The Best Lounge Chairs for Kicking Back | Gear Patrol (2024)

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There are many pieces of furniture that go into creating a living room that’s actually suitable for living. First and foremost is a great sofa, which forms the centerpiece of any salon (pardon my French). Next, you’ll want a stand or media console for your TV, a coffee table and maybe some end tables for setting down drinks and books, pieces of decor to make it feel like home and, naturally, some places to sit that aren’t your couch. There are plenty of options for these alternative seating options — accent chairs, armchairs, recliners — but for our money, there’s nothing that beats a classic lounge chair.

What Is a Lounge Chair?

Definitions for what exactly a lounge chair is vary, but at its root, a lounge chair is a chair that’s meant for lounging. It’s the best spot in the house for pure relaxation, the seat you’re most likely to give the moniker “my chair.” They can have arms, cushioning and an ottoman, or none of the above. As long as they’ve got a fixed back, usually at a relaxed angle (i.e. no recliners), and are comfortable to lounge in, they qualify as a lounge chair in my book. Going back to the lounge chair’s mid-twentieth century heyday, lounge chairs also have a tradition of doubling as a statement piece of furniture, and as a result, you’ll come across a lot of fun and adventurous designs in the lounge chair category.

What to Look for in a Lounge Chair

Build Quality

Like with any other piece of furniture, you’ll want to make sure your lounge chair is sturdy and built to last. After all, it’s likely going to be the 0best seat in the house, which means you or someone else is going to be sitting in it all the time. A frame made of metal or solid hardwood is going to be the most durable, and you’ll also want to consider upholstery that will hold up well over time and repeated use, such as leather or performance fabrics.

Comfort

All lounge chairs are comfortable by design, by you’ll need to decide what sort of comfort it is you’re after. Some lounge chairs are designed to envelop you in sink-down, pillowy comfort; while other sturdier wood-framed loungers are meant to put you in a deliberately laid-back position without being all that soft. Decide how you like to lounge and go from there.

Style

The lounge chair is largely associated with mid-century modern design, as most of the iconic examples of the form emerged from that style. Even today, many new lounge chair designs look to those mid-century classics for inspiration. But there are lounge chairs from other design styles too — pretty much all of them, really — so find one that works with your preferred aesthetic.

Size

Some lounge chairs are pretty compact, functioning as an accent chair in the corner of a room. Others are larger, demanding attention as your living room’s centerpiece. And others, like chaise lounges, are larger still, allowing you to fully lie down while lounging. Figure out what size chair your space can accommodate before making any purchasing decisions.

Burrow

Best Overall Lounge Chair

Burrow Vesper Lounge Chair

• $799.00 at Burrow

Burrow’s Vesper lounge chair is, in a word, fantastic. Its design borrows attributes from three iconic entries on our list (the Eames Lounge, Womb Chair and Shell Chair, respectively), yet still manages to look fresh and modern. Our tester finds the chair very comfortable — especially if you add the optional ottoman and lumbar pillow, both of which he highly recommends — and the chair’s performance fabric has resisted damage from his pets better than any other piece of furniture he’s ever owned.

The Vesper is a bit tougher to assemble than our reviewer would have preferred (Burrow including a small tool instead of forcing you to use a quarter would be preferable), but still, you really can’t beat the Vesper for the money when it comes to overall design and comfort.

Read our full Burrow Vesper review.

Bestseller

Best Upgrade Lounge Chair

Herman Miller Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman

• $7,995.00 at hermanmiller.com

Unquestionably the king of lounge chairs, Charles and Ray Eames’ iconic 1956 creation remains the envy of every design aficionado more than 65 years after its debut. The chair may qualify for a senior discount, but it’s still as fresh and cool as ever. From its bent plywood shell and supple leather upholstery to its gently curved arms to its perma-tilt of 15 degrees that invites deep relaxation, this remains lounge chair perfection.

Article

Best Budget Lounge Chair

Article Gabriola Bouclé Lounge Chair

• $499.00 at Article

For right around 500 bucks, Article — one of our favorite furniture brands — will hook you up with an adorable lounge chair that works with multiple design styles, though it’s technically Scandi. The chair combines solid wood legs with plenty of cushioning and soft, nubby, of-the-moment (yes, still) bouclé fabric. It’s a compact and comfy couch for an absolute steal, so you might as well get a pair of ’em so they don’t get lonely.

Design Within Reach

Most Comfortable Lounge Chair

Knoll Womb Chair and Ottoman

• $7,490.00 at Design Within Reach

If the Eames Lounge is the king of lounge chairs, then the Womb Chair is the queen. Designed by the Eameses’ friend and contemporary Eero Saarinen in 1948, the Knoll Chair was the result of brand co-founder Florence Knoll’s request for a chair that was like a “basket full of pillows.” After enlisting a boat builder to craft the chair’s sculpted fiberglass shell, the result was a design that invited users to move around naturally rather than being forced to sit in one position.

Urban Outfitters

Best Lounge Chair for Bedrooms

Urban Outfitters Floria Velvet Chair

• $499.00 at Urban Outfitters

  $649.00(23% off)

If you buy the idea that post-modernism really is the look of the 2020s, then this is the lounge chair to get for your ’70s- and ’80s-inspired pad. An Urban Outfitter exclusive and one of the underrated retailer’s best-known pieces of furniture, the velvet-clad Floria (which also comes in boucle and patterned varieties) is funky in all the right ways with its unique folded silhouette and three-leg structure. Plus, its small footprint makes it the perfect addition to your bedroom (though it really works in any room).

