My bedroom was basically a place I went to sleep and that was it. Bed, dresser, bit of floor space… done. Looked exactly like those show flats developers create, you know? Functional but completely soulless. I’d been living like that for years without really thinking about it, until the pandemic hit and suddenly I was working from home way more than I’d expected.
Turns out spending entire days in a flat makes you notice things. Like how I didn’t have anywhere comfortable to sit except my desk chair (which is great for coding but terrible for everything else) or the sofa downstairs. I wanted somewhere in my bedroom to read without propping myself up against pillows like some sort of Victorian invalid. Somewhere to drink coffee in the mornings while I checked emails on my phone. Basic stuff, really, but my bedroom setup made it impossible.
Problem was, my bedroom is tiny. We’re talking maybe ten by twelve feet, and that’s being generous. Once you account for the bed, dresser, and enough space to actually move around without doing weird contortions… there’s not much left. I measured it properly one weekend (software engineer brain kicked in) and realized I had exactly thirty-two inches of width in the corner by the window. That’s it.
So began what I now refer to as The Great Chair Hunt of 2022. Started innocently enough with a quick Google search, ended up consuming my evenings for about three months. I’d be scrolling through furniture websites until midnight, bookmarking chairs, reading reviews, getting lost in debates about fabric types on Reddit. My search history was embarrassing – just pages and pages of “small bedroom chair,” “compact armchair,” “chairs for tiny spaces.”
Everything I found was either massive (seriously, some of these recliners were the size of small cars) or looked like something from a hospital waiting room. The small chairs were all hard, angular things that might be fine for perching on while you tie your shoes but would be torture for actually relaxing. The comfortable chairs were all designed for spacious living rooms, not cramped bedrooms in converted Victorian houses.
Had this lightbulb moment about four weeks in when I was getting frustrated with the whole process. I was approaching this like there was one perfect chair out there waiting to be discovered, when actually I needed to find something that worked specifically for my space and how I actually live. Revolutionary thinking, I know.
Grabbed my measuring tape and properly mapped out the corner where a chair could go. Measured the walking space around it, how far the dresser drawers opened, where the radiator was positioned. Turns out I was working with even less space than I’d thought – anything wider than about twenty-eight inches would make the room feel cramped.
Eventually found this armchair from Homelegance that actually seemed designed for real flats rather than magazine photoshoots. Grey fabric (learned my lesson about light colors after a disastrous cream cushion incident), proper arms for resting books or mugs, and crucially – only twenty-eight inches wide. Four inches might not sound like much, but in a small bedroom it’s the difference between feeling cozy and feeling claustrophobic.
I’ll be honest, I was prepared to compromise on comfort. Figured anything small enough for my bedroom would probably feel like sitting on a dining chair. But this thing’s actually comfortable – proper comfortable, not just “well, it’s better than the floor” comfortable. The seat’s deep enough to curl up in, and the back has this slight curve that supports your spine properly. Think they actually engineered it to be compact rather than just shrinking a normal chair and hoping it’d still work.
Cost about four hundred quid, which felt steep until I calculated how much I’d been spending at coffee shops when I needed somewhere decent to read or work. Plus, you’re looking at this thing every day, right? Might as well be something you don’t hate.
Assembly was refreshingly simple after some of my other furniture disasters. Just screw the legs on, job done. Though definitely get someone to help carry it upstairs – compact doesn’t mean lightweight, and I learned that the hard way with my back complaining for three days afterward.
What I didn’t expect was how much having proper seating would change my bedroom routine. Now I actually spend time in there beyond just sleeping. Read most evenings in the chair instead of hunching over my laptop in bed (which my physio had been moaning about for months). Sit there with morning coffee, looking out the window while I plan my day. It’s become this little sanctuary within my own flat.
The fabric’s held up better than expected too. Was worried about cat hair – my neighbor’s cat has somehow decided my flat is also his flat – but it brushes off easily enough. And unlike that velvet experiment I tried last year (never again), this material doesn’t show every tiny mark or water ring.
If I was doing it again, might look for something with a slightly taller back. Sometimes during really long reading sessions I catch myself wanting more head support. But honestly, that’s such a minor complaint compared to actually having comfortable seating that doesn’t dominate the entire room.
Think the key was being realistic about what would actually work in my space rather than what looked good in those perfectly staged Instagram photos. Would I have preferred one of those enormous, luxurious reading chairs I kept seeing online? Obviously. But in my actual bedroom, with my actual lifestyle, this smaller chair works infinitely better. Sometimes the best solution isn’t the most dramatic one – it’s just the one that makes your daily routine slightly more pleasant.
My parents still don’t understand why I “needed” a chair in my bedroom when there’s “perfectly good seating downstairs,” but they don’t work from home in a small flat. Having somewhere comfortable to retreat to within your own space… it’s worth way more than I initially realized.
