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There are a few important criteria that a seat must meet to be considered the very best reading chair. For starters, it needs to look the part. Next, your reading chair should be willing to work double duty as an accent chair, whether it’s nestled in the reading nook of your living room, in a home office, or somewhere in your bedroom. It also needs to be durable—something that’ll last for a good deal of time and through late night reading sessions, without breaking or succumbing to wear and tear. But perhaps most important of all: It needs to be comfortable. Remember, this is a reading chair, so when you look at it, it needs to spark a strong urge to curl up with your favorite book and a beverage of your choice.
If you weren’t already aware, there’s an abundance of reading and accent chairs out there. And we’re talking an overwhelming amount: More than 50,000 results come up when you search “accent chairs” on Wayfair. Sure, they all look nice on a computer screen, but anyone who’s accidentally purchased an especially stiff chair knows not to judge a piece of furniture by the professionally-taken store photo. Here at Clever, we really wanted to sit and marinate to find the greatest options out there. So, we rounded up 16 chairs, and then reclined, assessed, scrutinized, and graded them. Some we loved, others not so much! Keep scrolling to find out which chairs made it to the top of our list.
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The Ellary is made by female-founded OKA, and everything about the chair feels classic: the shape, a backrest that’s a few inches short of a wingback, the solid wood legs with brass wheels at the bottom, the timeless linen upholstery. The Ellary is the interior design equivalent of a classic pair of loafers. It’s also pretty spacious—clocking in at 34 inches in height, 31 inches in width, and 32 inches in diameter—so any sitter will have ample space to recline back with their favorite book and feel comfortably nestled on the thickly cushioned seat.
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Sixpenny is known for approaching high quality comfort with a natural, simple, cozy, and eco-friendly eye. That’s certainly the case with the Neva chair, which ditches the traditional wood frame in favor of an entirely slipcovered design reminiscent of something you might’ve sat in as a kid at daycare, but this time it’s way more chic. Underneath the slipcover, you’ll find three different layers of high density foam (for comfort and support) sandwiched between a mix of feather down and poly fill. The Neva’s shape is unassuming in a space, but its structured lines and plush cushions make it stand out as a great-looking and especially comfy reading chair for your living room or bedroom. Buy it in faux fur, linen, velvet, or canvas, all available in a variety of colors (and see which combinations will work with your space beforehand with the 12 fabric swatches Sixpenny lets you order for free). It’s also available as a sectional sofa (which, yes, we also reviewed!) if you want to round out the set.
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Furniture fads come and go, but the Eames Chair? Not going anywhere. The lounge chair was first made by iconic designer duo Charles and Ray Eames and debuted with Herman Miller in 1956. The two envisioned a 19th-century club chair when crafting it, and the result is this ergonomic and dramatically tilted swivel chair that looks like the best recliner and most luxurious office chair ever. “I wanted this chair to be bad,” tester Elise Portale said in her review. “The Eameses built the impossible: A chair that’s comfortable no matter how you want to sit in it.” Try to hate this timeless piece, we dare you.
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What do you get when an American architect directs a Finnish American designer to create a chair that feels like a “basket full of pillows”? The Womb Chair. Made by Eero Saarinen in 1946, the comfort level of the Womb Chair is right in the name—think of any verb that’s associated with sitting in a chair, add “like a baby” to the end of it, and that’s what the feeling of sitting in the Womb Chair is meant to be. Sure, on a purely surface level, the overall design and aesthetic is pretty simple. It is the sensation of actually sitting in this chair that’s helped it maintain its place in the canon of iconic chairs. You can practically feel yourself slowly lowering into the seat just by looking at it.
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Levity says you don’t have to pick function over style if you’re someone with kids or pets. Although the style and look of the Levity armchair is overall pretty basic as far as chairs go, the real selling points are the stain-resistant, removable, and machine-washable cushion covers. Use it as a trusty reading chair in your bedroom by getting it in a more neutral color, or opt for a bold color or pattern and make it an accent chair for your living room. You can order a matching ottoman to make it a true lounger.
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Castlery is a well-known direct-to-consumer furniture brand that strives to offer high-end and well-made yet fairly affordable furniture, and the Desmond chair is a testament to that. From the brass tipped legs to the deep rubber wood frame to the neutral-colored foam and fiber-filled seat, the Desmond is a classic midcentury modern–esque piece that stylishly lends itself to any home decor, and also functions as the perfect reading chair.
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This cult classic of a chair—which has done the rounds on Instagram—is the brainchild of popular designer Faye Toogood and Stockholm-based design company Hem. The minimalist design that looks a bit like someone threw a duvet cover over a steel frame simultaneously inspires coziness and the one-of-a-kind style that makes it eye-catching without feeling distracting. “It’s really shifted my perspective about comfort because I’ve always preferred getting cozy on the couch, but realizing that I could experience that same feeling in a chair that’s only big enough for me to fit into was mind blowing,” said tester and AD digital design editor Sydney Gore. It’s available in 18 different color combinations, and you can purchase a matching footrest for an additional cost.
