What is a Bean Bag Chair?

This is a living room with a large blue bean bag chair by the world map décor.

Bean bag chairs are becoming increasingly popular in modern society. They’re starting to be recognized as a viable alternative to traditional furniture. It’s no surprise that everyone is clamoring for bean bags. But what is the bean bag’s chair?

The Sacco chair, often known as a bean bag chair, was designed by Piero Gatti, Cesare Paolini, and Franco Teodoro in 1969. It is a large fabric bag filled with polystyrene beads. Because the user shapes the form of the bean bag chair, the product is an example of an anatomic chair.

Since the 1970s, bean bags have been popular and have a remarkable history. They’re a popular informal seating choice that’s less expensive and more versatile than a sofa or couch. Bean bags as a chair has both pros and cons like anything else in life with a choice.

With that said, they aren’t always the best option for seating, either. As a result, it’s critical to understand the benefits and drawbacks of bean bags.

Contents show

Pros of Getting a Bean Bag Chair

Bean bags are sealed bags that hold dried beans, pellets, or expanded polystyrene. However, for those of us who possess them, they are so much more. Even if you’re holding your laptop and replying to emails from your boss, bean bags have an inexplicable feeling of joy about them and quickly put you in the party spirit.

Let’s start with some of the reasons why so many people enjoy bean bags. Bean bags provide a lot of benefits, and these are some of them:

Excellent for Posture

A family lounging on separate colorful bean bag chairs.

To sit in a regular chair, you must assume a specific stance. Regular chairs are primarily stiff, with a setback and seat that gives you minimal movement. Bean bags, on the other hand, don’t constrain your body positioning in any way.

You can either sit up or lean back, depending on your preference. You can lie on it with your head over one edge and your knees and feet over the other if you’re feeling daring. There are no guidelines to follow.

It is fantastic news for Americans who suffer from persistent back pain. You have complete freedom to change your seating posture. Change your position if you feel a twinge in your lumbar spine, and the tiny beads in the bag will adjust to the changing pressure pattern.

Budget-Friendly

While some designer bean bags are more expensive, they are among the most cost–effective sitting alternatives available. There’s a reason behind that. The cost-effectiveness of the combination of a bare shell and filling is inherent.

It’s merely a matter of filling the casing with cheap materials and zipping it up once suppliers get the casing perfect. There is no lathing, processing, or delicate upholstery work involved in traditional furniture production.

The production technique is more similar to filling a zippered sweatshirt with empty loose-fill chips than meticulously handcrafting a seat from the ground up.

Cleans Easily

This is a corner of the house with a white bean bag chair and a white side table.

Bean bags with detachable covering may easily be unzipped and washed (or cleaned by hand if preferred). It makes them far more helpful than upholstery that can only be cleaned on the spot.

If you have minor children prone to spilling beverages and food, bean bags are a better sitting alternative. If you have pets who shed a lot of hair or have a terrible tendency to use your furniture as a toilet, this is a good option.

There’s no need to spend hours rubbing stain solution on stains and spills; remove the covers and wash them.

Bean bags with non-removable coverings can also be washed and dried in the sun. They’ll dry rapidly and won’t attract mold like typical upholstery since the stuffing repels water.

Easily Portable, Lightweight, And Compact

The mobility of beanbag seats is one of its most enticing features. Because they can be moved about to create different sitting arrangements or take advantage of the sun or shade, they are a popular choice for outdoor seating.

They’re a fantastic alternative for extra seating when you have visitors since you can store them and bring them out anytime you need a few more seats. Bean bags are easy for even youngsters to move and won’t damage your carpet because they’re light and soft.

Cons of Getting a Bean Bag Chair

If the benefits of bean bags have already convinced you, it’s worth thinking about the drawbacks as well. Bean bags aren’t appropriate for everyone or in every circumstance. So, now that we’ve gone through the benefits, what are the downsides of bean bags? Why do they fall short of being ideal?

Durability Is Not As Good As Other Furniture

This is a woman lounging at an open wooden balcony with bean bag chairs.

You want your bean bags to last as long as the rest of your furnishings. Unfortunately, some bean bags are prone to tearing, allowing their contents to spill all over the floor.

The upside is that you don’t necessarily have to replace the item on its whole. Often, fixing the rip by stitching it back together and replacing the bag with whatever came out would be enough to do the trick.

You may get your bean bag restuffed if you’ve lost a lot of the inner filling (or it’s just time to replace it anyway).

Unable To Be Disposed Of Easily

Small inflated polystyrene balls are used to fill most bean bags (EPS). When it’s time to get rid of these beads, do it properly to don’t harm the environment or wildlife.

Beanbag filling made of EPS is not biodegradable. However, it is recyclable, and depending on where you live, you may be allowed to put it out on the curb for collection or take it to a recycling facility.

Inhaling or swallowing EPS balls might be dangerous. If you’re going to use beanbags around kids, the covers must be tight and robust enough to prevent them from being opened.

If you’re worried about the environment, you may use buckwheat instead of rice as a filler. It won’t be as light or comfy as regular filling, but it’s a beautiful alternative if you want to be completely green.

For Babies, It Could Be Dangerous

This is a kid lounging on an orange bean bag chair at the grass lawn.

Bean bags may appear to be the ideal place for newborns to nap, but they might be a safety issue. Bean bags may suffocate people because of how they bend under pressure.

Babies can become imprisoned in the bag’s curves, unable to move or turn their heads to allow them to breathe. Medical specialists advise that young children sleep on a solid surface at all times. If you have a bean bag in your home, keep it out of reach of small children.

History Of The Bean Bag Chair

The Sacco was the world’s first bean bag chair. Cesare Paolini, Piero Gatti, and Franco Teodoro created the piece, which was released in 1969.

The team was tasked with creating an aesthetically pleasing, comfortable, and distinctive chair. It was afterward regarded as a critical component of the Italian modernist art movement.

After World War II, new technology and materials became available, which became the hallmark of Italian modernism. Developing these items necessitated innovative thinking, and designers’ participation was critical.

Paolini, Gatti, and Teodoro designed the Sacco to be a shapeless chair. And the Sacco’s designers intended it to be undeniably Italian. On the other hand, the chair’s intended market identified with the hippie culture that began in the United States and extended to Europe.

As a result, bean bag chairs are a fantastic fit for their culture.

Conclusion

Bean bag chairs are an excellent addition to any home. They’re ideal for pregnant ladies, perform well as pool accessories, and are the ideal treatment for backaches caused by poor posture. While they do have certain flaws, they are manageable.

Often, it’s only a question of strategically placing your bean bag and integrating it with standard sitting alternatives.