Which Armchair Are You? 5 Ways of Sitting and the Chair Made for Each

Updated 30 October 2026 · By the 10Grains team

Above: five chairs, five ways of sitting. Our paper-cutout friend tried every one.

Everyone has a sitting style. Some of us sit in a chair the way the designer intended: bottom at the back, feet on the floor, like a person in a catalogue. Most of us don't. We drape our legs over the arm. We recline "for five minutes" and wake up at the end of the news. We spin in slow circles on the phone to our mum. Or we never sit in our own chair at all, because the dog got there first.

The trouble is that armchairs are usually sold on colour and fabric, and then you get it home and discover it's built for a completely different sort of sitter. Arms too narrow to lean on, a back too short to nap against, a seat too low to get out of with a cup of tea in your hand.

So we've done it the other way round. Below are five sitting styles, the features each one actually needs, and the chair from our range that suits it. There's a quick quiz if you'd rather we just told you.

Everything we recommend

1 SidewaysPink velvet 2 NapperGreen recliner 3 SpinnerBlue swivel 4 UprightYellow wingback 5 Dog ownerBrown swivel

How we matched the chairs

We're the retailer, so we're not pretending to be neutral, and we haven't sat in these chairs in a lab. What we did was read every spec sheet: seat height, seat depth, back height, arm height, recline depth, swivel, materials and weight limits. Then we asked which of those numbers matters most for each way of sitting. Every figure below comes from the manufacturer's published specifications, and every chair gets a "worth knowing" section, because no chair suits everyone.

1The sideways sitter: a pink velvet armchair with wide arms

You don't sit in a chair so much as across it. Back against one arm, knees hooked over the other, phone held above your face at an angle that would worry a physio. For this, two things matter: an arm wide and soft enough to lean on, and a seat low enough that your legs drape rather than dangle.

Real product photo

Sideways sitter

Velvet Accent Chair with Wide Arms – Pink

Wide padded arms, a gently slanted back and a low 37 cm seat.

See it at 10Grains

Why it suits you

The arms are the point. They're wide and padded all the way to the front, so there's somewhere comfortable for your back on one side and the backs of your knees on the other.

The seat is low. At 37 cm from the floor, it's lower than most armchairs, which is exactly what lets your legs hang over the arm without your feet waving in mid-air.

It's compact. 67 cm wide and 61.5 cm deep, so it fits a bedroom corner or a small living room, and the soft pink velvet-feel fabric looks lovely doing it.

Worth knowing

The back is short. The whole chair is 71 cm tall, so there's no headrest. If you also like to sit back properly and nap, look at chair 2.

Low seats are harder to get out of. Brilliant for lounging, less brilliant if you have stiff knees. Our seat height guide explains why a few centimetres matter.

Key specs

2"Just resting my eyes": a recliner armchair with footrest

You're not asleep. You're resting your eyes. The fact that you've missed the last twenty minutes of the programme is unrelated. You need a chair that leans back and lifts your feet, because once your legs are up, the nap is basically guaranteed.

Real product photo

The napper

150° Vintage Recliner Armchair with Footrest – Dark Green

Manual recline to 150°, a footrest that comes up with it, and thick padding.

See it at 10Grains

Why it suits you

It goes properly back. 150° is a real lie-back angle, not a polite lean, and the retractable footrest lifts your legs at the same time.

It doesn't look like a recliner. The tufted back, linen-look dark green fabric and wooden legs give it a vintage armchair look, so it suits a living room that isn't built around the telly.

It's well padded and strong. A 16 cm seat cushion and 12 cm back cushion, a 150 kg weight limit, and fabric and padding specified to the UK fire-safety standard BS5852.

Worth knowing

It needs room to recline. Upright it's 88 cm deep, but fully reclined it stretches to 156 cm. Measure from the wall before you buy; our recliner clearance guide shows how.

The arms are low. They sit about 11 cm above the seat, which is great for stretching out but less of an armrest than on a classic armchair.

It's manual. You recline it yourself, so there's no motor and no cable, but also no button.

Key specs

3The spinner: a swivel accent chair

The phone rings and you physically cannot stay still. You tuck your feet up, you swivel left, you swivel right, you do a full slow rotation during the bit about your cousin's wedding. A fixed chair is no use to you. You need a swivel, and ideally a seat deep enough to sit cross-legged in.

Real product photo

The spinner

Velvet Shell Swivel Accent Chair – Dark Blue

360° swivel, a curved shell back and an 11 cm spring-packed seat.

See it at 10Grains

Why it suits you

It turns all the way round. A full 360° swivel on a metal base, so you can face the window, the telly or whoever's talking without shuffling the chair.

There's room to tuck your feet up. The seat is 51 cm wide and 46.5 cm deep, and the curved shell back and arms wrap around you, which is what makes cross-legged sitting comfortable.