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The family-owned Moe’s Home has been in the furniture market since the ’80s. They specialize in midcentury-modern and just straight modern styles, which can be seen with the gently curved armrests and slopes of the Harlowe Lounge Chair. The slim and structured wood frame that cradles the removable and 100% top grain leather seat cushions make the chair appear compact, so you don’t have to sacrifice comfort for space to find a good reading chair.
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Don’t know what smooshy means? Sit in the oversized beanbag that is the Floyd Squishy Chair, and you’ll find out (or consult Zoë Sessums, AD digital design editor and tester of the Squishy Chair). Started in 2013 with the iconic attachable Floyd Leg, Floyd is a furniture company that’s innovative in the modern design of its popular products, such as the Floyd Bed Frame, and tries to encourage sustainability by making pieces that you’ll keep forever. The Squishy Chair was inspired by the original 1960s Italian Sacco chair, and features a playful kindercore style. In keeping with its sustainability-forward approach, Floyd uses foam offcuts left over from its sofa and mattress production process as the Squishy chair’s filling and repurposed recycled plastic from the ocean for the actual fabric. It’s also large. “The only way you should sit down is falling into the Squishy chair,” Zoë said. “It’s a very fun floor seating option, and every time I see it, I do delight in the roomy smooshiness of it all.”
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If your standard for finding the perfect reading chair is “something that looks like a giant hug,” then the Yoji chair from Urban Outfitters deserves a bookmark. Its 40-inch-long, 35-inch-wide, and 29-inch-high real estate is covered in a soft and sherpa-looking high-performance fabric, making it “impossible to find an uncomfortable position,” according to tester and AD’s global editorial director assistant, Andrea Lewis. The chair’s topped off with small wood legs on the bottom, which you can remove if you want to fully lean into the chunkiness of the chair.
When the design studio Yabu Pushelberg—founded in 1980 by George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg—created the bulbous Pukka, they did so with the 1969 Gaetano Pesce sponge-inspired UP50 show in mind. The chair, made by high-end French furnishings company Ligne Roset, has a faint soft and “feminine design” meant to fill any space with “sensual comfort,” according to the product’s description. It’s craftsman-made and available in six upholstery options, so you can get a mustard-y velvet chair or a deep maroon wool knit chair, among other options.
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If you’re unfamiliar with Maiden Home, allow us to introduce you. Known for its especially neutral color palette and midcentury-modern shapes, Maiden Home specializes in luxury-level furniture at actually accessible price points. All of its pieces, like the ash frame on this Kenmare chair, are handcrafted and made-to-order in North Carolina workshops. The Kenmare, in particular, shows off the contemporary aesthetic Maiden Home is known for (content operations associate and tester Livia Caligor described it as “if a stool and a sofa chair had a chic baby”), and it can be customized with 15 different fabric options and seven different wood finishes. We’re huge fans of the Maiden Home Dune Sofa as well.
Material and color aren’t the only ways to make a statement. You can also do it through shape, like the Egg Chair by Danish architect Arne Jacobsen. This modern interpretation of a wingback chair was first created by Jacobsen in 1958 for the Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) Royal Copenhagen Hotel in Denmark. It was manufactured in Poland by Fritz Hansen, which continues to produce the chair today. “I felt nothing but sturdy support to back me up while lounging for hours,” said our tester Collier Sutter. “I definitely won’t be taking any lengthy naps in this chair, but each time I retreat to my living room, the winged lounge chair is still shockingly inviting to nestle into with a cup of tea in hand or to curl up into with a good book.”
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We all know and love Anthro Living. Just like its clothes, the massively popular retailer’s home decor and furniture section features a plethora of vintage and cozy-looking products that help subtly (or boldly) to make a statement. The Havana chair in particular lends a Western-vibe to a space with its removable top grain leather upholstery that attach to the armrest with saddle-like buckles. Although it’s not strictly a recliner chair or rocker, the over 15-inch high back and 19-inch deep seat offers enough real estate to sit back and relax. It’s a great option for an office chair or comfortable reading chair for leaning back with a good book.
Another staple in the home decor space, Crate & Barrel is a name many know and are familiar with. Similar to other furniture titans like West Elm and Pottery Barn, Crate & Barrel offers a variety of high-quality items for your home. The Dessau Chair—which is named after the German city of Dessau where the Bauhaus fine arts school was located—is Crate & Barrel’s interpretation of midcentury modern. The retro M-shaped frame that sort of suspends the actual seat of the chair is made out of FSC–certified pine veneer and engineered wood, sinuous wire suspension, polyfiber and feather fill, and a tubular steel trim that adds an industrial air that stylishly contradicts the plushness of the bouclé upholstery. “I’m openly very anti-bouclé,” said tester Sydney, “But I genuinely like what they did with it for this chair—it honestly had me reconsidering my stance!”
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House of Nomad has only been in the business since 2017, but it’s certainly making a statement with its quirky and ultramodern furniture. The blocky shapes and bold patterns the company favors makes all of its pieces true showstoppers, and that’s especially true of the Anywhere chair. Despite its small size, this chair makes a statement, just like any good decorative accent chair should. The statements this chair makes include a super low backrest that turns the chair into a stool, tall legs that turn into armrests, and a deceptively simple black and white pattern.
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