Barcelona Chair With or Without Ottoman? A Buyer’s Decision Guide

TL;DR

• Choose the Barcelona chair with the ottoman if you want to put your feet up and have about 1.5 m of floor depth. Choose the single chair if space or budget is tight, or you mostly sit upright.
• At Sederica, the single chair costs €699 and the chair and ottoman set starts at €1,099, so the ottoman adds €400.
• Knoll’s original ottoman, the Barcelona Stool, is listed from €4,322 on its own (smow, 2026).
• We sell the ottoman only with a chair, so decide before you order.

Deciding on a Barcelona chair with or without ottoman comes down to how you sit, how much floor you have and how much you want to spend. Here, “set” means the chair plus its matching ottoman, and “single chair” means the chair alone. We compare both with real sizes and prices.

Should You Buy a Barcelona Chair With or Without the Ottoman?

Buy the set if the chair will be your main place to relax. Buy the single chair if it will be an accent seat, a chair for visitors or the only chair that fits the spot. The seat and back angle are identical on both.

Choose the Barcelona chair set if:

• You read or watch films for an hour or more and like your feet up.
• You have a clear floor zone about 75 cm wide and 1.5 to 1.6 m long.
• You often have guests, because the ottoman doubles as a spare seat.

Choose the single Barcelona chair if:

• Your room is small, or the chair must fit a corner or bedroom.
• People will sit for short spells, as in a home office or reception.
• You want the look for €699 and would rather spend the difference on a rug.

Barcelona Chair With Ottoman vs Without: Side-by-Side

The two options differ most in floor space and price. The table compares our Barcelona chair single with our Barcelona chair set, and what each difference means at home.

Feature	Barcelona chair single	Barcelona chair set	What it means
Sederica price	€699	From €1,099	The ottoman adds €400.
Floor depth in use	About 76 cm	About 1.5 to 1.6 m	The set needs roughly twice the depth.
How you sit	Upright, feet on the floor	Feet up, weight back in the seat	Neither version reclines.
Extra uses	None	Spare seat or low table	The ottoman earns its space with guests.
Adding the ottoman later	Not possible at Sederica	Included from day one	Decide before you order.

What Does the Barcelona Ottoman Add?

The ottoman adds a footrest that also works as a spare seat. It does not make the chair recline, because the back angle is fixed. It changes where your legs rest, not how your back sits.

It was a seat from the start. Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich designed it alongside the chair for the German Pavilion at the 1929 International Exposition in Barcelona. The chairs were for the Spanish king and queen, and the stool was for their attendants (Design Within Reach, 2026).

Knoll has made it since 1953 (smow, 2026) and still sells it as the Barcelona Stool. Our history of the 1929 Barcelona Pavilion tells the rest of the story.

Our own observation: the original stool is 37.5 cm high, about 5 cm lower than the 43 cm chair seat (Knoll, 2026). With your feet on it, your legs slope gently down and your weight settles back. That small drop is why a firm seat starts to feel like a lounge chair.

How Much Space Does a Barcelona Chair and Ottoman Need?

A Barcelona chair and ottoman need about 1.5 to 1.6 m of floor depth in use, twice that of the chair alone. Our chair is 76 cm deep, and the original Knoll stool is 59 cm deep (Knoll, 2026). Allow a 15 to 25 cm gap between them for your legs.

Width barely changes, because the 63.5 cm-wide stool is narrower than our 75 cm-wide chair. A single chair covers about 0.57 m² of floor, while a set in use covers about 1.1 to 1.2 m².

Test it before you order. Mark a 75 × 76 cm rectangle on the floor with masking tape, then a 64 × 59 cm box about 20 cm in front of it. If the tape blocks the route to a door or the sofa, choose the single chair.

Is the Barcelona Ottoman Worth the Extra €400?

Yes, if you will use it most evenings. No, if the chair is mainly for show or short sits. Used four evenings a week for two years, the €400 ottoman works out at less than €1 an evening.

