Let’s clear up some dining chair myths to start:
Myth 1: You should buy a dining table with matching chairs. Nope. Fine if you love the whole set up, go ahead. But, instant bespokeness (not a real word) can be achieved by just picking your table and chairs separately.
Myth 2: Don’t mix wood colours. Pah! Nonsense. Trees in the forest don’t match and they look perfectly beautiful together to me. If the style of the chairs looks good with the table, you don’t necessarily need the chairs in the same wood as the table.
Myth 3: You need to spend a pretty penny for a pretty chair. No, and yes. You can get an amazing quality vintage dining chair from a salvage/vintage/secondhand shop for €50-ish. But, if buying new, I’d expect to pay €150 upwards per chair. So, no you don’t have to spend a fortune, but it would be easy to spend a fortune too…
Myth 4: Fabric dining chairs are hard to keep. Hands up. I don’t really get fabric dining chairs. How does that work with Bolognese? Or kids? Or God forbid, Bolognese AND kids?! So, I’d rarely recommend them or use them in designs. BUT, I do have some chairs in the edit with a little fabric and then good old wipeable leather. But, full fabric dining chairs? I salute you brave (and presumably spotless) souls.
So, what to pick and how to pick:
- Check what the chair is made from – double points for FSC certified wood so you know the wood is coming from a sustainably managed forest.
- Think about how much visual weight you want in a chair. If you have a small dining area, don’t go for an elaborate design with high backs. It will take up too much space and look cluttered.
- Think about traffic flow – do you need your dining chair to tuck in under the table when not in use? If you do, don’t go for anything with elbows or arms. They will sit out from the table.
- Think about how 6 or 8 chairs look together. You might lust after an elaborately designed dining chair individually, but put a load of them together and how will it look? When in doubt, keep it simple.
- I say this for every item but don’t buy temporary. It never is. Buy once, buy better.
These 20 wooden dining chairs are only a TINY selection of wonderful chairs out there, but I’ve purposely picked each chair from a wide range of suppliers, so you’ll have lots of great places to search for dining chairs that delight.
SAlternative Furniture 2. Kave Home 3. D40 Studio 4. Pieces.ie 5. SAlternative Furniture 6. Finnish Design Shop 7. ByFlou 8. The Snug Room 9. CA Design 10. Made.com 11. Graham and Green 12. The Wilds 13. Vobe Interiors 14. Mylestone Interiors 15. Neptune 16. Woo Design 17. Graham and Green 18. Industry & Co 19. April and the Bear 20. Sienna.ie