Why Your Room Wants a Small Chair

One of my favorite designers is Charles Faudree in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I especially appreciate how almost every room he designs includes a small-scale — sometimes even child-size — chair. For our 41st wedding anniversary this summer (I was a child bride), my husband and I bought each other just such a chair. "Wow!" you may be thinking. "Is that what I have to look forward to if I am ever married that long?"

In our defense, it is a marvelously old and quite petite Eastlake-style piece. And we bought it even though it did not seem to fit in the furnishing floor plan for our diminutive living room. No problem. I crumpled up the floor plan and tucked the chair right up next to my coffee table. And you know what? It's the chair our friends and guests invariably go to first. It's firm, it's light enough to readily move anywhere in the room, it has a straight back, it's easy to get in and out of, and it's the closest seat to the wine and hors d'oeuvres.

The lesson for me? Don't let your quarter-inch-scale floor plan have the final word. And consider that an undersize chair may be just the thing your room needs.

A small-scale chair has one wonderful advantage over the other chairs in a room: It's easy to move. It will readily go where you want it to go, when you want it to go, and it will stay there until told otherwise. (If only children and pets were so amenable ... )

The curvilinear lines of this chair give variety to the room, along with its being an extra seat when needed. It can snuggle up to the coffee table, recede back against the TV wall or sit next to the chest. Versatility, your name is small chair.


A small chair does not always have to be part of the seating area. It can act as an accessory, filling what would otherwise be a bare wall or an empty corner. And, like this one, it can add interest, texture and color. The juxtaposition of the animal print against the patterned chest is genius, as is the very large-scale foliage against the very small-scale chair.


What is better than one small chair in a room? A pair of them. In this living area, they are the wonderfully "other" element: classic rather than contemporary, patterned rather than solid, small rather than large. The space could just as easily have accommodated a large, overstuffed chair, but these offer so much more.


This pair of small chairs draws your eye to the fireplace and invites you to sit down and stay warm. I have done enough floor plans to suspect that the designer might have worried that they would cramp the space. But as they are stylistically similar to the sofas and in a soft, complementary color, they work well visually and provide a thoughtful seating alternative.


Honestly, "thoughtful seating alternative" is why I am such a champion of the small-scale chair. I cannot tell you how many times I have listened to older clients complain that they are unable to sit comfortably in their own homes, and even less so in the homes of their grown children. Most upholstered furniture these days is too deep, too squishy and simply too difficult to get out of for mature adults.

In this living room, seniors will fight over who gets to sit in the little black chair. And when you see the design impact that chair has on the room, you have double the reason to indulge.


Don't get me wrong; the petite perch is not just for the older among us. Placing a child-size chair in your adult room makes a wonderful statement to the children in your life. It says, "I want you to be with us. I want you to come in and join the conversation."

Of course, there are occasions where the company of children is not appropriate. But even then, the chair conveys a lot about your feelings about family.

Often when a child is not occupying a chair like this, smaller adults will gravitate to it, as they tend to find conventional upholstered furniture too deep.


Pets, too, appreciate the small chair. If you ever peruse Charles Faudree's interiors, you will see his pet spaniels sprawled over every available seat. They seem to move from room to room with the photographer and pose as if they were the sole reason for the existence of that piece. And they might well be.


You can happily use two small chairs that are not a matched pair, as has been done so well in this room. Because the chairs are different (but similar in scale), the room has a natural, it-just-sort-of-happened look that feels immediately comfortable and welcoming.


OK, I absolutely adore this room. Even though I tend to be a riot-of-color person, and the palette here is neutral and monochromatic, it is nonetheless stunning. Personal. Inviting. That is due, in no small part, to the tiny chair pulled up to the coffee table. Its scale, its shape, its undeniable appeal add a master's touch to the design of this room.


On occasion a small chair will be used solely because it belongs to your family history, or because you found it and loved it. With its straight back and short seat, this little black chair may not be comfortable enough for book reading or lounging in front of the TV, but it's just right for conversation and cocktails. In addition, it adds a wonderful tease of story and makes you wonder where and why. And that's reason enough to add one like it to your room.


Bedrooms are the perfect place for that small chair you fell in love with. After all, where else is your partner going to throw his or her clothes? Because traffic patterns are less critical in a bedroom, the chair can be placed in a very tight space and still function beautifully.


And don't forget your patio or garden! An old French metal chair like this one can live happily outside as a planter until you find just the right home for it indoors.


Consider multipurpose chairs like these bantam-size Louies. They sit demurely against the wall flanking the entry chest, but can be moved in a heartbeat into the dining room or living room when extra seating is needed. Great look, great function.


Here it is: our anniversary Eastlake chair. We found it at a secondhand store, piled with junk and with its fabric falling off. No problem; we loved it. We reupholstered it using a budget remnant from Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft. It cozies right up to my coffee table when it's not needed, preening. But move it a few inches away, and I cannot get people to stay out of it. When I inquire anxiously if they are comfortable, they wave their wineglasses at me and mumble through full mouths that they're just fine.

More: 12 Ways to Dress Up a Room With an Accent Chair

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