Best armchairs UK 2023: stylish living room chairs
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It may sound grandiose to wax lyrical about how important a good armchair is, but to quote Montgomery Burns from the Simpsons, “From the mightiest Pharaoh to the lowliest peasant, who doesn’t enjoy a good sit?”
A great armchair offers you the most wonderful of things: a safe space to relax and decompress after a hard day. Good armchairs shouldn’t just be supportive and comfortable, given that you’ll spend so much time in them, but should look good too.
Whether as a standout piece in a minimalist room, or as part of a larger suite of furniture, you want your armchair to look as good as it feels.
Linen, leather, wool or velvet? Which armchair is right for me?
There are so many options to choose from that it can feel overwhelming to even start looking: with materials ranging from leather and velvet to wool and linen, and then that’s not even mentioning the styles, from love seats and accent chairs to club chairs and recliners.
The most important thing to do is first consider the look of your home: is it more minimalist, with neutral tones, or do you love splashes of individuality and colour? Then, as you search, you’ll find yourself more naturally drawn to certain shapes and materials, whether that’s boucle, velvet or leather.
Leather, we will add, is fantastic if you have messy creatures in your home, be they furry friends, wee ones, or even if you like eating in the living room and have a tendency to spill (guilty).
Velvet is luxuriant to touch, very tactile, while boucle, we will warn, tends to be tougher to clean.
Don’t disregard linen, however. Arguably a less sexy choice than leather or velvet, it’s machine washable, stain resistant and understatedly charming . It also feels linen feels comfortable against the skin.
How we’ve chosen the best armchairs
In our roundup of the best armchairs, we’ve included all sorts of styles, materials and colours, to make sure you’ll find one that resonates with you and your home. We’ve included a whole range, from the most traditional that will only get better with time, to those that have a clever trick (or a sofa bed) up their sleeve.
We’ve included some on the more expensive end of the price spectrum, but affordable options too, so that no matter what your budget or style, you’ll find an armchair you love.
Looking to furnish your living room? Look at our guide to the best UK sofas, or sofa beds for the spare room. Even the pets can rest in comfort with a fabulous dog bed.
Best armchairs at a glance:
- Best for decadent lounging: Swoon Editions Tulum Love Seat
- Best for sumptuous affordability: Dwell Bordeaux Curved Accent Chair
- Best for perfect relaxation: The Mars - Genuine Leather Recliner Swivel Chair & Matching Footstool in Chocolate
- Best for mid-century chic: Kolton Accent Armchair
- Best for space saving genius: Oak Furnitureland Texas Armchair Sofa Bed
- Best for a touch of vintage: Cox & Cox Mid Century Buttoned Leather Armchair
- Best for an elegant linen chair: Alcee Natural Linen Armchair
Which online stores are best for buying armchairs?
If you’re on a tighter budget Wayfair is reliable.
Mid-range, Nkuku, Swoon, Cox & Cox, Maisons du Monde and Darlings of Chelsea are our go-tos Looking to purchase the best money can buy? Try The Conran Shop, who craft furniture that’s so stylish it is practically art, with top-flight specifications.
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Key Specs: Size: 144 x 82 cm
Customisable: Yes, materials, colour and feet colour.
The best armchairs are places we spend all day dreaming about flopping into.
The Tulum love seat, from UK furniture brand Swoon Editions, is incredibly inviting thanks to its wide arms, tilted back and sumptuous material.
However, thanks to its medium-firm seat cushion, you’ll definitely feel supported as you sit or lounge. If on-trend teal velvet isn’t for you, the love seat is available in plenty more colours and finishes, including soft wool, smart wool or Swoon Editions’ house weave.
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Key Specs: Size: 80 x 88 cm
Customisable: Yes, materials and colour
Blush pink velvet upholstery? Tick. Brass legs? Tick. Curved lines? Tick.
The Bordeaux Curved Accent Chair, from UK furniture retailer Dwell, ticks so many style boxes and trends of the moment with its sculptural scallop shape, velvet material and thin metal legs.
Memory foam seating makes it supremely comfy to lounge in, while if blush pink isn’t your thing, there are six other velvet colours to choose from, or you can opt for two colours in a boucle fabric too.
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Key Specs: Size: 85.5D x 86W x 104H
Customisable: NO
If you want to take your armchair relaxation time to the next level, we suggest this genuine leather reclining swivel chair - with matching footstool.
Available in a range of colours in butter-soft leather, the chair has plenty of tools to help calm you down after a long day, including a reclining mechanism and an ergonomically-shaped headrest.
It comes with a footstool too, to help you put the phrase “putting your feet up” into action.
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Key Specs: Size: 85 x 112 x 93cm
Customisable: Yes, colours and material
We instantly fell in love with the Kolton chair from British furniture retailer made.com: its mid-century silhouette, plush velvet fabric and curvy shape scream comfort and chic.
It’s comfortable enough to spend the entire day in reading a book, while still being stylish enough to hold its own and catch your eye in any living room.
We adore the pine green, but it’s also available in sapphire blue - and in seven different fabrics, if velvet doesn’t tickle your fancy.
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Key Specs: Size: 94 x 127 x 98cm
Customisable: Yes, colours
If you need your armchair to be more than just a cosy refuge to read books from, but that also works as a sofa bed for guests, step in the Texas Armchair Sofa Bed from British furniture brand Oak Furnitureland.
Available in four stylish colours, the armchair is incredibly comfortable while you’re lounging on it - but as soon as you need it to transform into a bed for a visitor, it’s as easy as can be.
A great option for those who need a little extra magic with their armchair.
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Key Specs: H 80 x W 70 x D 74cm
Customisable: No
Helloooooo, good-lookin’.
Sometimes there’s nothing like an old classic, and a traditional leather armchair is a perfect example.
This sturdy tan leather chair, from Somerset based interiors brand Cox & Cox, would look gorgeous either as a standalone item or as part of a whole vintage leather furniture suite.
We love the button detailing, the deep seat, and most importantly, the high-quality leather. With elegant ash frame legs.
Rather than more delicate armchairs you might have to fret over, this one will just get better with age.
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Key specs: Size: H82 x W59 x D71cm
Customisable: Yes
We’ve long lusted after the impossibly stylish selection of handcrafted furniture at British brand Graham & Greene, but their Alcee chair has always been top of our wish list.
Made from mango wood and linen (who knew the combination would look so good?), the mid-century style will add a touch of class to a room - ideal for positioning near a heaving bookshelf for a spot of solitary reverie.
Although this is linen, this utterly sophisticated chair wipes clean.
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Key Specs: Size: H79 x W75 x D78cm
Customisable: Yes, colours
Call yourself the ‘snuggle’ chair, and you best come correct. Not to worry, because this swivelling armchair from John Lewis more than lives us to that cosy epithet.
The Snuggle is a particularly appealing design, with a deep fill foam padding for extra comfort. Imagine a deluxe cinema seat, from a Hollywood screening room, that also swivels - and you’re somewhere close to it’s delights.
With a 15 year guarantee, this is the kind of chair your residents will fight to sit in. The Marlo Navy blue is our fave, but it also comes in a cream boucle if your décor requires.