Armchairs for Small Spaces

Planning out your space is absolutely crucial when you are living in a small space. For safety you need to allocate a safe space between articles of furniture. In the case of between chairs and the sofa, a space of between 2 to 3 feet should be adequate to prevent hitting the exterior against the furniture every time you move. You also need to have a minimum of 2 foot between the front of your chair or sofa and your coffee table to allow you sufficient room when you stand up. You don't really want to overbalance and keel over across the coffee table if you lose your balance!

Measurements of Armchairs for Small Spaces

When choosing armchairs for small spaces you need to ensure the size of those armchairs don't dominate the overall proportions of the room they are intended for. It's not just the size either, but the style that you need to be careful of. When choosing armchairs for small spaces, ensure you choose armchairs with thin arms, freestanding legs rather than legs that are hidden by flaps of upholstery. And when it is a choice between curves and straight lines, forget about the curves - when you want to fit armchairs for small spaces, always go for clean straight lines. You may even consider choosing armchairs with no arms at all - that is bound to save you some space, albeit not a great deal but it will also trick the eye into believing there's more than there is.

The size of a chair needs to be taken into consideration when you don't have a great deal of room to manoeuvre. When you are considering armchairs for small spaces you might consider a smaller version of a standard chair. This should be between 24 inches and 32 inches wide - usually ample room to allow somebody to be seated comfortably. Never leave sizing to chance, hoping that it will slot into that rather neat little place you have planned for it. You need to be ruthless with measurements - make sure you measure the space you have and the furniture you want to fill it with.  

You also need to ensure that you measure the outer dimensions of a piece of furniture - when you are limited for space, it is the outer dimensions that are going to be the important ones. It is as well to remember that whatever the outer measurements of your armchair are, the interior measurements are going to be smaller - so make sure you will have enough room to actually be comfortable when sitting in the armchair.

Inspired by the Designs

If you trawl through the enormous array of different styles that the various manufacturers, you may notice that most armchairs seem to lack in originality. The problem with many designers is they seem to forget people have to sit in the chairs and it's the act of sitting that inspires the design of the chair... not the other way around.  Furthermore, the armchair is designed to be sat in with comfort in mind: where backs, buttocks and arms should be supported ergonomically to take the pressure off the muscles across the shoulders and lower neck.  

Many of the armchairs don't do that and many have seats at the wrong angle. Making it completely uncomfortable to sit in. However, a few manufacturers seem to take comfort, style and size into consideration. And from these few, it's possible to choose some that are not only suitable sized armchairs for small spaces but ones that evince plenty of real style as well.