The gap is far bigger with the originals. A German Knoll dealer lists the Barcelona Chair from €8,496 and the Barcelona Stool from €4,322 (smow, 2026). The original stool alone costs almost four times our full set.

Save the €400 if you already own a sofa with a footstool, or if the chair lives in an office or hallway where nobody stretches out.

Which Barcelona Chair Option Suits Your Room?

Match the option to how long people will sit. Short stays suit the single chair, and long evenings suit the set.

Small flat or bedroom: the single chair

In a room narrower than about 2.5 m, one chair is usually the limit. A single white Barcelona chair looks lighter in a small room than a dark one.

Reading corner or living room: the set

If you read for an hour at a stretch, the ottoman makes that comfortable. Our black Barcelona chair with ottoman sits well beside a floor lamp and a low side table.

Home office or reception: the single chair

Visitors sit upright for a few minutes, so a footrest adds little. A black Barcelona chair replica looks formal and its leather wipes clean.

A pair of chairs: one set plus one single

This is our favourite way to save on a pair. Place the ottoman between two chairs, and it becomes a shared footrest or a third seat. One set plus one single costs from €1,798, which is €400 less than two sets.

For a bright room, pair the white Barcelona chair and ottoman set with a white single chair. Our five living room layouts for a Barcelona chair show the spacing.

Barcelona Chair Single vs Set: Pros and Cons

The single chair wins on price and flexibility, while the set wins on comfort for long sessions.

Option	Pros	Cons
Single chair	Costs €400 less, fits small rooms and is easy to move	Long sessions tire your legs
Chair and ottoman set	Feet-up lounging, plus a spare seat for guests	Needs about twice the floor depth

Barcelona Ottoman Buying Mistakes to Avoid

The Barcelona ottoman buying mistake that is hardest to undo is planning to add it later. We sell our ottoman only with a chair, and natural leather can vary slightly in tone between batches. If you might want one, order the set.

• Do not buy the set for a spot that is too short, or the ottoman ends up against a wall.
• Do not expect the ottoman to make the chair recline, because the back angle stays the same.
• Do not squeeze two full sets into a small room, since together they need over 2 m² of floor.

Why Buy Your Barcelona Chair From Sederica?

We sell both options in black, white and most other colours, so you pick the format first and the colour second. Our Barcelona style chairs are replicas of the Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich design. They are not made or licensed by Knoll, and we are open about that.

Every chair has hand-tufted leather cushions that clip onto a polished steel X-frame, so there is nothing to build. Orders ship from our EU warehouse with free EU delivery in 4 to 7 working days, VAT included and no customs charges, plus 14-day free returns and a 2-year warranty.

Compare our Barcelona chair and ottoman sets, see the Barcelona chairs sold without an ottoman, or browse the full Sederica Barcelona collection.

Barcelona Chair With or Without Ottoman: Your Questions Answered

What is the Barcelona ottoman called?

Knoll, which has made the original since 1953, calls it the Barcelona Stool. Many shops, Sederica included, call it the Barcelona ottoman. Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich designed it with the chair in 1929.

Is the Barcelona chair comfortable without the ottoman?

Yes, for sitting upright to read or talk. The seat is firm and pitched back at a fixed angle. For longer sessions, a footrest takes the weight off your legs.

Can I buy the Barcelona ottoman on its own later?

Knoll sells its stool separately, but Sederica sells the ottoman only as part of a set. Order the set now if you may want one.

Can you sit on a Barcelona ottoman?

Yes. Knoll describes it as a side seat or occasional table as well as a footrest (MillerKnoll, 2026). At 37.5 cm high, the original suits a short sit or a tray of drinks.

Should I buy two Barcelona chairs or one chair with an ottoman?

Buy two chairs for a conversation pair or a reception area, and one set if the chair is mainly for you. One set plus one single chair gives you both for €400 less than two sets.