Finding Living Room Chairs for Small Spaces

You can choose arm chairs that follow in the footsteps of small scale sofas by going for features that won’t dominate a room.

I know if you’ve read the previous discussion on Sofas for Small Spaces that it’s no fun hearing me repeat myself.

However, it’s worth it so that there will be no mistake about what to look for.

What’s Considered a Small Scale Chair?

It’s not always required that you get a so-called small scale chair, but when you need one what should you look for? Well, just like sofas there are certain features that could aid in giving your living room that spacious look you’ve been dying for.

Let’s go over what those things again.

Typically chairs that have the following will open up space in your living room…

clean (straight) lines
thin arms
legs (with no [upholstered] flaps)

You can even go armless, which will often shave off several inches and allow you to get more seating space from a chair that’s just as wide as one with arms.

However keep comfort in mind.

Some of these suggestions might be good to follow, but there’s no need to follow them religiously. You want to make sure you actually enjoy sitting in the chair.

For instance, a chair without arms could be highly uncomfortable to you.

So, if you can’t go for something armless, instead you might find it a much more suitable compromise to simply get a chair with a little height on it (i.e. legs).

In my opinion, if you only had one feature to choose from, adding legs would be the best choice. I consider it to be one of the most important features. Simply because a little negative (empty) space beneath a chair really opens up a small living room.

Does Size Matter?

And what about actual size? Is there a size that you can go for that would be considered small scale?

The answer is yes.

Like always all it takes is a little math and simple observation and you’ve got your answer.

So let’s get started. In a previous discussion we talked about small scale sofas.

Did you know that a small scale sofa is typically 72″ or smaller? And an average size loveseat is 63″ or smaller?

Well, if you think in terms of those two measurements, you can easily come up with a small scale chair size. All it takes is a little division.

A sofa is basically 3 small chairs put together, whereas a loveseat is basically two chairs put together.

See where I’m going with this?

To come up with the size of a small scale chair all we have to do is divide a small scale sofa (72″ wide) by three and an average loveseat (63″ wide) by 2 and we’ve got a nice a nice idea of how big and how small a chair should be.

Division Principles of a Sofa & Loveseat
72	/	3	=	24″ wide
63	/	2	=	31.5″ wide

And now we have a size range to work with. We now know that a small scale chair would be around 24 - 31.5″ wide. Twenty-four inches is a good place to stop at in terms of small.

Most people need a little space left over once they’ve sat down and 24″ would allow most people several extra inches of space.

A Picture Isn’t Always Worth a Thousand Words

Searching for small scale chairs can be an enjoyable task. That is, as long as everything goes smoothly. So to keep things going smoothly, make it your task to become a measurement guru.

So many people look at photos and accept that the photo says everything there is to know. It’s okay if you get lucky… but if you’re one of the unlucky ones, that can be a costly mistake.

Particularly if you’re ordering something online and you can’t ship it back without dealing with a major expense like a restocking fee and a return shipping charge.

So, make it your business to know the dimensions of a piece of furniture first. And then make it your business to make sure it will fit in your living room by testing those measurements out in the place you plan to put your piece of furniture.

A simple yardstick and a several pieces of paper to imitate the dimensions will do wonders for you.

The Two Different Dimensions

Keep in mind that chairs with arms always have inner and outer dimensions. That simply means the width on the inside of the chair is a few inches smaller than the width on the outside of a chair (or the width of the chair as a whole). So, if you get a chair that’s around 24″ wide and it has arms, this will typically mean the seat will be even smaller.

So always be on your best Ps and Qs about inner and outer dimensions so that you won’t mistakeningly get a chair that’s too small.

Honestly, the likelihood of this happening is slim since most small scale chairs of this size will likely be armless. But it never hurts to mention it in case it’s a possibility.

What Does This Mean To You?

We’ve talked about features that will help you open up the space in your living room: Clean, straight lines, thin arms or no arms and legs that help raise the chair off the ground.

Although we don’t have to follow this guideline and actually get a chair this size, we’ve learned what an actual small scale chair is. We took a small scale sofa and an average loveseat and threw in a little math and came up with 24-31.5″ as a good small scale range.

It’s also clear that paying particular attention to detail, such as measurements can make all of the difference since many mistakes have been made by simply trusting a picture to say everything.

Lastly, it became obvious that we need to also pay close attention to inner and outer dimensions, so that we don’t risk getting a chair that’s too small.

And once we’ve done those things we can trust our experience to be that much more gratifying.

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