What Is Better a Recliner or a Chair With Footstools?

Space

• If your room is small, your available space and furniture arrangement may dictate the chair type. Study your room to determine whether you'll have more room in front of the chair or behind it.

  The footrest of a recliner opens into the room when you use it, but lowers for easy passage through your seating area when you rise. Footstools take up space in front of your chair at all times, in use or not, but you can place the back of the chair flush against the wall. With recliners, the back extends when you recline, so you have to float them away from the wall. Even wall-hugging recliners require some open space between the chair back and the wall.

Aesthetics

• For most decorating styles, a chair and footstool just looks better than a big, bulky recliner. That doesn't mean a recliner won't work for you. It does mean you should investigate recliners that look more like stationary chairs than traditional recliners. On some, the movable footrest is barely visible unless you're looking for it.

  Despite aesthetic advancements in recliner design, some interiors are still better suited to a chair and footstool because of the style details. For example, a leggy bergere chair and ottoman will always look more at home in a French-inspired room than even the daintiest of recliners.

  You also have more cover selections with a chair and footstool. Many fabrics that wear well on stationary chairs -- such as velvet, cotton or chenille -- don't hold up to a recliner's motion; the moving parts rub against each other. Suede and buttery-soft, uncorrected leathers are also bad recliner options. Recliner covers are typically limited to corrected, protected leather, vinyl, microfiber or heavy, flat-woven fabrics.

Comfort

• If you want to elevate your feet, presumably you want a comfortable chair -- which means your chair has to fit your body. With recliners, your options are limited, especially if you want a recliner that looks like a regular chair. The drawback to disguised recliners is scale; most of them are small, the headrests are low and the footrests don't extend very far. Recliners that fit large users and those of average to tall height tend toward the traditional recliner look.

  With a chair and footstool, you can find attractive options in any scale and style. Some manufacturers even offer flex-back club chairs, so you don't have to sacrifice reclining if you opt for the footstool.

Flexibility

• A chair and footstool provide more flexibility than a recliner. A recliner is always a recliner, but you can use the footstool as extra seating when you entertain. You can use a footstool with a different chair, should you decide to rearrange your room, or you can opt not to use it at all. It's also easier to reupholster a chair and footstool when it's time to redecorate or refurbish.