For a formal living room, an accent armchair provides just the right touch. It allows for the right warmth, while at the same time providing additional seating in a formal atmosphere. It's a way of introducing additional seating into the room without being so tacky as to bring in dining room chairs or metal folding chairs. In addition, the accent armchair provides more of a sense of comfort than a chair without arms would. Even if you are not doing formal entertaining, the fact that you have a formal living room says you should have furniture of a more formal nature than what you would use in an informal family room.

An accent armchair can also be an added addition to a formal dining room, although in most cases, armless chairs are used except for the two ends of the table. That doesn't mean you can't make use of an accent armchair in other places on the table, but you want to make sure if you do, it blends in with the rest of the table's setting. For example, if you use an accent armchair in a formal dining room, make certain it is a dining room chair and that the wood finish is of the same color as the other chairs—do not mix dark and light wood or even different shades of dark or light wood.

It's important when using an accent armchair in a formal living room that it matches or coordinates with the other furniture in the room. If you can't find a pattern to match what is already in the room, consider reupholstering all of the furniture in the room or buying customized slipcovers in an intricately formal fabric and design. Sometimes you can find an accent armchair that will coordinate with the furniture in the rest of the room, but it is very difficult. If the fabric on your other furniture is a solid color, it's much easier to find an accent armchair that will coordinate attractively as you need only have a matching base or background color—patterns are much more difficult to coordinate.

Even if you do not currently see the need for concern over the furniture in your living room, you never know when the occasion may arise. Most people begin with a celebration when someone receives a promotion, and that usually includes inviting important people from the office. An out of place accent armchair can possibly make the upper management of the company feel the promotion was an error. You want to dress to impress, and that includes your home.