The Science of Furniture

Scientists have carefully probed how furniture design influences how people think and behave:

• An article earlier in this issue discusses patterns for upholstery, etc., here.
• Wood grain is relaxing for us to view and helps us mentally refresh, so it’s a good choice for furnishings. It’s positive effects on cognitive performance make it a particularly good option for home offices.
• Glossy surfaces are preferred to matte ones.
• Curving forms, in the backs of sofas or table legs, for example, bring thoughts of comfort to mind and are more relaxing to spend time around than more rectilinear forms, which bring to mind thoughts of efficiency and encourage us to “get stuff done.”Design ramifications:  in your mud room you want people to do whatever they need to (take off and store coats and boots, for example) as quickly and effectively as possible, so square top and straight leg tables are a good choice.  In the family room where you want people to relax, tables that are round or shaped like paramecium, for instance, with gently curving legs are a better choice.
• People will talk with each other more freely if they can see each other’s faces, so just as your kindergarten teacher showed you, arranging the places where people can sit in a rough circle is likely to get conversation flowing. It is possible for people to have too much eye contact with each other, which makes them stressed, so if there is something roughly towards the middle of any grouping of chairs to which people might gracefully divert their gaze from time to time, for example, a short-ish potted plant to piece of sculpture (so that whatever it is doesn’t block people’s view of each other when they want to be visually connected).
• Conversations around round tables are indeed more egalitarian than those around rectangular ones where people sit at the short edges of tables. Conversations at square tables are much the same as those at round ones, as long as the apparent leaders of a group don’t commandeer one of the table sides for only their use.
• When there is a table between two people having a conversation, there can seem to be a more psychological distance between them, but in some cases, for example, when a difficult professional conversation (e.g., the human resource people are reprimanding someone) that can be a good thing.
• Everyone in a conversation should be sitting in chairs whose legs are roughly the same length or on cushions on the floor.When people are looking up or down at others as they talk, because some people are sitting on higher surfaces than others, the people being looked up at are seen as more “adult,” more powerful and experienced, for instance, while those being looked down on are treated as more “childlike” and less powerful/experienced.  This distorts conversations.
• When people are reclined, as they are in a lawn chair or a recliner (a cleverly named piece of furniture) they are more even-tempered even if provoked than they are otherwise—perhaps all parents of teenagers should be issued recliners.Not surprisingly, we’re also more creative when reclining; maybe that’s how we convince ourselves not to become angry, as needed.
• When people are sitting on a cushioned surface, even a slight cushion, they interact more pleasantly than when they’re sitting on harder ones, even a slight cushion, say an inch deep seems to make a difference. So, add cushions to those hard kitchen chairs if you want your family to have a nice time hanging out together as they eat.
• Women have their best conversations when they’re facing someone and men when they’re side by side, so seats in multiple configurations are best.
• People have prefer to talk with each other, and are most likely to form relationships as the result of their conversations, when they’re sitting so that the front edges of both their chairs are at a right angle to each other.
• When people are seated in a high-backed chair, one where their back is protected they feel secure and particularly comfortable when they are seated so that they have a view out over the world around them.