My partner and I are moving into a new apartment next month, and one of the things that’s been on my mind a lot is how we’re going to change the feeling of the space without having to buy a whole new furniture set. One of my favourite ways to do that is adding an accent chair, and then just tweaking one or two other little things to shift the entire mood of the room.
A fix for a dark living area
Our current apartment is almost all of his furniture (from before we met), and it’s quite dark: walnut and black furniture on dark floors. The new place is a lot brighter and lighter, with big windows and light wood floors, but the furniture isn’t going to suddenly get cheerier even though the space has more light.
For our situation, a great accent chair to add to the room would be something like the Casana Contemporary Accent Chair in Green or Purple (or both, if you have the space!) The cheerful colour palette will give the room a more whimsical feeling and catch the eye, making a pop of colour the first thing that catches your eye.
I like the Casana Contemporary chairs because they’re really versatile, too; they’re in a similar texture to our current (brown) sofa and they have a mid-century modern silhouette, so they would serve as a bridge between my aesthetic and my partner’s.
To finish refreshing the room, I’d pair these chairs with a glass vase filled with flowers (even fake ones will brighten up the room!), and swap out my partner’s dark accent cushions for ones in matching tones.
Unique chairs for funky & eclectic spaces
A funky, messy-retro, or eclectic aesthetic can be one of the hardest to pull off. When all of your decor comes from the same set, putting together a cohesive room is easy, but when everything is different by just a little bit, it’s tough to pull it all together.
Accent chairs are a great way to take an eclectic room from “messy” to “hip,” and they’ll act as an anchor for the eye, giving the entire room a refresh with a sense of intentionality. For a room with a bohemian sort of vibe (or to give a minimalistic room a bohemian sort of vibe), I love the shape and print of this Scarlett Transitional Accent Chair (pictured above). The simple shape balances out with the busy print for a clean, artsy look.
For a room with a funkier edge to it, the Erica Contemporary Accent Chair (below at left) is an even better option. It’ll give any contemporary room a more youthful edge, and it’ll make a more youthful room seem visually cleaner.
Refreshing a room with a super-slick chair
One of the best uses of an accent chair that I’ve ever seen was at a little AirBnB that I stayed in once in Cochrane. It used a really modern chair in a cabin-like space (tree-like staircase and all), and the chair completely shifted the room’s reading area from old cabin to luxe getaway.
You can use any modern leather-and-steel accent chair for this kind of room refresh, but the more abstract the chair, the better. Something like the Pavilion Contemporary Italian Leather Accent Chair would be the perfect fit for this job, and the Pavaillion comes in a range of colours, too–so you can take your room from stuffy to modern in red, white, or black, depending on your preferences.
No matter your budget or style, a great accent chair is an easy way to refresh your living space. And, whether it’s your bedroom, entryway, or living room that needs refreshing, accent chairs have you covered!
Which room in your house needs an accent chair refresh?