DWR

Best Lounge Chair for Living Rooms

Hay About A Lounge 92 Armchair (High Back)

• $1,995.00 at Design Within Reach

The About A line is perhaps Danish design brand Hay’s most recognized collection, and it’s no wonder why. I especially like this high-back version, as it provides a ton of coverage and privacy, turning the chair into your own personal little reading nook. The design is all slopes and curves, with a solid wood base and your choice of leather or fabric upholstery in a wide range of colors. You can even pick up a matching ottoman to go with it.

Courtesy

Best Lounge Chair and Ottoman

Castlery Gable High Armchair & Ottoman Set

• $1,199.00 at castlery.com

  $1,269.00(6% off)

An original design for Castlery by Australian designer Charles Wilson, the Gable High Armchair is perfect for Japandi spaces thanks to its mix of a Scandinavian-style exposed ash frame and curved lines inspired by Japanese architecture. And I know what you’re thinking, but that price isn’t a misprint — you really can get this true piece of designer furniture, ottoman included, for around 1,200 bucks.

Parachute

Best Leather Lounge Chair

Parachute Leather Sling Chair

• $900.00 at Parachute Home

  $1,500.00(40% off)

The sling chair is a tried and true design, and in 2023 Parachute — a bedding favorite that recently began making serious inroads in the furniture space — released its take on the form. Inspired by a 1950s Spanish chair and designed by the brand’s founder to withstand abuse from her own small children, the Leather Sling Chair is made from a sustainably-sourced solid oak frame and two strips of high-quality leather that will mold to your body over time.

West Elm

Best Wooden Lounge Chair

West Elm Mid-Century Show Wood Chair

• $712.00 at West Elm

  $849.00(16% off)

These exposed wood-framed Danish-style lounge chairs were everywhere in the mid-twentieth century, and you know what? They look just as great today. This bestseller from West Elm is available in an unfathomable amount of colors — 96, to be exact — making the brand’s take on the classic design infinitely customizable to work in your space. Plus, its FSC-certified solid ash wood frame is built to last.

Design Within Reach

Best Mid-Century Lounge Chair

Carl Hansen & Søn Shell Chair

• $5,805.00 at Design Within Reach

Look at this chair dead-on and you’ll think it’s smiling, but sit in it and you’ll be the one grinning from ear to ear. The Shell Chair is one of the most notable designs of mid-century maestro Hans Wegner, who has been dubbed the “King of Chairs” due to the fact that he designed over 500 of them in his career. From its reclined stance to its three-leg design to its dramatically curved bent plywood seat, this is a chair around which you base the rest of your decor.

Courtesy

Best Modern Lounge Chair

Blu Dot Field Lounge Chair

• $1,995.00 at bludot.com

Olivia Wilde’s 2022 thriller Don’t Worry Darling may not have been a smash with critics, but the film certainly had loads of mid-century style in its 1950s Palm Springs-esque setting. And front and center in the home of Florence Pugh’s and Harry Styles’ characters was this chair from Blu Dot, which is not actually a mid-century piece but a 2015 original design that won Best Lounge Chair of the Year from Interior Design Magazine that year.

Kardiel

Best Chaise Lounge

Kardiel Domus Chaise Lounge

• $1,597.00 at kardiel.com

  $1,990.00(20% off)

The chaise lounge is perhaps the most decadent of lounge chairs, as their elongated seat allows you to fully stretch out and take a nap, if you wish. You’ll have no problem doing that in Kardiel’s Domus Chaise Lounge, as the chair measures a full 6’5″ long (and you can use pretty much all of that length by removing the loose back cushion). So, you’ll definitely want to measure your space before putting this one in your cart. In addition to all that length, the chair is also built to last with a solid ash frame and non-sagging Pirelli suspension system, and its performance bouclé fabric is stain-resistant.

AllModern

Best Swivel Lounge Chair

AllModern Lodi Upholstered Swivel Armchair

• $520.00 at AllModern

  $590.00(12% off)

If you want to look like you’re captaining the Starship Enterprise from your living room, then this is the chair for you. Kidding aside, AllModern’s Lodi sports a killer retro-sci-fi look thanks to its mix of a sharp-angled faux leather seat with a stainless steel swivel base. The look definitely won’t work for all spaces, but if you want your lounge chair to boldly go where no chair has gone before, this is the one to get.

Pottery Barn

Best Indoor/Outdoor Lounge Chair

Pottery Barn Abbott Indoor/Outdoor FSC Acacia Woven Lounge Chair

• $599.00 at Pottery Barn

If your idea of a lounge chair is one that you can sit in to sunbathe on your back deck, then Pottery Barn’s Abbott has you covered. Taking clear inspiration from Knoll’s iconic Risom Lounge Chair but with a more angular profile, this chair is designed to be used both indoors and outdoors. It’s crafted from FSC-certified acacia wood and wrapped in woven polypropylene.

Amazon

Best Amazon Lounge Chair

Omax Decor Zola Mid Century Modern Accent Chair

• $272.00 at Amazon

Just like every other product category on the site, Amazon has about a million lounge chairs. Most of them are from brands you’ve never heard of, including this one from Omax Decor (apologies to any big Omax fans out there). But as long as you do your due diligence, you’ll come away with a great chair. This one has a solid rubberwood frame and a time-tested Z lounge chair design that remains one of the most popular (and mysterious) mid-century lounge chair staples.

IKEA

Best Ikea Lounge Chair

Ikea Poäng Armchair

• $189.00 at IKEA

One of Ikea’s most iconic designs, with four decades of history behind it, is this simple lounge chair. A textbook example of Scandinavian design, Poäng’s exposed bent wood frame and relaxed position are perfect for kicking back — especially if you toss in the optional matching ottoman.

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