A chair and a half is larger in size than a standard chair but smaller than a loveseat. It’s designed with generosity in mind, made specifically to allow ample space for you to spread out expansively and to settle in to the comfort of more-than-enough. Think of it as “the millionaire’s chair”. Though I suppose that can be a bit complicated. Ok, instead, think of it as “the manspreader’s chair”.  Strike two. Ok, rather than risk strike three let’s just say the chair and a half is the chair that defies nicknames.

And… pow – there we have it folks: think of the chair and a half as “the enigma chair”

The name itself invites trouble: “-and a half” suggests that it’s approximately one and a half times the size of a standard chair. But as we will discuss ad nauseum at length in a moment, (N x 1.5) = heckifiknow. But because we are realists and shall never let the hazily conceptual deter us from the piquant pleasures of the fluffily material, we must forge ever onward, and bravely.

The situation:

A chair and a half, with it’s wider, deeper, cozier seat, cushions, and armrests, is furniture well-suited to living rooms, bedrooms, or home theaters, where we domestic creatures are wont to enjoy the comforts of an oversized cozy chair without the bulk of a full-sized sofa or loveseat. Picture, if you will, the spot where you love most to curl up with a book, or where you enjoy waking up slowly on weekends, or where you watch TV in the evenings: you’ve pictured the exact spot where your chair and half will be most perfectly situated.

What’s your chairstyle?

The construction and adornment particulars – the covering, stitching, filling, seat depth, back support, or floor footprint, for example – are as varied as any standard chair. Generally speaking, if you can dream it, you will find a chair and a half out there to fulfill that fantasy (unless in your dream your chair and a half = 2 chairs, because that is strictly forbidden).

This lovely leather chair and a half below, I’ll have you know, I once happened to find so confidently handsome that I made it mine. I will confide in you however that I have since banished it from my bottom with extreme prejudice. That back cushion, so proud and erect here in this photo, in reality slumped flaccidly no matter how much I fluffed. And in the end, because it refused to hold me the way I wanted to be held, I made the difficult-but-ultimately-right choice for my own well-being.

But it weren’t easy gettin’ over it. It just looked so butch in all that leather, so secure, so supportive… Yes, I healed. But it took time.

Size matters: how wide is a chair and a half?

Short answer, it varies. A chair and a half is larger than a standard chair, and provides extra sit space no doubt, but just as there’s no standard width for a standard chair, that extra half is more like the suggestion of a size. Which makes chair and a half etiquette as difficult to navigate for the novice as sand burrs on a nude beach.

Chair and a half etiquette: +1 or not?

If, for example, you jealously want yours all to yourself, and find yourself wondering if you can cite an authoritative source that states in no uncertain terms, objectively and categorically for the rest of earthly time, that a chair and a half is never, ever, ever to be used by more than one human at a time, we’ll happily be that source for you.

But on the other hand, if that extra cushion space feels a bit like a desert of lost souls on an endless wintry night, and if somebody’s playing hard to get and giving you that hoary old actuarial runaround about how 1.5 ≠ 2, well then by all means we’ve got your back on this one too. Hey, if light can be both a particle and a wave, then I can swear on my mother’s favorite bible that your chair and a half is far more than just one point five chairs, and in fact may even have been put on this earth for the express purpose of squeezing four (or more) bootycheeks together between two armrests in any given instance.

Which is to say that there really just isn’t any hard rule here folks. Whether a chair and a half fits two people depends as much on  the chair as it does the conscious intent of the parties involved. So remember: chair and a half consent is sexier by half.

Which is to say (ahem) that while there’s always the possibility for more love in one chair-and-half than ever there was in a frumpy old loveseat (so 20th C!), you may be in for a surprise if you were expecting to squeeze in with that new colleague of yours from work you invited over for toast points and canapés. In the absence of hard rules, thank goodness for thumb rules.  Here’s the one I stick to when it comes to the question of whether a chair and a half is the chair to share with another derrière: a chair and half is always better for cute crudities than quaint crudités. Memorable, non?

In all seriousness, most chairs-and-a-half can fit two, but strictly in terms of creator’s intent, a chair and a half really was designed with the luxuriously expansive lounging of one in mind. But since it’s your chair in your home, then you get to decide. For you and your squeeze, a chair and a half might be just the right kind of tight. For you with anyone else, it may only cramp your style. The best way to find out is get off your derrière and go out and try one out for yourself.