Accent Chair Buying Guide: How to Choose the Right Style?

Dec 8, 2025 Grant Stephenson accent chair buying guide
Accent Chair Buying Guide: How to Choose the Right Style?
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Accent chairs do more than fill an empty spot in your home. They have the ability to showcase your personality, create a focal point through color, texture, and shape, and complete the overall design of the room. 

Accent chairs buying guide

For those considering accent chairs for their living rooms or looking to purchase an affordable way to help navigate the styles offered, this accent chair buying guide provides everything you need to know.

1. Understanding What an Accent Chair Really Does

A chair is an accent chair when it is uniquely designed and stands out in its own space. Depending on the chair, it can complement your lounge chair or be a contrasting color or texture, or it can introduce a new or different element to the room. The majority of homeowners utilize accent chairs in their homes to have multiple layers of interest within the area and create an inviting environment, but can also be used to delineate and create small spaces such as reading nooks or entranceways.

2. Start With the Purpose of the Chair

Determine how you plan to use your accent chair before exploring styles or fabrics. This will help keep you focused and narrow down your choices.

  • Daily lounging: If the chair will be used often, comfort should be a priority. Look for chairs with deeper seats and supportive cushions, as well as soft fabrics.
  • Occasional seating: If you'll use the chair only when guests are present, consider more design-forward frames with striking silhouettes.
  • Statement piece: If you want to use the chair to make a statement in a room or complete the visual balance of a space, look for chairs made from bright colors or sculptural shapes, or that are made from unusual or eye-catching materials.

Determining the purpose of your accent chair will help guide you in your exploration of the many options available at Grayson Living.

3. Pick a Style That Complements Your Space

There are several different kinds of accent chairs to choose from: armchairs (classic and comfortable, perfect for lounging in your living room or working at your desk); wingback chairs (traditional-looking chairs with high sides that offer a nice, warm feeling of enclosure); slipper chairs (small, upholstered, and armless chairs that work well in tight quarters, taking up little vertical space when positioned); barrel chairs (full, rounded chairs with a high back that provide good support, making them ideal for more modern, polished settings); and swivel accent chairs (as the name suggests, these offer the ability to swivel at the waist, allowing you to change direction without needing to turn).

4. Look at the Scale and Proportion

A common mistake made when selecting accent chairs for living room is failing to take measurements. While you may like how a particular chair looks on the Internet, once delivered, the proportion of that chair may be too large or too small to suit the size of your area.

A few things to measure prior to selecting an accent chair:

  • Seat height - The seat height should fall within the range of the seating heights of the couch or table it will be placed next to.
  • Width and depth - Measure the area surrounding your potential accent chair to make certain there is sufficient space to walk in and around it.
  • Back height - Chairs with taller backs create a strikingly bold look while chairs with lower backs are more laid-back and contemporary in design.

By measuring these areas before shopping for an accent chair, you will be able to select a chair that fits comfortably in your home.

5. Choose the Right Upholstery and Materials

The way fabric looks and feels can have a huge impact on how we feel in our homes, so choosing the best material for your home is always a matter of what fits best with your lifestyle.

  • Performance Fabrics: Perfect for a family-friendly environment, homes with a lot of foot traffic, or homes with dogs or cats.
  • Leather: Adds a touch of elegance to any decor. It also has an aging effect that most leather products undergo, and cleaning is done easily.
  • Velvet: Velvet has a soft, graceful feel; it is best for creating an upscale look.
  • Textural Fabrics: Textured fabrics give color to a wall or an accessory. They also create a visual point of interest, especially if there are too many smooth surfaces in the area around them.

If you want your accent chair to be a focal point in your space, include a bold color, print, or other texture to enhance this purpose!

6. Coordinate With Your Existing Furniture

It is not necessary that an accent chair match the color of the sofa you have, but rather that it coordinates and works within the overall decor of your home. Coordinate through using color, material and/or design theme. For example, if you are decorating with modern-design furniture, you may wish to choose an accent chair with a smaller-scale silhouette to use with those furniture pieces.

Or you may want to accent your room with a matching or contrasting color/texture when the furniture is done in more traditional or ornate finishes. Also, if your furniture has a larger amount of neutral-colored pieces, using accent chairs to add pops of color can help create visual interest and impact without adding too much excess.

7. Think About Comfort and Practicality

Do not sacrifice comfort for style when selecting an accent chair. When deciding on an accent chair you will be using frequently, you want to select a supportive cushion, a quality constructed frame with durable materials used in the frame, upholstered in a skin-friendly, soft fabric or leather, and lastly a well-made piece of furniture that continues to feel good to you after many years of usage and wear and tear on your skin.

