What is it about ottomans?

In My Humble Opinion
1

While lolling around on my stepmom’s porch over the Xmas holiday, sipping my hot chocolate laced with amaretto, my mind wandered to…ottomans.

She has nice cushy chairs on the porch, with little plastic stepstools to prop your feet on. It got me wondering…why is it people find it more comfortable to put their feet up on an ottoman then flat on the floor? I’m thinking about purchasing a little cheap ottoman for work to prop under my desk to put my feet on.

So…do you like propping your feet up on an ottoman? What makes it more comfortable?

2

You know for a minute there, I thought you were talking about those people who ruled that empire way back when.
Look at the egg on my face :slight_smile:

3

Well, I get fairly restless and like to shift positions, so I tend to shift from feet up to feet down. But they can be nice.

4

Well, I don’t usually sit with my feet propped up, but I’m keeping my ottoman in the collection of things to write a palindrome about.

Do you think I could have a glass of your Amaretto for my collection? Then I would have:

Red iced desserts an’ a ottoman,
an amaretto an’ a otter,
a man an’ a motto an’ a stressed decider.

5

heresiarch just broke my brain.

6

Ivylass hands Meatros a washcloth to wipe off his/her face.

Heresiarch…Huh?

7

ivylass Andy Rooney once said that the desire to put one’s feet up is probably a self-preservation thing. When the feet are elevated, the heart doesn’t have to work as hard to pump the blood, therefore, even without thinking about it, it’s good for us.

Don’t know if it’s true or not, but it sounds logical.

8

Ivylass, a palindrome is a word or phrase (or sentence or story) that reads the same backwards and forwards. Ex: “A man, a plan, a canal - Panama!”

I’m guessing you knew that but just didn’t recognize the palindrome in my post. Maybe because it isn’t a very good one.

9

Whoosh, heresiarch…I know what a palindrome is, I’m just used to seeing shorter ones, like racecar or Madam, I’m Adam.

10

So are you like, some kind of savant or something?

Notice I didn’t say idiot savant. :wink:

11

That’s directed at heresiarch if it wasn’t clear.

12

Propping your feet up allows your body to slouch down into a more comforatble position, rather than a more formal upright one. You’re sort of half lying down. It’s almost a sub-concious invitation to relax.

13

I’m short, and often I can’t put my feet comfortably on the ground. So, I guess that’s another reason.

14

I am more comfortable with my knees higher than my hips – no idea why. I, like Blue Curls, am also short, so a footstool/ottoman is very handy. :slight_smile:

15

I think it has to do with the word “ottoman.” Who wouldn’t want several of something called an ottoman around the house?

16

Who me? No way.

I think I’d been looking at palindromes earlier and must’ve had them on my brain because the otto in ottoman caught my eye. Then I notice that amaretto spelled backwards contained the word otter…

Thanks for that! :wink: But I’m much more prone to moments of idiocy than of… uh… savant-ness.

[sub]Now I’ll try to make up for my terrible hijacking and address the OP.[/sub]

I think Lissa is right. The muscles in our lower back are contracted most of the time - whether we’re standing or sitting upright. But if you prop up your feet I think it lets your lower spine curve and gives those muscles a break.

17

I think most people have ottomans because it comes with the armchair.

18

I need an ottoman for my cat. At the moment they slide off my lap when I sit at the computer. So I need to raise my feet up about 6" so my lap will be level and my cat-slide coefficient will approximate 1.