Explore five modern Italian lounge chairs, compare their signature designs and comfort features, and discover which style best suits your space and lifestyle.
A lounge chair’s dimensions, type of base, and material depend more on its place in the home than on the color of the upholstery. In a reading corner, a wide seat with an ottoman is the comfortable choice. A swivel base makes sense in an open-plan living room, a shell with a low seat by the window of a small apartment, and an outdoor-rated body with no cushions on an open balcony.
Five models made in Italy by Nicoline Italia, Kartell, Gamma Arredamenti, and Midj are suited to these spots and to a pair set around a coffee table. Four are indoor chairs made to order with a choice of upholstery, the fifth is molded from polycarbonate, and delivery can be arranged through Philadelphia-based Room Service 360° (https://www.roomservice360.com/).
Nicoline Italia Nest: Two Widths for a Reading Corner
Nest comes in two widths, the standard 37¾″ and the larger maxi at 47¾″, and both are 33½″ deep and 28¾″ high. Seat depth (22¾″) and seat height (17¼″) stay the same across the two versions, so you choose the size by the wall space you have or by your habit of sitting with your legs tucked under. Paired with the 24″ × 17″ × 15¼″ Nest Footstool, the chair replaces a chaise lounge in a reading corner.
Inside the body, with its vertical striations on the back, is a frame of wood and solid fir with reinforced elastic webbing and polyurethane foam in different densities. The short legs are finished in gunmetal, antique bronze, or satin brass. Beyond the fabrics, the leather range includes Nobile top-grain, 2.0-2.2 mm thick, with Cod. 06 stitching in the upholstery color or a shade lighter or darker.
Kartell Foliage Fire-Resistant: A Compact Chair for a Small Apartment
Patricia Urquiola’s Foliage Fire-Resistant is 28¼″ wide and 33″ deep, yet its seat still measures 27½″ across, because the shell has no wide arms. For a spot by the window in a small apartment, Foliage has the lowest seat of the five at 14½″ off the floor, and the back rises to 34¾″.
The soft shell of polyurethane foam rests on four slim metal legs with an epoxy-polyester coating in three colors, so the floor stays visible underneath. The fire-resistant Trevira polyester fabric, in beige, gray, green, or orange, is topstitched in a zigzag relief that resembles foliage, and the construction is tested to UNI EN 1728/2002.
Gamma Arredamenti Dean: A Swivel Version for an Open Floor Plan
Dean, from Gamma Arredamenti’s Dandy collection, comes on a fixed or swivel base and measures 29″ wide by 31″ deep. In an open floor plan, the swivel version works for the sofa group and the dining area at once: you can turn toward the table or the TV without moving any furniture. Seat height is 17″.
The curved S-shaped profile, 30″ high with arms, is built on a metal frame with polyurethane foam cushions. Vertical Gros Grain piping on the seat comes in colors from yellow and orange to black and white, and the topstitching can match the fabric or leather or go lighter or darker. Leather options include full-grain Danka, 1.9-2.1 mm thick.
Midj Suite: An Open Ash Frame for a Pair of Chairs
Suite has an open frame of stained ash with geometric cutouts that keep the chair see-through, so two of them at a coffee table don’t form a partition. Each chair is 28¼″ wide, 29½″ deep, and 27½″ high, and two side by side take up 56½″, enough to set a pair across from the sofa in a mid-sized living room.
AtelierNanni, the Bologna studio of Emilio and Cesare Ehr Nanni, designed the collection for Midj. The 16¼″-high seat and the back are made of Hide or Tuscan Hide hard leather with no plump cushions. The ash frame, with arms at 22¾″, is stained in 11 shades, from Natural Oak and Flamed Walnut to Graphite Grey and Cherry Red.
Kartell Uncle Jim: Polycarbonate for Balconies and Terraces
Philippe Starck’s Uncle Jim is molded from transparent or mass-dyed polycarbonate that is suitable for outdoor use. Within a 28¼″ by 27½″ footprint, the back tops out at 41″. Its angled profile, a seat 15″ high and 20½″ across, and arms at 23¾″ provide ergonomic support without fabric cushions, the kind you have to put away in bad weather.
Part of the Uncle collection, the chair comes in transparent or matte finishes and is certified to EN 1728:2012 and EN 16139:2013. Wipe the polycarbonate with a damp cloth and soap, never alcohol, acetone, or ammonia. The product page lists delivery in 2-4 weeks, so a terrace is easy to furnish before the season starts.
Which Chair Goes Where
A different construction suits each spot in the home:
Reading corner: Nest in two widths, with the footstool
Small apartment: Foliage Fire-Resistant and its low seat
Open floor plan: the swivel Dean
Pair at the coffee table: two Suite chairs spanning 56½″
Balcony: the polycarbonate Uncle Jim, expected in 2-4 weeks
The four upholstered models go into production in Italy once ordered, and their product pages list 12-16 weeks. According to Room Service 360°, that lead time can extend slightly in August and over Christmas.
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