Final Thoughts

The selection of an accent chair is much easier when you consider the purpose of each chair (size/style), the style of the chair, and the material. In this Accent Chairs Guide, you will be able to shop through the large variety of beautifully made accent chairs available at Grayson Living, and find an accent chair that best makes your space feel comfortable, inviting, and balanced! To learn more, check out the entire collection of accent chairs available at Grayson Living.

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Bernhardt Sofa Buying Guide
Bernhardt Sofa Buying Guide
Most furniture guides treat sofa selection like a checklist: measure the space, pick a color, confirm delivery dates. But anyone who's lived with a poorly chosen sofa for five years knows the real stakes. The wrong one doesn't just look off—it can throw the entire room's gravity into disarray, becomes the uncomfortable seat everyone avoids, or worse, ages badly within eighteen months. Buying a Bernhardt Sofa A proper Bernhardt sofa buying guide acknowledges what's rarely discussed: choosing a living room Bernhardt sofa is less about aesthetics and more about understanding how construction, proportion, and material quality determine whether a piece earns its keep or becomes expensive regret. So, how do you pick the perfect Bernhardt sofa? Here's your detailed guide: Phase I: The Architectural Negotiation (Weight and Scale) Most guides will have you measure your space, but the real design secret lies in understanding visual weight. Bernhardt has a mix of bold, solid designs and lighter, airier ones. Picking the wrong one can totally throw off the balance of your room and make everything feel off. Take a space with high ceilings and tall windows. Put something delicate in there, and it looks lost. The Bernhardt Dawkins leather sofa handles this perfectly—those wide track arms and modern lines give it enough substance to hold the room without trying too hard.  Conversely, in smaller, urban apartments, a heavy frame can feel suffocating. In this case, look for Bernhardt models featuring exposed wood bases or thin, knife-edge arms. These details introduce negative space, making the profile visually lighter. Don’t forget to consider the depth of the frame itself, not just the cushions. That extra six inches in the arms can make all the difference between smooth flow and a cramped bottleneck near the coffee table. Phase II: The Tactile Story: Materials that Reflect Your Lifestyle The true durability of a living room Bernhardt sofa hinges on its upholstery, but lifestyle realism must dictate the final choice. Forget the staged catalogue perfection; what material will best handle the real life of your home? 1. The Patina vs. The Performance:  If your household includes pets or children, that dreamy, light-colored Bernhardt linen blend is a beautiful liability. The smarter investment is in materials designed to age with grace, not deteriorate instantly. Bernhardt’s selection of top-grain aniline leathers—especially those with a slight distressing or natural variation—develops a beautiful patina over time, making spills and scratches character marks rather than defects.  If fabric is non-negotiable (and sometimes it is), performance materials matter. Performance velvet or Crypton-treated boucle gives that soft, textured look without the panic when someone spills red wine. It's practical luxury, not just luxury that looks good until someone actually uses it. 2. Cushion Density:  Bernhardt sofas often allow for customization of cushion fill. This is the difference between a sofa that you sit on and one you sink into. For a firm, tailored sit for reading, request a high-density foam core with minimal wrapping. For that coveted "slouchy luxury," opt for a down-and-feather blend wrap over a foam core. This combination gives you the plush envelope without the total collapse that pure down suffers. When testing a floor model, spend at least five minutes there. Does the seat angle feel right? Does the back hit your lumbar area comfortably? You are testing an ergonomic investment as much as a stylistic one. Phase III: Testing Before Investing Nothing replaces actually sitting on a sofa. Visit Grayson Living and spend genuine time testing—not just a quick perch. Lean back, cross legs, sprawl out. Does the seat depth work for shorter legs or taller frames? Are the arms at a comfortable height? These factors will decide if your beautiful sofa becomes a cherished part of your daily life or just an expensive mistake. Phase IV: Making the Selection Work for Your Room Color choices trip people up constantly. That bold emerald velvet living room Bernhardt sofa looks incredible right now—but in five years? Neutral tones in quality fabrics last longer and work through style changes. Though personality shouldn't disappear completely. Texture adds interest without the commitment of color. The Bernhardt Candace Sofa's nailhead trim detail elevates a neutral fabric from plain to polished. Leg style affects both look and function. Exposed wooden legs make a sofa look lighter and—practical bonus—make vacuuming underneath actually possible. Skirted styles conceal storage space beneath but gather dust and pet hair. The Bernhardt Noel Sofa is a great choice as it features tapered legs that suit both traditional and contemporary spaces—versatility that proves invaluable during future redecorating. Conclusion The perfect living room Bernhardt sofa isn't the one that looks best in a catalog. It's always the one that survives the life it's going to live. Leather for pet owners. Featherblend for those who love sinking in (and don't mind fluffing). Track arms for tight spaces. Formal silhouettes for rooms that stay pristine.Measure, yes. But also imagine: Who sits here? What happens here? Will this sofa wear gracefully or fight daily life? That's the real guide—not the specs, but the story it'll tell a decade from now.
