Short answer
Gray takes a warm ivory or greige to soften it, or black to sharpen it; beige and cream take black or dark wood for contrast; brown takes ivory or greige to lighten it.
The rule behind all three is the same: choose a chair one clear step lighter or darker than the sofa. A shade that is almost the same tends to look like a near miss; a clear step looks chosen.
The chart below starts from the chair rather than the sofa: what each of our colors does and which sofas it suits. For more sofa colors, including black, blue and green, see should an armchair match the sofa.
| Chair color | Suits a sofa in | What it does | Our version |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ivory | Gray, brown, black, dark blue | Lifts a dark sofa and brightens a corner | Kent in Ivory bouclé or vegan leather |
| Greige | Gray, beige, cream, brown | Warms a cool sofa, blends with a warm one | Einar in oak with Greige bouclé |
| Black | Beige, cream, light gray | Gives a pale room a clear outline | Kent in Black bouclé or Jade Black velvet |
| Brown, from the wood | Cream, beige, gray | Adds warmth without a colored fabric | Einar in Dark Oak |
For most rooms a neutral: an ivory, greige or black armchair works with the sofa you have now and with the next one, while a strongly colored chair ties you to one scheme.
An armchair often stays longer than the sofa, the curtains or the rug. A neutral chair lets those change around it. A colored chair makes a stronger first impression, and it has to keep agreeing with everything you add later.
That is why we upholster our armchairs in neutrals: Dolly bouclé in Ivory, Greige and Black, Valencia vegan leather in Ivory and Jade Black, and Matteo velvet in Jade Black. Greige and Ivory are the colors our customers choose most.
When the color appears at least once more in the room, in a cushion, a rug, a painting or plants, so the chair looks like part of a scheme rather than an island.
Green sits easily with oak, black and warm neutrals, which is why it is chosen so often; terracotta and rust warm a gray or beige room. A bold chair works best as the only strong color in the seating group, with the sofa kept calm.
We make no green, terracotta or blue armchairs. If you want the color without committing the chair to it, put it on the wall behind a neutral chair, or in a cushion and a throw you can change with the seasons.
Yes: a black armchair gives a pale room an outline, as long as the frame is slim and the floor shows underneath, so it reads as a drawing rather than a block.
Black works especially well beside a beige, cream or light gray sofa, and it forgives the marks that show first on a pale fabric. In a small room a bulky black chair can feel heavy; an open frame avoids that.
Kent in Black bouclé sets black loops in a thin black steel frame; Einar in Black Oak keeps the oak grain visible under the black stain. Jade Black also comes in velvet and vegan leather. Our guide to armchairs for small living rooms covers color in tight spaces.
Yes, if the fabric is chosen for it: ivory vegan leather wipes clean, and a looped bouclé hides the everyday wear that shows first on a flat, pale fabric.
A light chair brightens a corner and sits well beside a gray, brown or black sofa. What makes a pale chair hard work is a flat, absorbent fabric in a busy room.
Our Ivory Valencia vegan leather carries the PERMABLOK3 easy-clean finish, which makes Kent in Ivory vegan leather a light armchair a family can keep clean. Ivory Dolly bouclé is claw-tested to BS 8479. Our guide to cleaning an armchair covers each fabric.
Kent ArmchairIvory vegan leather · wipes clean · from $1,689View Kent
Greige, a gray-beige, is the safest: it sits between cool and warm and works with almost any sofa. Beige is warmer and suits wooden floors; brown is often best brought in through the wood of the frame.
A clear beige can look yellow next to a cool gray sofa, which greige avoids. A large chair in brown fabric can feel heavy, while a brown frame gives the warmth without the weight.
Einar in oak with Greige bouclé is our warm-neutral chair. For brown, Einar in Dark Oak has a tobacco-brown stain under a matte lacquer, here with Ivory bouclé for contrast.
Yes: the frame is the outline of the chair, so a black frame makes any fabric look sharper and a wooden or light frame makes it look softer.
Ivory cushions in a black frame read as graphic; the same cushions in natural oak read as calm and Scandinavian. That gives you two decisions instead of one, and more ways to tie the chair to the room.
Kent comes in black as standard and in Beige, White or Taupe through Design Your Own; Einar comes in Oak, Dark Oak or Black Oak. Order fabric samples and wood samples and look at them beside your sofa in daylight and in the evening. Whether the frame should match your other wood is covered in oak or steel armchair.
Kent ArmchairFrom $1,689Black steel · ivory bouclé
Einar ArmchairFrom $2,329Solid oak · greige bouclé
Kent ArmchairFrom $1,689Black steel · black bouclé
Einar ArmchairFrom $2,329Dark oak · ivory bouclé