It's a proper seat, not just a pretty one. The 11 cm cushion is spring-packed with high-density foam, at a 45 cm seat height that's easy to get in and out of.

Worth knowing

It supports your lower and middle back, not your head. The back cushion is 41 cm tall, so it's a sitting-up chair rather than a lean-back-and-nap chair.

Give it space to turn. At 64.5 × 68 cm it's compact, but leave a little clearance from walls and side tables so the arms don't clip anything mid-spin.

Key specs

4Posture like your nan: a high-back wingback armchair

Back straight. Knees together. Cup and saucer, little finger very slightly raised. You sit in a chair the way chairs were meant to be sat in, and you'd like one that rewards you for it: a tall back that supports you all the way up, and wings to keep the draughts off.

Real product photo

Upright sitter

Tufted Velvet-Feel Wingback Accent Chair – Yellow

A tall tufted wingback, curved arms and beech-wood legs, in a proper sunny yellow.

See it at 10Grains

Why it suits you

The back goes all the way up. The chair is 101 cm tall and the back itself is 65 cm high, so your shoulders and head have something to rest against when you sit up straight.

The wings and arms hold you in place. The curved, integrated arms flow into the wings, which is what makes a wingback feel so settled. It's the classic reading chair shape for a reason; our reading corner guide shows how to build a corner around one.

It's a statement. Yellow velvet-feel fabric with square tufting is a lot of personality for one chair. It works as the single bold piece in a neutral room.

Worth knowing

The seat is 42 cm high. That's a fairly standard height, but if getting up is a struggle, a higher seat (like chair 2 at 48 cm) is easier.

Velvet-feel fabric shows marks. The pile can look lighter or darker where it's been sat on or brushed the other way. That's normal for velvet, and a soft brush evens it out.

Key specs

5The dog's chair: a pet-friendly swivel armchair

Technically it's your chair. You chose it, you paid for it, you put it together. But possession is nine-tenths of the law, and the dog has been in possession since about the second day. You borrow it when it's free. What you need is a chair that can cope with claws, fur and a full-length golden retriever stretch.

Real product photo

Dog owners

Pet-Friendly 360° Swivel Accent Chair – Dark Brown

Scratch-resistant upholstery, a 19 cm seat cushion and a 360° swivel.

See it at 10Grains

Why it suits you (and the dog)

The upholstery is made for pets. It's a faux leather (polyurethane and polyester) sold as pet-friendly and scratch-resistant, and a smooth surface like this doesn't trap fur the way a woven fabric does. A damp cloth or a lint roller and it's back to looking like your chair.

It's seriously cushioned. A 19 cm thick seat cushion and a wide 60 cm back. Comfortable for you, and, we suspect, the main reason the dog moved in.

It swivels. 360° on a steel base, so you can turn to the telly or the window without dragging the chair across the floor (or the dog).

Worth knowing

Scratch-resistant isn't scratch-proof. It copes far better than velvet or a loose weave, but a determined digger can still mark it. Keep claws trimmed and throw a blanket over the seat if your dog likes to "make the bed" before lying down.

Check the seat width. The listing gives the seat as 34 cm wide, inside generous padded arms (the chair is 75 cm wide overall). Measure the seat of a chair you find comfortable and compare before you buy.

Key specs

The five chairs side by side

Figures are the manufacturer's published specifications. Scroll the table sideways on a phone.

Three measurements that decide any armchair

Whichever sitter you are, these three numbers tell you more than any product photo.

Velvet, linen-look or faux leather?

• Velvet-feel (chairs 1, 3 and 4) is soft, rich in colour and the most "living room" of the three. It shows pressure marks and attracts pet hair.
• Linen-look (chair 2) is a flat-woven polyester with a matte, natural look. It's practical and less shiny, but a woven surface can snag on claws.
• Faux leather (chair 5) wipes clean and doesn't hold fur, which is why it's the pet-owner pick. It feels cooler at first and less cosy than velvet.

What we left out, and why

Powered riser recliners. They're brilliant if getting in and out of a chair is difficult, but that's a different decision with its own checklist, so it has its own guide: the best riser recliner chairs.

Chairs where the numbers didn't fit the sitter. A lovely chair with narrow arms isn't a sideways-sitter chair, and a short-backed chair isn't a napping chair, however good it looks.

Bean bags and floor chairs. Great for curling up, but they're not armchairs, and getting out of one with a cup of tea is a sport.

Not quite your style? Browse all our armchairs and accent chairs or recliner chairs.

Meet your guide: the 10Grains team
We're a small UK team who read furniture spec sheets so you don't have to. Not sure which chair is yours, or got a question about one? Leave a comment below and one of us will reply.