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How to Pick Accent Chairs That Complement Your Sofa?
How to Pick Accent Chairs That Complement Your Sofa?
The conventional wisdom about accent chairs usually stops at "pick a color from your throw pillows" or "contrast with your sofa." But here's the thing—anyone who's actually furnished a living room knows that approach often leads to spaces that look like they were assembled from a catalog page. The real accent chairs buying guide starts with understanding what most interior design articles won't tell you: your sofa is essentially a horizontal plane taking up massive real estate, and what sits beside it needs to do more than just "match." The Weight Problem Nobody Talks About Walk into any furniture showroom and try this experiment. Stand ten feet back from different sofa-and-chair pairings. Notice how some combinations make the room feel anchored while others seem to float awkwardly? That's visual weight, and it's criminally underexplored in most discussions about how to choose an accent chair. A low-profile sectional in charcoal linen, for instance, needs something with substance beside it—maybe the Lexington Zanzibar Tanzania leather chair with its quartered white oak construction in warm taupe, balanced against deep espresso accents. Pair that same sectional with something delicate, and suddenly the room feels lopsided. The math matters: if your sofa sits 16 inches off the ground, placing a chair with minimal leg height next to it creates an unsettling height differential that no amount of coordinating fabric can fix. Material Conversations That Actually Work Here's where the standard guide for accent chair selection typically fails—it suggests materials should either match or contrast, as if those are the only two options. Real spaces are more nuanced. Consider a velvet Chesterfield sofa. Putting another velvet piece beside it? That's texture overload. But something like the Copeland Ingrid Armchair with its solid American black walnut frame and upholstered seat creates what designers call "material dialogue"—surfaces that reference each other without competing. For households with pets or small children (the reality most blogs conveniently ignore), this gets even trickier. That gorgeous upholstered piece might sound practical, but many fabrics still show water rings. A better move? The Lexington Zanzibar Torrington leather swivel chair with its tight-weave material in medium tones that disguise the inevitable chaos. Leather actually looks better after a few years of wear—something nobody mentions when they're showing pristine staged photos. The Forgotten Third Dimension Most people shop for accent chairs by looking at front-facing photos online. Then the chair arrives and suddenly it's jutting deeper into the room than expected, creating an obstacle course around the coffee table. Depth matters as much as style. The Tommy Bahama Ocean Breeze Gilmore leather arm chair, crafted from quartered mahogany in shell white, has specific proportions that work beautifully in spacious coastal-inspired rooms but might overwhelm a compact urban apartment. Before committing, map out the actual footprint. A chair with substantial arms like the Barclay Butera Atwood chair (at 32 inches) runs wider than streamlined alternatives, which might be the difference between a functional conversation area and a cramped traffic jam. And if the sofa has roll arms adding bulk, pairing it with something like the Artistica Home Cadence arm chair keeps the visual line cleaner—basic spatial dynamics that somehow get lost in discussions about pattern mixing. Making the Decision Stick The most practical accent chairs buying guide advice? Sit in combinations before buying. Not just plop down once, but spend twenty minutes reading in the chair while positioned near the sofa you own. Does the height relationship feel natural for conversation? Can you see the television without craning? These mundane considerations determine whether a chair becomes a favorite spot or a decorative deadweight. Take the Jonathan Charles Tribeca Swan armchair with its finely carved, gilded frame and sweeping low arms—it's an extraordinary statement piece inspired by early 19th-century French Empire designs. But place it next to a minimalist Scandinavian sofa, and the visual clash becomes a headache rather than an intentional contrast. Context matters more than individual beauty. Conclusion A sharp accent chair and a welcoming sofa shouldn't mirror each other. Their relationship is more banter than ballroom dance. It's about creating small frictions and delightful harmonies—a space that's memorable because the pieces are, frankly, a little unexpected together. If you want a formula, here it is: trust the process, listen to the room, and look for the chair that makes a statement nobody else's living room can repeat. Whether it's the architectural elegance of the Lexington Tower Place Conrad chair or the rustic warmth of solid walnut craftsmanship, the right accent chairs buying guide pushes you toward choices that feel personal rather than prescribed. That's the kind of approach that might actually change how you see your space—even when the trend cycle moves on.
