The food might be fab, the conversation might sparkle, but if your dining chairs aren’t comfortable now, they never will be and you will be spending time with them every day.
A wide seat and good support are vital. Style, of course, is key. Pay attention to the back of the seat, too. It’s the part you see first, so it needs to look good.
Open backs feel light and airy; solid ones offer gravitas and confidence. The seat needs to be in proportion (and appropriate) to the table and space. Finding something suitable means thinking not only about size, but also about budget, (a full set can add up quickly) and durability (they’ve got to last). Here’s the essential chairs you need for ultimate dining room style. So stunning!
HIGH-END:
STUDIO CAVIT
Top-of-the-range American dining chairs that would look at home in Architectural Digest. Seek out Verellen’s simple, subtle and well-built Isabella and Baker’s luxe Marat by Jacques Garcia, which are the kind of thing you’d see around the best dining tables in New York. Also, chic Italian numbers like Tatou by Meridiani. An impressive line up. www.studiocavit.com
RESTORATION HARDWARE
Beautiful, Belgian-inspired designs with loose linen slip-covers that make everything look elegant. www.restorationhardware.com
CULT DESIGN
Established dining seats (and brands) such as Fritz Hansen Arne Jacobsen’s Series 7 from $750, and cult classics such as Danish company Carl Hansen & Son’s Wishbone, $1150, Elbow, and Safari chair, pictured, $2970. Also Gubi 5, $443, and Hay’s popular About A Chair, $429, from the company which created the award winning Prince chair for Prince Frederick of Denmark. www.cultdesign.com.au
SPENCE & LYDA
Big-name architects seek out its Matthew Hilton’s Colombo dining chair in walnut or American white oak, from $2095. Plenty of other great lookers. www.spenceandlyda.com.au
ELEGANT & MID-RANGE:
JAMES SAID
Adagio black dining chair with cane seating is a sophisticated looker, $990.
DOMO
Danish brand, Sika’s rattan dining chairs like Rossini are used consistently by Neil Perry and Thomas Hamel, as well as Piano, $395 and Melody, $550. www.domo.com.au
LIVING BY DESIGN
Few looks can match the simplicity of South Australian brand’s safari chairs, Noa, $399, director’s teak chairs, Rodda, $349 or wicker tub carvers, Lecco, $499. Ships nationwide (fast). www.livingbydesign.net.au
LA MAISON
From French to Belgian to American, they have all dining chair styles, including Hamptons-look woven seats such as Toronto. www.lamaison.net.au
MCM HOUSE
The best smart casual dining chairs in the city: go for Jac, in loose covered linen, (with or without arms), used at La Porte Space, or Marco with timber frame and leather club seating. The style set’s choice. www.mcmhouse.com
THONET
Since Michael Thonet worked out how to steam-bend solid rods of beech back in the 1850s, the café chair has become one of the most successful products of the industrial revolution and has been shipped around the world in the millions. Go for the classic No 18 in black or brown. www.thonet.com.au
