Chair cushions are a temporary way of adding upholstery to a chair. They are usually used in more informal settings such as a breakfast nook or outdoors. You would rarely find chair cushions in a dining room. There are several reasons why a homeowner might want to use chair cushions rather than get permanent upholstery including the fact that they are sometimes more comfortable, you can wash the cushion covers or replace the stuffing if need be quite easily, and you can change up your decorating style for far less money and in a fraction of the time it would take to change upholstery.
When a chair is upholstered there is usually a certain amount of padding that is added between the chair seat and the upholstery fabric, but not a lot. In order for the upholstery to look good, you cannot fill it up with too much padding. Therefore, sometimes cushions are a more comfortable option because they are thicker and more comfortable to sit on. In addition, cushions can cover the entire surface area of the chair seat, while upholstery usually only covers up to the edge where the chair's material of construction is still visible.
Chair cushions are also better than permanent upholstery because they are much easier to clean and refurbish than upholstery. Most chair cushions these days come with a cushion cover that is removable. The cushion covers are usually made of a fabric that is washable so that you can get stains and odors out of the fabric. In order to clean upholstered chairs, you need to rent or purchase a carpet cleaner or steam cleaner to get the job done. But what if something gets through the cover fabric and into the stuffing? If you have upholstered chairs, you would have to remove the upholstered fabric and then reupholster the chair which would take more time or money than most are willing to spend. However, seat cushions can be repaired quite easily by replacing the stuffing when you have the covers off for washing.
Many homeowners struggle with the concept of decorating their kitchens because most of the items in the kitchen are utilitarian in nature and there are not many opportunities for decorating. The chair cushions or bench cushions in the breakfast nook are a great decorating opportunity because you can introduce a wide variety of colors, patterns, and textures. But not every homeowner wants to keep the same look all year round. If your breakfast nook chairs or benches are permanently upholstered, you are stuck with that one look all of the time. However, chair cushions offer a great opportunity to mix things up. You can change the cushions each season or even for the holidays. Some homeowners might say that they do not want to have to store several sets of cushions in their closets or breakfast nooks with storage, but that is the beauty of cushion covers. You can have one set of cushions with several sets of cushion covers so that you can vary your decorative touches.
