To be able to read the newspaper with your elbows decadently resting on the sides of an armchair instead of dangling in mid-air is one of life's sweet luxuries. It's one of those things you never count as important until you have to do without it.
In my dining room, the horseshoe chair flanks one side of the table...
...and the ikat bench has pride of place in the other (it's promoted from the foyer during dinner parties).
The two armchairs which I have yet to find will replace the woven leather ones in the above photo.
I love these leather peacock-blue ones from Cecconi's in West Hollywood because they're exceedingly comfortable, not overly large and their low profile means they don't take up much space.
(photo via Cecconi's website)
These upholstered tub chairs (in background) from the Covent Garden Hotel in London would also work. During my last visit there, I was so content sitting in one that I kept prolonging the lunch by ordering more refreshments so we wouldn't have to leave.
(Covent Garden Hotel, London, 2008)
Dainty little things, aren't they? And look, they're ever so slightly knock-kneed which makes me adore them all the more.
(Covent Garden Hotel, 2008)
Armchair: A snug refuge, an invitation to lassitude, a rest stop for weary triceps.
The search continues.