I’m trying to remind myself of a sort-of back-to-back chaise longue or sofa, probably from a scene on American TV or film – possibly of the mid-century or modern style – where I think two characters are having an informal business meeting. But the chaise longue itself is a single piece of furniture with two sides, such that each characters can stretch their legs while still being able to face each other for the meeting, with a short wall separating them.

That is to say, they are laying anti-parallel along the chaise longue, if that makes any sense. The picture here is the closest thing I could find on Google Images.

So my questions are: 1) what might this piece of furniture be called? A sofa, chaise longue, settee, something else? And 2) does anyone know of comparable pieces of furniture from TV or film? Additional photos might help me narrow my search, as I’m somewhat interested in trying to buy such a thing. Thanks!

EDIT 1: it looks like “tete a tete chair” is the best keyword so far for this piece of furniture

EDIT 2: the term “conversation chair” also yields a number of results, including a particular Second Empire style known as the “indiscreet”, having room for three people!

    • litchralee@sh.itjust.worksOPEnglish
      31·
      10 months ago

      “tete a tete chair” turned up a lot of very relevant pictures on Google Images. I’m poised to think you’ve comprehensively answered the main question!

      I’ll have to do more digging to see if modern versions of these chairs exist and if any were featured on TV or film, but at least I know have a workable keyword. Thanks!

    • litchralee@sh.itjust.worksOPEnglish
      12·
      10 months ago

      Funnily enough, the reason I thought to look for this double-sided sofa is because a friend joked about a two-person toilet. This isn’t what I had in mind, but it’s amazing nevertheless.

      Thank you for improving my happiness today!

  • Darkassassin07@lemmy.caEnglish
    161·
    10 months ago

    Bit of a side question:

    Other than something like a public waiting room; when/where would you want seating like this?

    • Sludgeyy@lemmy.world
      18·
      10 months ago

      Home library

      When all your walls are filled with book shelves, but you don’t want a random couch in the middle of the room.

    • Just_Pizza_Crust@lemmy.world
      122·
      10 months ago

      I feel like this is the type of item meant specifically for rich people to waste their money on. You’ll never actually use it, but it does look expensive when your house guests walk past it.

    • litchralee@sh.itjust.worksOPEnglish
      4·
      10 months ago

      I could see this used like a therapist chair, where two people will be conversing at length and would like to both be comfortable, to face each other, and don’t necessarily need a table between them. It certainly would be interesting to arrange this in a space, but the closeness does evoke a sense of privacy and coziness.

      The fanciness could make it workable in a space-constrained high-rise office, say Chicago or SF.

      • Darkassassin07@lemmy.caEnglish
        5·
        10 months ago

        Idk.

        Particularly with the rounded corners; it seems to divide/push you away from each other more than invite a conversation.

        Some of the other chair examples in the comments are a bit more close and personal.

        I just can’t really picture any of them in a home. Maybe waiting room/lobby office furniture… 🤷

  • Cort@lemmy.world
    9·
    10 months ago

    Double jumper sofa from coolsofa.com Or

    Corvi one square arm chaise lounge from Wayfair.com (may be called a tete a tete chaise)

    You might try searching for office furniture as that’s what it sounds like you’re describing. Or look into something modular like a doctor’s or dentists office would use, that way you can mix and match to create the look you’re going for

  • Siegfried@lemmy.world
    3·
    10 months ago

    I remember seing this as an antique from 2 centuries ago or so. In one side would sit the young lady of the house with some dude and in the other side the chaperone

    • DavLemmyHav@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      12·
      10 months ago

      Actually, its the correct spelling. “Longue” in french means long. Its more precisely, the feminine adjective for long. In this context, where the chair (“chaise” in french) is long, it fits the name well.

        • jak@sopuli.xyz
          4·
          10 months ago

          Not a joke.

          In English the term “chaise longue” is sometimes written as chaise lounge and pronounced /ˌtʃeɪsˈlaʊndʒ/, a folk etymology replacement of part of the original French term with the unrelated English word lounge.[2] When English speakers imported a new kind of sofa from France in the late 1700s, they transformed the name ‘chaise longue’ (“long chair”) into ‘chaise lounge’—since ‘lounge’ is an English word spelled with the same letters and lounging is something one can do on a “chaise longue.” This variant has been documented in British[3] texts since at least 1811 and in American texts[4] since 1824.[5]

          • AlpacaChariot@lemmy.worldEnglish
            2·
            10 months ago

            Huh, TIL!

            I’ve never seen/heard anyone call it a chaise lounge in the UK. Or maybe I’ve seen it written like that and just assumed it was autocorrect.

      • deegeese@sopuli.xyz
        21·
        10 months ago

        I bet you think British spellings are inherently “superiour“.

        Aluminum is the name chosen by the discoverer, by analogy from the mineral alum. Chemists choose chemical names, not English grammarians.

        • silly goose meekah@lemmy.world
          21·
          10 months ago

          Yes, that’s what the person who discovered it wanted to name it. However, anybody with common sense, back then and now, understands there is value in extending the ending to conform to the pattern of "-ium"s, like sodium, potassium, lithium, etc. All metals discovered since 1811 have that ending.