Why does furniture have legs

When I first heard this, I wanted to go check into one of those hospitals that keep you from hurting yourself. Just when I thought decorating was doable, the game changed — again. I was just getting the hang of color, texture and scale, and now I had legs to worry about. Times like this you just wish someone would throw you a life raft. I made mental design note No. This notion came back with searing clarity as I stood in my office gazing at a just-purchased chair realizing I had made the dreaded leg mistake.

After months of looking for the perfect chair to replace the dead chair in my office, I finally found it. It was a steal. So I considered the chair carefully. The color was right, a sage chenille with a thin black stripe, dark mahogany wood. The style was right, classic, not too formal, not too bohemian. It sat well, seemed the right scale, and the price! At the right moment, I can also lift a sofa over my head with one hand. I heaved the chair into my SUV, then into the house and into my office after heaving the old chair out.

I stood back to admire my acquisition, then winced. My desk is a French writing desk, with a medium brown curved carved leg. If the legs ended abruptly at the bottom rail and did not extend past it, then non load bearing components would be in contact with the floor. This would both weaken the cabinet and interfere with its operation. In other words, if you chest of drawers had no feet, then the support for the bottom drawer would be directly on the floor.

Since it is not meant to be load bearing, the support will flex and bind the drawer which will make it difficult to open and close. Even if this was not the case, when the drawer is opened, then the bottom of it will be resting directly on the floor.

That is something that is not desirable. The longer legs allows it to evenly distribute the weight of the piece and its contents. Other design elements then would not have to then bear the brunt of the weight. Having legs also has the added benefits of being able to set it on a floor that isn't perfectly level without rocking or being unstable. Going back to ancient times before wall-to-wall carpeting, it also allows you to sweep under them. Floors in these homes were also fairly damp and the piece would become waterlogged, moldy, and eventually rot.

The piece on the bottom that you mentioned in the question is sometimes called an apron. It is there for aesthetic purposes only. If you look closely, you will see that there is a small gap between the apron and the floor and the actual weight is actually supported by the legs.

Since this is purely aesthetic, there is no need to install one behind the cabinet where nobody can see it. Blindly following what went before. Because people buying furniture don't think a box right on the floor is "furniture". Ratchet Freak is quite right as well I suppose at some point in the past it kept them off the mud and dank of the dirt or stone floor, and thus had a functional purpose, largely long-lost. I rather like the Shaker solution of putting beds on wheels so you can sweep under them, but that does not tend to be the "Shaker furniture" people want to buy.

I also like their extensive built-ins so you'd just have drawers in a wall, rather than a chest of drawers. Also provides great mouse habitat, so it may be that we were programmed to like furniture that way by hyperintelligent pan-dimensional beings who's protrusion into our dimension looks like white mice R. Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group.

Create a free Team What is Teams? Fishing Oregon Salmon Memories! Melissa, Nice room and nice tips! Seeking The Gift Of Life! This is so timely. You confirmed my thoughts. Thank you so much! I will be looking at my rooms a little different from now on. Have a great day. Thanks for the tip. You know, I just discovered this quite by accident. I knew my LR looked too bulky and I noticed that the couches and chair all had boxy bottoms and the tables were big and boxy too — no legs.

When we get new furniture, we are going for a little leg. Then I just switched around 2 bedrooms upstairs and noticed how much I liked the look of it through the doorway into the bedroom because I can see straight through the legs of the bedside table now.

It looks more spacious. When I came across this post tonight, you just confirmed what I had been putting together in my head this week. I am in the process of having a sofa and loveseat redone and am considered turned legs. I have end tables between each with legs and a coffee table with legs in front of the sofa.

There are two chairs skirted in the room as well as a chest no legs and a lg. What would you recommend, legs or no legs?? Many thnxs!! Your email address will not be published. Submit Comment. Angie on June 21, at am. Dawn-Hydrangea Home on June 21, at am. Alison Gibbs on June 21, at am. Gayle on June 21, at am. Never ever thought of this. But it is so true. Franki Parde on June 21, at am. It DOES make a difference! Vee on June 21, at am.

Melanie on June 21, at am. I have never thought about that before.