In an ideal world, we would be able to find a beautiful, comfortable chair at a rock-bottom price. But we don’t live in an ideal world, do we? You can find a very comfortable and stylish chair if you are willing to pay $800 to $1600 in a reputable retail furniture store. Sure, you could wait for all the store sales or search Craigslist for months, but it’s highly unlikely you will find “the perfect chair” for a low price. Affordable chairs that look and feel the way you’d like are hard to come by.
I went shopping last week for an affordable chair for my client’s teenage daughter’s bedroom. Who wants to spend a lot of money on a teenager’s chair? No one I know. I knew it would be tricky to find something that would give us the look I wanted, the comfort her daughter wanted, and the price my client wanted.
This is a shot of the room in progress. I recently did an art grouping above the bed:
Pretty cute, right? Now we needed an attractive, comfy, and inexpensive chair.
When shopping for affordable chairs, there are three main things we all want:
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low price
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great comfort
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the right look/style
Typically, affordable chairs are neutral (beige or gray) and solid colored. That may be fine with you, but it’s not easy to find inexpensive chairs in a really nice pattern and color combination. What you may find is a very trendy pattern. I don’t advise this because it will look dated before you know it. I’m not going to show you a photo for fear that many will be offended because they have a chair in the particular pattern I am picturing in my head . . .
I admit, I often see upholstered chairs at decent prices that are very stylish. Target, HomeGoods, IKEA, Wayfair, Overstock – they have some darling options. But then there’s the issue of comfort. They may look cute, but they can feel as though you are sitting on a brick.
Another issue is that affordable chairs are often undersized (or so-called apartment-sized) chair. It may look fine in HomeGoods UP ON THE STAND where it sits, but you realize that is perceptual trickery, right? When a piece of furniture is up on a stand, it naturally appears larger. You may find it’s smaller than you thought when you get it home. Make sure to take it off the stand in the store to make sure you have the proper perception of its size and height.
HomeGoods chair on pedestal stand
On the other hand, a cheap chair may instead be oversized. Which means it’s probably an OUTDATED style. Overstuffed upholstered pieces with large rolled backs and arms look seriously dated. Plus, they crowd a room without adding any real seat space.
overstuffed and outdated – don’t buy this chair
Take a look at this short video and see how I found the “perfect” chair for my client’s daughter’s room, within reason of course!
Choosing Affordable Chairs
My client LOVED the chair I chose for her daughter! I just installed it in the room yesterday. It’s a surprisingly high quality for the price.
Want to know where to place your new chair (and the rest of your furniture)? Check out my Furniture Arrangement workshop video:
Yay! It’s not even for my house, but watching you find the right chair made me feel so triumphant! Lol
Home Goods sometimes has fairly high quality furniture. I found a leather chair in a beautiful robins egg blue that reclines without looking like a recliner. It has a high enough back to lean your head against, is exceptionally comfortable, and cost about $350. But you have to jump on deals like that. There was a woman right behind me who would have grabbed the chair if I’d walked away from it. I’ve seen other quality items, and when I return a day later, they are gone.
Loved the video! Great info, well-presented, as usual. You rock, Kristie!
I check my local Homegoods regularly…. Where are those cute chairs hiding in my store!!?! ?