably shorten the legs a bit more and make what you're looking for. Maybe even find one at a garage sale. Oh, you know what else makes good low seating? A car seat...like the removable backseat in minivans...might not be all that inexpensive, but very comfortable and low to the ground (I used to have neighbors who used the backseat of their minivan as a living room sofa...apartment life...gave them a place to store the seat AND provided an inexpensive version of furnishings for the apt). You might be able to find one at a junkyard though.
 
i really like that futon idea... I've seen some with a wooden base, so that could be perfect... allthough, almost everyone I've seen had metal legs which would make it more difficult for a poor guy like myself...
 

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