Abstract:
A modular portable home staging sofa, that when assembled resembles a wood-framed sofa. The staging sofa comprising a base, a seat piece and a back. The seat piece comprising two similarly-sized and similarly-shaped seat cushions, two similarly-sized and similarly-shaped arm cushions, a back deck and a skirt, all sewn together. The skirt extend to a length sufficient to cover the base. The back comprises two trapezoid-shaped back cushions that are placed atop the seat piece.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates generally to a collapsible seating device and more specifically to a lightweight sofa used in empty spaces in houses on the real estate market. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Real estate agents know that an empty house does not sell as quickly as a house that has an attractive, furnished interior. Spatial relations theorists accept as fact that vacant rooms appear smaller than furnished rooms. Home staging is an activity that takes place in homes being prepared to be marketed for sale. In the case of homes that are devoid of furniture or are lacking key furniture pieces, home stagers are tasked to add furniture pieces buyers would expect to see in rooms designed for specific purposes. In the case of living rooms, potential buyers expect to see a sofa and other seating pieces. Indeed, seeing these pieces helps potential buyers understand multiple concepts related to the particular home they are assessing; a) how would they arrange furniture if they were to purchase this home? b) what is the relative size of this room, and c) is this an attractive and appealing room? 
         [0003]    Home staging is geared toward average taste. General purpose pieces with neutral tones that are not too modem, and not too antique set a balance to reach a cross-section of the population. Studies show that even a small amount of staging adds thousands of dollars to the purchase price of the property. Home stagers recommend accenting a at least a few key rooms—the kitchen, master bedroom, the living room and bathroom. 
         [0004]    A problem exists for larger pieces of furniture, such as sofas. Home stages move furniture from house to house to create an inviting ambiance in a vacant house. Sofas are typically heavy and costly to transport between houses, so the best staging sofas are lightweight and easy to transport. The primary purpose of the sofa in staging is visual—rather than comfortable and durable under sustained weight bearing as in the case of typical sofas. Instead of transporting a bulky, heavy sofa, home staging professionals have attempted to create lightweight and easily transportable alternatives—such as covering cardboard boxes with attractive throws and placing pillows to resemble a sofa, or even a cardboard sofa, which is typically covered with a slipcover. However, covered boxes are limited to placement against a wall to avoid tipping or to keep the cushions in place and cardboard couches are expensive, look fake, are not durable, and if a potential buyer sits on it, it might collapse under the weight. 
         [0005]    A need exists for a lightweight, durable and realistic-looking staging sofa. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    The present invention is a modular portable home staging furniture piece resembling a wood-framed sofa comprising a base, a seat piece and a back. 
         [0007]    In an embodiment, the base comprises six generally square similarly-sized storage containers arranged next to each other in two row of three. In an embodiment, the base is six square 20-gallon plastic storage containers. 
         [0008]    The seat piece comprises two similarly sized and similarly shaped seat cushions, two similarly sized and similarly shaped arm cushions, a back deck and a skirt, all sewn together. A first end of a first seat cushion abuts a first perpendicularly situated arm cushion near a bottom of the first arm cushion. A first end of a second seat cushion abuts a second perpendicularly situated arm cushion near a bottom of the second arm cushion. Each end of the seat cushion opposite of the first end of the seat cushion is arranged next to each other in a linear relationship. The seat and arm cushions are generally rectangular in shape. The fronts of each arm cushion and each seat cushion are all generally aligned in the same plane. A length of each arm cushion is greater than a depth of each seat cushion such that the back deck forms a surface that connects the portion of each arm cushion that extends beyond the depth of the seat cushions. The skirt is a rectangular piece attached to each other at each long end and attached by a top end to a bottom side of the assembled arm cushions, seat cushions and back deck. The bottom end of the skirt may be hemmed but is not attached and extends to a length sufficient to cover the base. The skirt may be darted or gathered to provide a flare in the skirt and ample area to cover the base. 
         [0009]    In an embodiment, the back comprises two back cushions. Each back cushion comprises a trapezoid-shaped cube having a flat side. The flat side is approximately one-half the length of the height of the back cushion. The flat sides of each back cushion, when place next to each other in a linear fashion on the seat piece, are shaped to fit within the space formed by the arm cushions and the back deck. 
         [0010]    When the base, seat piece and back are assembled, the image of a traditional sofa is created. With the sofa device of the present invention, a user has the ability to furnish a vacant living room quickly and without the assistance of another person. 
         [0011]    As used herein, “approximately” means within plus or minus 25% of the term it qualifies. The term “about” means between ½ and 2 times the term it qualifies. 
         [0012]    The compositions and methods of the present invention can comprise, consist of, or consist essentially of the essential elements and limitations of the invention described herein, as well as any additional or optional ingredients, components, or limitations described herein or otherwise useful in compositions and methods of the general type as described herein. 
         [0013]    Numerical ranges as used herein are intended to include every number and subset of numbers contained within that range, whether specifically disclosed or not. Further, these numerical ranges should be construed as providing support for a claim directed to any number or subset of numbers in that range or to be limited to the exact conversion to a different measuring system, such, but not limited to, as between inches and millimeters. 
