Whether you’re remodeling your home or moving into a brand new place, chairs are a necessity.

But however does one choose? There are so many kinds of chairs! Keep reading for some of our best tips on how to choose chairs for your living room.

Types of Living Room Chairs:

• Armchairs: These chairs couple killer style with sweet, sweet comfort. They are designed with separate side panels that act as armrests. The Custom Levi Armchair is a great choice for maximum comfort.
• Lounge Chairs: These chairs are the perfect place to lounge and are designed with comfort and utility in mind. If you have a vision and are looking to customize a lounge chair that’s unique to you, the options are endless with Inside Weather.
• Club Chairs: These are plush, comparatively more spacious than an arm chair, and are often made with some kind of leather or leather-like material. They usually have rounded curves designed to maximize comfort levels.
• Desk Chairs: While there is an endless variety of desk chairs in the world, they are usually marked by their ergonomic swivel-type design, seat height adjustment options, and of course, wheels. 
• Egg Chair: These chairs are also made to offer both comfort and style. They usually have a smooth, curved back and winged-arm design. Some of them also have a rotating, egg-like base. 
• Rocking Chairs: These types of chairs are available in thousands of styles, distinguished by their curved rocker design. This design allows the chair to––you guessed it––rock back and forth. Perfect for rocking yourself, or someone else, to sleep. Who loves naps?
• Tulip Chair: These chairs usually complement a tulip table but can also be used on their own. Tulip chairs are marked by their sleek pedestal base and tulip-shaped back with no arms. Yes, they really do resemble a tulip!
• Windsor Chair: These chairs are often used in a dining room but also complement living room decor. They have sunken seats, a round back, and they’re usually made with a solid wood design. 
• Wingback Chairs: These chairs are comfy and chic, with taller backs that extend to the side panels. They come in all sorts of materials and designs to suit any living room.
• Wishbone Chairs: These chairs are distinguished by their hand woven seats and rounded backs, with thin and delicate, bone-like legs and arms. Their rounded backs make them more comfortable than they look!
• Womb Chairs: These chairs are like cocooning in your mama’s womb! Thus the name. They have movable cushions, indented armrests, and a rounded design, perfect for cradling you whilst reading a good book.

What to Consider When Choosing Chairs for Your Living Room

Purpose 

It is very important what purpose the chair will be used for. Yes, obviously they’re for sitting, but not all sitting is the same! For example, if you plan to use the chair for reading or to watch TV, the chair needs to be cushy and comfy. In that case, you might want to avoid chairs with straight backs, or chairs with metal frames, or chairs with no cushions.

If the goal is reading and watching TV, or enjoying a cup of coffee with a pal, the ideal chair would be a comfortable one with armrests and plush back cushions, like a lounge chair, barrel chair or a wingback chair. That way you can sit for long periods of time and enjoy yourself, sans the back aches. If you’re looking to add a chair to your bedroom, we provide plenty of inspiration for bedroom corner chair ideas.

However, if the purpose of your chair is to garner attention and perhaps draw the eye to a killer piece of art on the background wall, its color and style will matter a whole lot more than how cushy it is.

By determining how you’ll use the chair, it can help you choose the right chair that fulfills the purpose. It also helps inform your other choices, like fabric, style, comfort, and durability.

Placement 

Another thing to consider when choosing chairs for your living room is the placement and seating arrangement. Your location choices affect the style and the design of the chair you will need.

For example, if the chair will be placed near the breakfast nook or dining table as an extra seat, you probably need a chair with an upright back, and the right height that’s comparable to your other dining chairs and table. That way anyone that uses it can join the table and sit with comfort. If you’re looking to elevate your existing breakfast nook, we share how to decorate a breakfast bar.

However, if you just want to add to the seating options in your living room, you will need a chair that complements your other furniture and adds to the style and theme of your living room.

So, knowing where you want to put your new living room chair and knowing what you’ll be using it for is pretty key in choosing the right chair.

Chair Size

When you know where you are going to place your new chair, you probably already have an idea of what size your chair should be. However, even if you can afford more spacious chairs, you need to envision the chair getting along with the size and scale of the existing furniture in the room, besides fitting the room itself. 

You can use a measuring tape to measure your existing furniture, pinning down specifically the height of the back and the seat. You can use those measurements when considering what chair you want.

The rule of thumb is to maintain a breathing space of approximately 18 inches between your chair and a center table. A space of roughly two feet is also recommended by some designers, so you can comfortably walk around the chair.

Chair Material

Just as the size of your new chair depends on its placement, the material of your new chair depends on its usage––heavy vs light––and the style you want to embody with the chair.

For example, if your chair will be used often, synthetic or natural leather will be more suitable because of its durability compared to more delicate materials like silk or velvet.

Similarly, leather and certain materials like metal, wood, and plastic can be easily wiped, making them better suited for daily use, especially if they are placed near the kitchen or dining areas.

Soft materials, like buttery leather, cushy upholstery, or velvet, feel more inviting and beckoning than plastic or metal. Don’t let that deter you though, you can always spruce up a metal or plastic chair by covering it with a sheepskin or a cozy faux throw blanket. 

Home Style and Theme

The style and theme of your living room and your home overall also influences your choice of chairs for your living room. It is important to make sure that the chair you choose matches the style and tradition of your existing furniture and ambiance.

For example, if you have a formal-looking living room, an art-deco chair made with polyester fabric will look entirely out of place. If your living room is styled in an informal way that oozes warmth and relaxation, an upright desk chair will be like the ‘thing that does not belong’.

The chair you choose should also complement the color scheme of your living room. Even if you find a chair that meets your purposes and fits in the perfect space of your living room, if it is not available in a color that complements it, that’s not your chair! You wouldn’t put a brown chair in a monochrome living room.

With that said, some colors and designs can get along with nearly every palette and style. A chair with wood finishing is almost universally acceptable, except perhaps in that monochrome living room. Neutral shades can blend into almost any home design scheme.  

Figuring out how to choose chairs for your living room is both fun and frustrating. Not every chair will complement the style and theme of your living room, no matter how much you love it.

Although styles can be mixed and matched, it really boils down to should they? Some styles and colors simply don’t go together and that’s that.

However, at the end of the day, you’re the one that lives in your living room. If you adore a chair that doesn’t look like it belongs, get it anyway and embrace your shaggy chic, eclectic tastes.

At Inside Weather, we carry a wide variety of lounge chairs that are both stylish and comfortable. Shop now!