Versatile seat skirt

A seat assembly to permit the look of a seat to be easily changed includes a seat body including sides, upholstery covering at least a portion of the seat body, a strip of a hook-type hook-and-loop fastener secured to and extending circumferentially around the sides of the seat body, a ribbon of upholstery backed to a strip of loop-type hook-and-loop fastener, and a removable skirt element including a band of a width wider than the ribbon, the band having one side backed to a strip of loop-type hook-and-loop fastener. Loose pillows on the seat body have a covering on one side of a formal look and a covering on a reverse side of a casual look, whereby the ribbon of upholstery or the band of upholstery may be selectively mounted to the seat body by joining the hook-and-loop type fasteners to permit the look of the seat to be easily changed from a skirtless to a skirted look and the pillows may be displayed as desired to complement the skirted or skirtless look.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to improvements in the design of upholstered 
furniture, to provide the manufacturer, retailer or consumer with the 
ability to easily vary the look of an upholstered seat as desired, at very 
low expense. Upholstered seats such as sofas, loveseats, and chairs, and 
also conversation pit or sectional seat modules are very well known in the 
furniture industry. It is well known to make these units in a variety of 
frame styles, and also to provide many possibilities of upholstery, 
including many grades and designs of cloth, and leather, vinyl or other 
materials. In most cases, the look of the furniture is established when 
the piece is made, with the upholstery made up to cover the frame in a 
substantially permanent fashion. Although re-upholstering of frames is 
known, such reupholstering is usually a major undertaking requiring hours 
of a skilled craftsperson's time. 
Thus, it is usually beyond the ability of consumers to make changes of this 
type on their own. That is not to say that changes may not be desirable to 
the consumer. Many consumers encounter the situation that the same piece 
of furniture will be present in a room set for a casual get-together, and 
also for more formal occasions. Conventional upholstered furniture forces 
the consumer to accept compromises--a formally upholstered piece will 
always be formal, and a casual look will always be casual. Consumers would 
benefit from improvements to upholstered furniture to permit quick, easy, 
inexpensive changes of the look of an upholstered seat, to allow the seat 
to be customized for the occasion. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention fulfills this need in the art by providing a seat 
assembly to permit the look of a seat to be easily changed. A seat body 
including a base and sides, and upholstery covers at least a portion of 
the seat body. A strip of a first hook-and-loop fastener type is secured 
to and extends laterally around at least two sides of the seat body. A 
ribbon of upholstery is backed to a strip of a second hook-and-loop 
fastener type, so that the ribbon of upholstery may be selectively mounted 
to the seat body by joining the hook-and-loop type fasteners to provide a 
skirtless look or removed from the seat body to permit the look of the 
seat to be easily changed. 
In a preferred embodiment, the apparatus further includes a removable skirt 
element including a band of a width wider than the ribbon, the band having 
one side backed to a strip of the second hook-and-loop fastener type, so 
that the band of upholstery may be selectively mounted to the seat body by 
joining the hook-and-loop type fasteners to give the seat a skirted look 
or removed, as desired. Typically, the band will have a width and the 
second type of hook-and-loop fastener is located on the band so that when 
the second type of hook-and-loop fastener is affixed to the first type of 
hook-and-loop fastener on the seat body, the band substantially entirely 
hides the base, which often includes the furniture piece's feet or legs. 
Preferably, the first hook and loop fastener type is hook type. 
In a particularly preferred embodiment, the seat assembly includes loose 
pillows on the seat body, the loose pillows having a covering on one side 
of a formal look and a covering on a reverse side of a casual look, so 
that the pillows may be displayed as desired to complement the look 
achieved by mounting the ribbon or the skirt. 
The band may have pleats and/or ruffles to give a look of a pleated and/or 
ruffled skirt. 
The upholstery covering the seat body and the ribbon of upholstery may or 
may not be of the same surface appearance. 
Preferably, the strip of first hook-and-loop fastener type extends all the 
way around the seat body. 
The invention also provides a method of changing the look of a seat having 
a seat body and upholstered sides. The method includes the steps of 
affixing a ribbon of upholstery backed to a strip of a hook-and-loop 
fastener type to a strip of a hook-and-loop fastener type secured to and 
extending laterally around at least two sides of the seat body to provide 
a skirtless look, removing the ribbon, and affixing a band of upholstery 
backed to a strip of a hook-and-loop fastener type to the strip of 
hook-and-loop fastener secured to the seat body to provide a skirted look. 
In another embodiment the method includes affixing a band of upholstery 
backed to a strip of a hook-and-loop fastener type to a strip of a 
hook-and-loop fastener type secured to and extending laterally around at 
least two sides of the seat body to provide a skirted look, removing the 
band, and affixing a ribbon of upholstery backed to a strip of a 
hook-and-loop fastener type to the strip of hook-and-loop fastener secured 
to the seat body to provide a skirtless look. 
