Accent chairs are supposed to be about design.
A beautiful shape.
An interesting fabric.
Maybe a little colour.
The chair that makes the rest of the room feel finished.
At least that’s how humans tend to think about them.
Cats have a slightly different system.
Is it comfortable?
Is it warm?
Does it provide a good view of the room?
Can I sleep there?
And, perhaps most importantly, did somebody just tell me not to sit on it?
Because if you bring a beautiful new accent chair into a house with a cat, there is a very good chance you haven’t actually purchased an accent chair.
You’ve purchased an unusually expensive cat bed.
So we decided to match 12 popular accent chair styles with the cats most likely to claim them.
The humans may have chosen the furniture.
The cats will decide who gets to use it.
The Wingback Chair — British Shorthair
Few chairs have more authority than a wingback.
Tall back.
High sides.
Proper arms.
The sort of chair that looks as though it should be positioned beside a fireplace in a library where somebody owns a suspicious number of first editions.
That calls for a British Shorthair.
Solid.
Distinguished.
Completely comfortable with silence.
He doesn’t climb onto the wingback chair looking for attention.
He climbs onto it because this is clearly where he belongs.
You may sit somewhere else.
There appears to be a perfectly acceptable sofa across the room.
The Barrel Chair — Scottish Fold
A barrel chair wraps around you.
The curved back flows naturally into the arms, creating a chair that feels almost enclosed.
Cozy.
Compact.
And suspiciously similar to the shape a cat makes when sleeping.
Enter the Scottish Fold.
Round face.
Folded ears.
Round body curled into an even rounder chair.
At some point it becomes difficult to determine where the cat ends and the furniture begins.
Which is probably exactly how she likes it.
The Club Chair — Maine Coon
The club chair isn’t delicate.
It’s deep.
Substantial.
Comfortable.
Often upholstered in leather and built with the general assumption that whoever sits in it intends to stay awhile.
A Maine Coon understands this philosophy.
This is not a cat interested in perching delicately on the edge of a tiny chair.
He requires room.
Preferably an entire chair.
The fact that you purchased it because you wanted somewhere comfortable to read is interesting.
He’ll think about that while he’s sleeping in it.
The Bergère — Persian
The Bergère isn’t trying to look casual.
Exposed carved wood.
Upholstered arms.
An elegant frame.
Usually the sort of chair that makes everything around it look slightly more sophisticated.
There was really only one choice.
The Persian.
Beautiful coat.
Perfectly composed.
Sitting in a chair that looks as though both of them should be somewhere in an old European portrait.
She doesn’t merely sit in the Bergère.
She receives visitors there.
The Slipper Chair — Siamese
A slipper chair is low, armless and surprisingly elegant.
Originally designed for bedrooms, its low seat made it easier to sit while getting dressed.
The Siamese has absolutely no interest in this history.
What she sees is something else entirely.
Easy access.
No arms getting in the way.
A clear launching point toward whatever piece of furniture she’s actually interested in reaching.
The slipper chair is less a destination than part of the transportation network.
The Papasan Chair — Ragdoll
At some point, somebody looked at a large round cushion sitting inside a bowl-shaped frame and decided it was furniture for humans.
Cats remain unconvinced.
Because the papasan chair is obviously a cat bed.
A spectacularly oversized cat bed.
And no breed demonstrates this better than the Ragdoll.
Floppy.
Relaxed.
Completely committed to becoming one with the cushion.
Put a Ragdoll in a papasan chair and gravity takes care of the rest.
There may technically still be a cat in there.
You’ll have to look closely.
The Swivel Chair — Bengal
Most cats receive a chair and think:
Excellent. Somewhere to sleep.
The Bengal discovers that the chair rotates.
This changes everything.
Suddenly the chair isn’t furniture.
It’s equipment.
The Bengal can watch the kitchen.
Rotate.
Watch the hallway.
Rotate.
Check the window.
Rotate.
See what you’re doing.
Rotate.
You bought a swivel chair.
Your Bengal acquired a command centre.
The Recliner — Exotic Shorthair
A recliner exists for one reason.
To make doing absolutely nothing considerably more comfortable.
The Exotic Shorthair respects that.
Deeply.
There is no need to race around the house.
No need to investigate every noise.
No need to leap dramatically from one piece of furniture to another when there is a perfectly comfortable recliner right here.
The footrest comes up.
The cat stretches out.
And another productive afternoon comes quietly to an end.
The Mid-Century Armchair — Abyssinian
Mid-century chairs tend to be lean.
Clean.
Architectural.
Exposed wood frames, tapered legs and just enough upholstery to make them comfortable without making them bulky.
The Abyssinian feels right here.
Athletic.
Curious.
Elegant without looking overly precious.
She’ll sit beautifully in the chair just long enough for you to appreciate how perfectly everything works together.
Then she’ll notice the bookshelf.
And the top of the bookshelf.
And something above the bookshelf that you didn’t realize could be reached.
The chair was merely the beginning.
The Chesterfield Chair — Bombay
The Chesterfield chair brings all the attitude of the famous sofa into a smaller package.
Deep button tufting.
Rolled arms.
Leather.
A little dark.
A little dramatic.
Which makes the Bombay almost inevitable.
Sleek black coat.
Golden eyes.
Sitting against deep leather as though somebody designed the entire room specifically to make the cat look magnificent.
Nobody did.
But there is absolutely no reason to tell him that.
The Chaise Longue — Turkish Angora
Some chairs encourage sitting.
A chaise longue encourages posing.
One arm.
A long upholstered seat.
Enough room to stretch out in a manner that suggests you’ve had an exhausting day despite accomplishing very little.
The Turkish Angora understands immediately.
Long.
Elegant.
Beautifully composed.
She stretches across the chaise with the confidence of someone who knows the furniture was purchased largely to improve the room around her.
You may have thought you were buying a statement piece.
You were.
The statement is that the cat lives extremely well.
The Sculptural Chair — Sphynx
And then there are chairs that barely look like chairs.
Curved shells.
Unexpected materials.
Strange proportions.
Furniture that exists somewhere between something you sit on and something you’d expect to see in a design museum.
That’s where we find the Sphynx.
Because if you’re going to pair one of the world’s most visually distinctive cats with a chair, subtlety seems like a wasted opportunity.
The stranger the chair, the better.
Put the two together in a spectacular contemporary room and suddenly neither looks particularly unusual.
They simply look expensive.
So Which Accent Chair Should You Buy?
That depends.
Do you want something traditional?
Try a wingback or Bergère.
Something comfortable?
A club chair or recliner is difficult to beat.
Something compact?
Consider a slipper or barrel chair.
Something that makes the room more interesting?
A sculptural chair, chaise longue or beautiful mid-century piece can completely change the space.
Of course, if you have a cat, there is another consideration.
You can research dimensions.
Compare fabrics.
Measure the room.
Study construction.
Spend three weeks deciding between two slightly different shades of green.
Eventually, you’ll order the perfect chair.
It will arrive.
You’ll position it carefully.
You’ll stand back and admire it.
And approximately eleven seconds later, there will be a cat sitting in it.
Because choosing the right accent chair is ultimately a personal decision.
Your cat’s person, specifically.
