How To Arrange And Decorate Recliners At Home

Before buying a recliner for your lovely home, it is important to know how to arrange it in your living room, bedroom, or other places. 

A recliner could take some spaces in your room, and it affects the whole style of your decor. Therefore, you should spend a few minutes thinking about the layout with the recliner.

Placing recliners in a proper way

Where to put a recliner in a room is associated with the comfort you will get from the chair.  We come up with four factors that we think you should take into account while buying a recliner.

The space

In general, recliners are massive in profile, so that you should make sure the space can accommodate them. If the room is tiny, a big chair with a wide seat and arm would not be an ideal choice. It would be awkward if you put a small recliner into a large room in a similar vein. 

In addition, don’t put a recliner against the wall. It should have enough spaces for extension and for family members to move around. You should also leave some clearance from the coffee table, allowing your leg can comfortably place on the footrest.

Where is the focal point?

Choosing a focal point is the first step of room arrangement. The typical focal points include a TV, a fireplace, and built-in bookshelves. Every piece of furniture will be oriented to a focal point. 

Keeping a balance is also critical. Since recliners usually come in a large size, we should avoid the room looking lopsided by placing some large furniture on the opposite.

Sunlight

Sun is one of the biggest enemies of recliners. It shortens the life expectancy of recliners by fading the upholstery quickly. This is especially true for a leather recliner or a recliner with bold color.

Therefore, we advise you to put your recliner a little bit away from the window.

Style

Besides the comfort, we also want to add more aesthetic value to our home by placing a recliner. Make sure the chair can match the current set of furniture well. Both the material and color will play a role in coordinating with other items.

Another trick is to add pillows with the same pattern or color as other sofa or chairs to make the whole room look harmonious.

Living room layout with two recliners and one couch

living room with two recliners
Living room with two recliners

A sofa with two recliners is very common for a living space.

If the space is limited, it is better to buy a wall-hugger recliner and get an end table between it and one end of the sofa.  If the space is relatively large, place the couch along one wall, and put two reclining chairs side by side along the opposite wall. 

If you have an open floor plan, a sofa could be a good item to mark the edge. Putting the recliners perpendicular to each end of the sofa to make a U-shape square. In this way, the sofa will be on the opposite of the fireplace or TV. 

You can also put the chair in a corner. For those who want to run away from heavy traffic and give themselves some peace of mind to read or watch a movie, the corner is the best place to go. It also creates some variation to the layout, making your room looks more vigorous. 

We have mentioned that the recliner needs some clearance from the wall. By placing it in the corner, you can get the most out of the space without sacrificing any comfort or convenience. 

Living room layout with a recliner

living room with a recliner
Living room with a recliner

You need to rearrange the furniture pieces when adding an extra recliner. Make sure the sofa or the largest furniture piece is facing the focal point. Then you can place the armchairs or love seat perpendicular at one end of the sofa. When the recliner arrives, place it on the other end of the sofa at a right angle. 

Like other arrangements, leave enough space around the recliner to let the chair be able to fully extended. 

The last step is to fill the space with end tables and lamps between recliners and sofa.

For those who live in a tight space, better to remove some pieces of furniture such as a love seat or an armchair. Place the couch opposite the TV and put the chair and recliner at each end of the sofa. If you want to add additional seating, consider adding an ottoman. 

Reading nook layout with a recliner

book nook with a recliner
Book nook with a recliner

If you or your loved one is a bookworm, why not set up a reading nook at home? In a reading nook, the recliner itself could be the focal point. Add an end table, a beautiful lamp, and a bookshelf to make everything is close enough to touch.

On top of it, prepare a blanket so that you can take a nap whenever you feel tired. This place is great for people who want to run away from a busy life as well.

Home theater layout with recliners

There are plenty of home theater seatings on the market. Some come with a 2-seating design and some are single mode. 

The typical arrangement for a home theater is to let the recliners face the TV directly. Get one or two end tables between those chairs. 

Instead of a coffee table, you could opt for an ottoman which could be used as a footrest and a table.

Conclusion

The recliner is a great place to relax and unwind. However, decorating a room with recliners could be a daunting task sometimes. As a large piece of furniture, the wrong placement would decrease the aesthetic value of the whole room or even the whole house.

As a rule of thumb, we should leave enough clearance from the wall for the chair. The space on the side and on the front is also important. Another commandment is to set it around a focal point and keep balance among each piece of furniture.

No matter where you are going to put the chair, always consider if it can match the other type of furniture in the same room. The materials and colors all matters. 

Adding a lamp or an end table on the side of a recliner is always useful to bring harmony to all the pieces.

Photo of author
Rachelle is the founder of Best Chair Finder. She is a fanatic of home improvement, and as an engineer, she knows well about each chair's mechanism. You can find her story on the About page.