The method may include reversing loose pillows on the seat body to show a 
covering on one side of a formal look and a covering on a reverse side of 
a casual look, thereby displaying the pillows as desired to complement the 
skirted or skirtless look achieved by mounting the ribbon or band.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
FIGS. 1 and 2 show an embodiment of the invention in the process of being 
changed from a casual, skirtless look to a more formal, skirted look. The 
more formal look is shown in FIG. 1. The seat 10 includes a seat frame of 
any design, such as a conventional designs or further designs that are 
come up with in the future. The frame can be for a single chair loveseat 
sofa, a sectional seat module, a chaise lounge, an ottoman, motion sofas, 
chairs, sectionals, and dining chairs or any other desired upholstered 
piece. The important aspect is that the upholstered piece is to rest on a 
floor and thereby is amenable to changes from a skirted to a skirtless 
look. The seat body 14 includes a front side 16 and a right side 18 as 
well as left side and rear sides, not shown. Desirably, the seat frame 12 
is covered with upholstery 20, although the seat need not be entirely 
covered with upholstery, since some ornamental designs will have wood or 
other materials of the seat showing. "Upholstery" should be construed in 
this application to be given a broad scope including virtually any 
flexible material used to cover seats, including fabrics, leather, vinyl, 
Naugahyde, or any other seat covering. 
Extending around the sides 16,18 of the seat body 14 is a strip of 
hook-type hook-and-loop material 24. The seat body 14 is supported by 
feet/legs 22. 
As seen in FIG. 1, the seat 10 is given a skirted look by the application 
of a skirt element 40. The skirt element 40 includes a band 42 of 
upholstery, usually, although not always, of the same type as the 
upholstery 20. The band 42 has a width comparable to the height of the top 
of the strip 24 off of the floor. If desired, the band can have ruffles or 
pleats, as shown. The top edge of the skirt element 40 has a rear face to 
which is attached a strip of loop-type hook-and-loop fastener 44. It is 
preferred to put the loop-type material on the skirt element 40 and the 
hook-type on the seat, because the loop-type material is more flexible. 
This will allow the skirt to more closely conform to the shape dictated by 
the seat when the skirt is applied. The hook-and-loop fasteners 24,44 are 
well-known as being adaptable to make and break engagement between 
themselves, so that the skirt element 40 can be mounted to the seat body 
or removed, using the hook-and-loop fasteners. 
The formal look of the seat 10 of FIG. 1 is further enhanced by the 
presence of loose pillows 30 having a formal cover 32. The formal cover 32 
can be any desired pattern complementing the formal look of the skirt. 
Referring now to FIG. 2, the more casual look of the seat 10 can be seen. 
In this embodiment, the skirt element 40 is removed from the seat entirely 
and stored away. In its place is mounted a ribbon 50 of upholstery, 
typically matching the upholstery 20. However, it could be a complementing 
or contrasting color, pattern or material, if desired. The ribbon 50 is 
backed by a strip 52 of loop-type hook-and-loop material, like the 
loop-type 44 on the back of the skirt element 40. Thus, the ribbon 50 can 
be secured in place or not, as desired, by affixing the strip of loop-type 
material 52 to the strip of hook-type material 24. The ribbon gives the 
look of a welting, usually a less formal look. 
The casual look achieved in FIG. 2 is further enhanced by the presence of 
pillows having casual-look covers 34. The change in the covers from formal 
covers 32 to casual covers 34 can be accomplished in a number of ways. The 
pillows may be backed on one side with one pattern, and on the other side 
with an alternate pattern, so that merely reversing the position of the 
pillow changes the look. Alternately, the pillows 30 can be provided with 
slipcovers to allow the look to be changed by adding or removing a 
slipcover or, simply, a different set of pillows can be put on the seat 
10. 
Thus, the look of the seat can be changed from the formal look of FIG. 1 to 
the casual look of FIG. 2 quite rapidly and easily. The skirt element 40 
may be removed by simply tugging on one end of the skirt element 40 and 
separating the fastener 44 from the strip 24 around the seat 10. Then, the 
ribbon 50 can be put in its place by pressing the loop-type backing strip 
52 into place around the edge of the seat. In addition, the pillows can be 
changed in any of the ways mentioned above to achieve the more casual 
look. 
When it is desired to return to a more formal look, the ribbon 50 can be 
pulled off and replaced with the skirt element 40, and the casual-look 
covers 34 of the pillows can be changed back to the formal covers 32. 
This flexibility can be taken advantage of by a manufacturer, by a 
retailer, or by the consumer, depending on how the manufacturer and 
retailer choose to implement the invention. That is, the manufacturer can 
keep the seat 10 in stock and, in response to an order for more formal 
design, apply the skirt element 40 and the formal covers 32 on pillows 30 
and ship the seat. If the order is for a more casual look, the ribbon 50 
can be installed along with the casual-look covers 54. 
Alternately, the manufacturer can assemble the seat and provide to its 
customer, the retailer, the skirt element 40 and the ribbon 50 to be put 
in place as desired by a consumer. 
Most advantageously, however, the seat 10 can be sold to a consumer by 
providing the consumer with both the skirt element 40 and the ribbon 50 as 
well as, optionally, the choices of pillows 30. This gives the consumer 
the option of changing back and forth from the casual to the formal look 
as often as desired. 
Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the invention can 
be carried out and various modifications to the specifics spelled out 
herein, and those modifications are deemed to be within the scope of the 
invention.