         [0014]    All references to singular characteristics or limitations of the present invention shall include the corresponding plural characteristic or limitation, and vice versa, unless otherwise specified or clearly implied to the contrary by the context in which the reference is made. Terms such as “top,” “bottom,” “right,” “left,” “above”, “under”, “side” and “front” and the like, are words of convenience and are not to be construed as limiting. “Back” is used as “in the back of a seating piece.” 
         [0015]    All combinations of method or process steps as used herein can be performed in any order, unless otherwise specified or clearly implied to the contrary by the context in which the referenced combination is made. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0016]      FIG. 1  is a frontal view of an embodiment of the invention shown assembled. 
           [0017]      FIGS. 2 and 3  are a frontal and side view of the back of an embodiment. 
           [0018]      FIG. 4  is a top view of an embodiment of the invention shown assembled. 
           [0019]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a seating piece of an embodiment of the invention. 
           [0020]      FIG. 6  shows an embodiment of the base of the invention. 
           [0021]      FIG. 7  depicts a seating piece being placed on a base. 
           [0022]      FIG. 8  shows an assembled base and seating piece. 
           [0023]      FIG. 9  shows the back cushions being arranged on an assembled base and seating piece. 
           [0024]      FIG. 10  is a frontal view of an embodiment of the invention shown assembled. 
           [0025]      FIG. 11  is a frontal view of an embodiment of the invention shown assembled with additional items added to the sofa. 
           [0026]      FIG. 12  is a frontal view of an embodiment of the invention shown assembled. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0027]    Reference will now be made in detail to the exemplary embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the staging sofa is comprised of individual parts that, when assembled, resemble a traditional sofa. The staging sofa comprises a seat piece  10  (best seen in  FIG. 5 ), a base  20  (an embodiment is show in  FIG. 6 ), and at least one back  30 . The staging sofa of the present invention can be easily disassembled and reassembled for moving, shipping and storing. 
         [0028]    The parts of the staging sofa are covered with a cover. The cover for the cushions of the sofa envelop a form. In an embodiment, the cover is a fabric. In an embodiment, the cover is selected from any material that is easy to clean and relatively durable, yet lightweight and typically used to cover a sofa, such as, but not limited to, cottons, polyester fabrics, vinyls, leathers, furs and the like. In an embodiment, the cover is removeably detachable from the underlying form via a removable securing mechanism, such as a zipper, buttons, snaps, a hook and loop connector (such as a VELCRO product), and the like. In an embodiment, a cover of one of the parts can be selectively removed and cleaned or replaced with a different color, pattern, etc. 
         [0029]    To form the seat piece, separate seat cushions  40  and arm cushions  50  are sewn as typically seen in sofa construction and stuffed with, or used to cover, solid or shredded foam (polyurethane or similar type product). The seat cushions are attached to a deck  60  (the area under attached seat cushions) by stitching, or any other attachable means, such as hooks, buttons, snaps, hook and loop connectors (such as a VELCRO™ product), and the like. A back deck  70  (see  FIG. 7 , area where portions of separate back cushions are placed) is then stitched into place behind the seat cushions. Arm cushions  50  are sewn onto each end of the combined deck and back deck (fabric underlaying full horizontal area), and a skirt  80  is sewn onto the entire piece. In an embodiment, the seat piece (and any other component) is an inflatable/deflatable piece with an exterior that is shaped to resemble a seat of a sofa with arms and hold air. The inflatable version may be one inflatable piece or include air cells with or without foam pieces and coverings. 
         [0030]    The seat piece can be of any length and have one or multiple cushions. In an embodiment, the seat piece has two cushions. The seat piece is arranged atop a base  20  that is approximately the same shape as the seat piece and of sufficient height to allow comfortable seating for an adult, although, one skilled in the art would understand the device could be sized for children as well. 
         [0031]    The staging sofa further comprises a back  30 . In an embodiment, the back comprises a separate wedge-shaped, fitted, fabric-covered foam back cushion  90 , which, when placed atop the sofa seat piece, forms the back of the staging sofa. In an embodiment, the back comprises two back cushions. The depth of the back in relation to the seat piece is approximately 1:3. The back cushions are wedge-shaped to provide stability in case someone viewing the sofa would sit on it. The ratio of the base of the back cushion to the height of the back cushion is approximately 1:2 to 1:3. 
         [0032]    The base is any structure that is easily portable and collapsible to save on storage space. In an embodiment, the base comprises an upright, plastic storage container. In an embodiment, the base is six square (although round may be used) lidless storage containers arranged next to each other in two rows. The skirt is of sufficient length to cover the base. In a preferred embodiment, no cap or cover is used over the containers, however a generally planar cover (board) may be optionally added for additional strength and rigidity. 
         [0033]    As depicted in  FIGS. 6-11 , to assemble the sofa, the base is placed at the desired location ( FIG. 6 ). The seat piece is arranged over the base ( FIGS. 7 and 8 ). The back is arranged on top of the rear of the deck ( FIGS. 9 and 10 ). Accent throws and pillows can also be arranged on the sofa as might appear in a home. In use, the invention appears no different than a traditionally constructed wood-frame sofa. 
         [0034]    The foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments and examples of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings. It will be understood that the invention is intended to cover alternatives, modifications and equivalents. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.