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How to Buy Perfect Decorative Bowl for the Coffee Table?
How to Buy Perfect Decorative Bowl for the Coffee Table?
Look at any well-styled living room, and guess what? The coffee table is never, ever empty. Something anchors it down, giving the whole room a visual rest stop. More often than not, that beautiful anchor is a bowl. A deceptively simple object, sure, but one with the most surprising influence. Without it, the table feels like a stage waiting for the actors to come on; it’s flat, waiting for clutter to land. But with the right bowl? The room instantly gains a focal point, a real sense of purpose, and that's just a great feeling. Why Bother with a Bowl? Let’s be honest: a decorative bowl isn’t just an ornament you grab because you need something. It’s actually decor disguised as pure, effortless style. You place one fantastic bowl smack in the center, and the entire area feels calmer, almost magically so. All those stray objects that usually contribute to clutter (the remotes, the sweaty glasses, the inevitable lost lip balm, and those random keys) all have a designated, elegant landing spot. And because you can swap out what’s inside, these decorative bowls for coffee table styling keep your space from getting boring or stale. You can put bright, crisp lemons or limes in the bowl when it's summer and you need that pop of freshness, chunky pinecones in December, or maybe just a few unique seashells if you live near the coast, where your visitors always track sand inside anyway! Seriously, take the bowl away for a day. You'll be shocked at how naked the coffee table looks. That emptiness is obvious, and it’s why this small accessory is so vital. It’s a wonderful, simple way to add personality and containment to the heart of your living room… the coffee table. Getting the Size Right Choosing the right fit is really important when you are going for truly chic modern coffee table decor ideas. It’s kind of like buying a jacket; the cut has to be just right to look fabulous, otherwise, it just hangs awkwardly. The Goldilocks Rule of Size and Scale This is where many people go wrong. A bowl that’s too small looks totally lost, floating among stacks of magazines or coffee table books. Too large, and honestly, you might as well just use a serving platter; it totally swallows the surface whole. Length: A really good rule of thumb for a standard rectangular table is to aim for a bowl that's about one-third of the table's total length. If your table is 45 inches long, look for something around 15 inches wide. That usually works perfectly. Height: Please, don't forget height! A towering, sculptural piece might look amazing in a showroom, but trust us when we say it's going to block conversation across the sofa during movie night. Low and wide is usually the best option when it relates to, you know, real life. Wide bowls also give that lovely anchoring "spreading" effect, which is what helps your coffee table feel grounded. Material Makes the Mood The material you choose for the bowl can change the room's mood more than most people realize, so pick wisely! Wood: If your room features a lot of metal accents, wood is your best friend. It warms things up instantly. Glass: This feels light, almost invisible, which is great for darker interiors or small spaces. The downside? Smudges and fingerprints appear instantly. If you have kids or pets, be ready for a lot of cleaning projects. Ceramic: Handmade ceramic bowls, especially those where the glaze drips unevenly, bring texture and character that mass-produced pieces just can’t replicate. Metal: Brass, bronze, or nickel bowls shine right away and catch the light beautifully. With time, they pick up a soft patina that makes them look even more beautiful. Fill It Up! (Turning the Bowl into Art) You’ve chosen the perfect base, and now the fun begins. This is how you transform plain bowls into stunning centerpiece bowls for living room. The secret is filling the bowls with intention, not just whatever you found on the counter. Your choice of filler should reflect your style and add visual interest. Besides filling the bowls with random junk; we can also aim for museum-worthy arrangements! Three Simple, High-Impact Filling Ideas The Sculptural Statement: Sometimes the bowl is the art. A bold ceramic or metal piece with a unique shape doesn’t need to hold anything. Leave it empty and let it speak for itself. The Cozy Collector: Curate a small collection of soft, textural items inside. Like oversized glass orbs, a handful of decorative moss balls, or even a collection of smooth river stones. This is incredibly calming and organic. The Literary Touch: You can also stack a few beautiful books next to the bowl, then use the bowl to hold something that connects to the stack, like maybe a single, chunky chain link sculpture, or a fragrant, high-end candle. This creates a high-low layer that looks effortlessly curated.   Conclusion The ultimate takeaway here is that the right decorative bowl doesn’t merely sit there on the coffee table; it adds to your already beautiful coffee table. It brings that balance and character the room needs. It's ironic that while sofas take weeks to choose, often the thing that makes a living space finally click into place is the smallest object: a beautiful decorative bowl.
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