Bedroom Armchair: How to Choose a Chair for the Bedroom Corner

A chair gives the bedroom a second place to be besides the bed, which is what turns it into a retreat rather than a room you only sleep in. It is also where many people sit to put on shoes and socks.

If the chair will mostly hold tomorrow's clothes, a simple seat will do. If you will read in it, choose a proper lounge chair, as the sections below explain. Many shops call it a bedroom accent chair; the job is the same.

Bedrooms are usually tighter than living rooms, and the bed takes most of the floor. Measure the corner you have in mind, check that wardrobe doors and drawers still open fully, and mark the footprint on the floor with tape before you buy.

Kent is 67 x 82 cm, so with 60 cm in front it needs about 67 x 142 cm. Einar is 71 x 81 cm. For very small rooms, our guide to armchairs for small living rooms has more footprints and shapes.

In a bedroom you often read late and for a long time, so the chair matters more than in a living room, where the sofa competes for the evening. A seat 50 to 55 cm deep and a full back cushion let you settle in.

Kent and Einar have a 53 cm deep seat at 38 cm and a full-height back cushion. Add a small table at about arm height: our guide to side tables helps with the height, and our reading chair guide covers light in detail.

A bedroom chair is often sat in with bare arms and legs, so the feel of the fabric matters. Bouclé is warm and textured, velvet smooth and deep; vegan leather feels cool at first and is the easiest to wipe clean.

Our Dolly bouclé comes in Ivory, Greige and Black, Matteo velvet in Jade Black and Valencia vegan leather in Ivory and Jade Black. Our guide to accent chair colours covers colour, and the best fabric for an armchair compares the fabrics.

A bench uses floor at the foot of the bed that would otherwise stay empty, and keeps the room open. An armchair needs a corner and more depth, but gives you a back to lean against.

Rooms with space can have both. Our end of bed bench guide covers length and height, and our guide to furnishing a bedroom brings the bed, bedside tables, bench and chair together.

Both sit at 38 cm, with a 53 cm seat depth, and stand 70 cm tall. Einar's oak comes in Oak, Dark Oak and Black Oak, so it can match oak bedside tables exactly or step darker on purpose.

Both are delivered fully assembled, so measure the bedroom door and any tight landing on the way in. See Einar in oak with Ivory bouclé, and our bedside table guide for the tables beside the bed.