An accent chair is the piece that gives a room personality: a velvet occasional chair in a bay window, a patterned wing chair by the fire, a curved boucle chair in the bedroom. It does not have to match the sofa; its job is to contrast with it, and to give one more person somewhere good to sit.

A fabric armchair is the softest seat in the house: the reading chair, the feeding chair, the one by the window. Most of ours are the armchairs that match our fabric sofas, made on the same frame and in the same fabric so a suite can be completed exactly, but there are also standalone chairs in velvet, chenille and textured weaves.

A leather armchair ages better than any other chair in the house: the hide softens and gains a patina with use, it wipes clean, and it does not hold dust or odours. Ours range from the armchairs that match our Italian leather sofas to reclining chairs, lift-and-rise chairs and leather swivel chairs for a bedroom or study.

A lift-and-rise chair tilts forward and lifts you gently to standing at the touch of a button, then lowers you back into the seat. For anyone with a bad back, hips or knees, or less strength than they used to have, it makes getting up from a chair effortless, and it reclines like any other power chair for the rest of the day.

A swivel chair turns to face the conversation, the window or the television without being lifted, which is why it has become the favourite chair for open-plan rooms and bedrooms. Modern swivel chairs sit on a round metal base under a curved, often armless seat, and come in boucle, velvet and textured weaves as well as leather.

A footstool is the most useful small piece of furniture in a living room: a footrest, an extra seat when friends come round, a coffee table with a tray on top, and, in the storage versions, somewhere to keep the throws and the remote controls. Matched to the sofa it gives a tailored, finished look; in a contrasting fabric it becomes an accent.