Armchairs & Accent Chairs

Armchairs and accent chairs for living rooms, bedrooms and reading corners — wingback and tub shapes, swivel and rocking bases, and chairs with integrated footrests. Upholstery runs from corduroy and chenille to velvet, linen, sherpa and teddy fleece.

Chair styles we stock

• Wingback accent chairs — high sides and supportive backs, often with a lumbar pillow. The largest group here at 36 listings.
• Swivel and tub chairs — 360° bases, nine of them height-adjustable through 46–58 cm, in velvet and boucle-style fabrics.
• Rocking chairs — including swivel-rocker armchairs supplied with a matching footstool.
• Chairs with footrests — integrated or adjustable footrests for full-length lounging; 15 chairs in the range include a footstool or footrest.
• Pocket-sprung armchairs — sprung seats in corduroy and plaid for daily use.
• Chair beds and convertibles — 23 listings that fold out to a 169–190 cm sleeping surface.
• Pet-friendly finishes — tighter-weave fabrics that resist snagging and clean up easily.

How to choose an armchair

If you cannot sit in the chair, the number to check is the seat depth, not the overall footprint. Measure from a dining chair’s backrest to the hollow behind your knee and subtract about 2.5 cm of clearance: that is the deepest seat you can use with your back against the backrest and your feet flat. For the median British adult it works out at 47.5–48.5 cm. Published seat depths in this range run from 41 cm to 57 cm with a median of 49 cm, so 47 of the 81 chairs that publish a depth are deeper than the median adult can use unaided — and only 12 of those 47 include a bolster or lumbar pillow to take up the difference. A deep seat is not a fault; it is a lounging seat, and it wants either a cushion or a footstool.

Seat height is the easier spec. Allowing for indoor shoes, a fixed seat of roughly 41.5–47.5 cm suits most adults, and 57 of the 82 chairs here that publish a fixed height land inside that band; 13 sit below it (the lowest at 37 cm) and 12 above, topping out at 50 cm. If several people of different heights will use the chair, the nine height-adjustable swivel tub chairs have a shallow 44 cm seat and 12 cm of travel, which between them fit almost anyone. Swivel bases want clearance all round; wingbacks work better tucked into a corner. For daily use, pocket springs and a solid wood frame outlast foam-only seats, and if pets share the furniture choose a tight weave over a looped fabric. Our armchair buying guide works through the measurements in full and names the chairs that clear both tests.

Armchair FAQs

What seat depth should I look for?

Your buttock-to-knee-hollow measurement minus about 2.5 cm, which for most British adults is somewhere between 42 cm and 54 cm. If the chair’s seat is deeper than that, you need a firm back cushion roughly as thick as the difference — a 57 cm seat against a 48 cm reach needs about 9 cm of bolster. The seat depth guide explains how to take the measurement.

Why do some listings not give seat dimensions?

Suppliers publish the overall footprint consistently because that is what tells you whether the chair fits the room. Seat figures are less consistent: 81 of the 119 non-convertible chairs here give a seat depth, and 20 give no seat dimension at all. Where it is missing, ask before ordering rather than estimating from the overall depth — across this range the seat is a median 67% of it.

What is the difference between an armchair and an accent chair?

Armchairs are built for long sitting and comfort; accent chairs are chosen partly for how they look and tend to be lighter and more occasional.

Do any of these chairs recline?

These are mostly fixed-frame chairs, some with integrated footrests and one with a 135° push-back backrest. For powered reclining mechanisms and lift bases, see our recliner chairs.

Are swivel chairs stable?

Yes — the weighted metal base keeps them steady. Check the stated weight capacity on the product page, bearing in mind that 94 of the 143 listings here quote the same 120 kg figure whatever the frame, so read it as a category default rather than a measured result.

Also browse recliner chairs & lift recliners, massage chairs and ottomans & footstools.