17 Great Accent Chairs
Add interest and additional seating to your living room with the purchase of one great chair.
Sometimes your are just tired of looking at the same old stuff in your house. You love your stuff and you want to keep your stuff – OK, there are a few things I would love to kick to the curb – but mostly you have carefully curated your stuff and when you are amongst your “things” you know you are home, you are surrounded by memories and you can admire your own good taste. That does not mean that your don’t periodically look at your stuff and think…time to switch it up, breath some new life into this room and make me fall in love with my living room all over again – not unlike your partner who might get a new outfit, hair cut or just a new pair of shoes that puts a new and bright spring into his or her step making you raise your eyebrows and get a few of those new-love-butterflies swooshing through you.
I realize I may get more excited about a new chair than most people but you have to believe me, a small change in any room (like a well chosen accent chair) can make you want to throw a party and invite all of your friends to witness the transformation. These days you can hit the internet and find any kind of chair your heart desires in any price range. My advice for choosing this transformative chair:
- Choose a chair that you think is fun – maybe a little quirky or vintage!
- Think of the chair as a fun pair of shoes that you are not going to wear (sit in) all of the time so… comfortable but not for watching TV. This will be an extra chair for pulling up when you have guests but its going to make you happy just looking at it – think again of the awesome pair of shoes that you are so happy to see in your closet even though you don’t wear them every day.
- The chair does not have to “match” all of the other furniture in the room – not “garanimals” furniture. It should compliment what you have but be something fun to look at by itself – it is an accessory.
- I am not talking about throw away furniture or changing your bedding for the spring (next post). This should be a piece that you will want to tuck into a room in any future house that you live in because it is just so fun to look at and it is so useful.
I have included a few examples of accent chairs that I like this week. These chairs can all be ordered online which is safe since you are not going to sit in this chair all of the time – you are just going to enjoy it because its cute and you can use it when you have guests who need to perch someplace for a chat and a glass of wine.
I also highly recommend a trip to the vintage or antique shops in your area to see if there is something that catches your eye. If you have a high end eye and don’t like to trek through the shops, 1stdibs is a great website with lots of fun ideas for vintage and antique pieces.
The above chairs in order from left to right: Verona Patchwork Leather $569 from One Kings Lane, Mid Century Patchwork Armchair $144 from Wayfair, Teddybear Armchair Patchwork $1,300 from Wayfair.
The next grouping of chairs (above) are more sort of rustic modern with a little more masculine feel. I have actually had the pleasure of sitting in all of these chairs and they are very comfy! They are in order from left to right: Sebago Chair $749 from Crate and Barrell, Professor Chair $935-1,570 from RH, Mid Century Oak and Leather $1,542 from Kathy Kuo.
These two (above) have a little more of the swanky factor. They are pricer options and also bigger in size and feel a little more serious and beautiful. You can customize each of these with any fabrics that you desire. On the left is the Ralph Lauren Wing Chair $3,600 and on the right is the Ralph Lauren Spindle Chair $5,000 as you see them – both in velvet.
This grouping shows that you can use lucite, or a bright color or an interesting shape to add interest with an accent chair. The lucite and velvet chair on the left is from Plexi Craft and can be upholstered with any fabric you choose to change up the feel of the chair – here it has a very modern, sleek look with a midnight blue velvet. The red wing chair adds color and a texture with the woven wood material. You can add more interest by switching up the cushion and adding a fun decorative pillow for comfort and style. The Red Sheridan Wing is from One Kings Lane $705 and the smaller chair on the right is a great chair – you can also change the fabric on this Bentwood Slipper Chair $300 from West Elm to another (they have several choices) and again a decorative pillow in a bright fabric might be fun.
And… I can’t leave out my favorite and one of the most versatile seating accents available these days – the pouf or the bench ottoman. You can use these fun, useful, quirky accent pieces all over your house. They can be pull-up seating, side tables for books or trays and something to prop your feet on. I love a good pouf/ottoman. I could do an entire blog post on my 100 favorite poufs and ottomans. They can be leather, wood, feed bag sacking…the list goes on. I have chosen a few of my favorite and most recently used poufs as an example. They are generally not too expensive, ship easily and are ever so handy! From left to right above: Wool Pebble Ottoman $279 from Viva Terra, Anthropologie Fur Top Footstool $348 (comes in pink, brown or white :)), Braided natural indoor outdoor pouf $238 from Dash and Albert (also comes in a bigger size), Crossbar bench ottoman from Ballard Designs $364 as shown but comes with a variety of fabric choices. You can also check out Wayfair and Overstock for another 1 million options!
This is a great example of a fun and eclectic living room. You can see a couple of great accent pieces including a crossbar bench ottoman – no fear of mixing patterns and textures in this house!
Fun cowhide ottoman is used as an accent and extra seating in this Paris apartment designed by Jay Jeffries.
So keep in mind the power of the accent chair when looking for an instantaneous lift to your living room this spring. Go a little crazy and choose something that completes your room and compliments your personal style. Happy Spring Decorating – Leave a comment if you have an accent chair to share.