Our new dining chairs are here! And they coordinate with the freshly painted table pretty well (in that non-matchy matchy way, of course).
Before
Our old chairs were those ubiquitous wood Windsor-ish chairs that I’ve seen in every thrift store I’ve ever been in. They were not special and very not comfortable sitting for long stretches. Time for a change.
The world of dining chairs is enormous, so I came up with a few parameters to help guide my decision:
- They had to be comfortable, which meant I needed to be able to test them out before buying. (Sorry, internet.)
- The seats needed to be upholstered, preferably the backs too.
- The upholstery needed to be wipe-able: vinyl, leather, fake leather, whatever. I briefly considered going with heavily scotch guarded fabric, but in the end, I know I would have been constantly worried about sticky hands and stains. I’m low maintenance. I need low maintenance things.
I searched for a set of chairs secondhand, but came up short. I found a few sets, but most older chairs are very petite. We are pretty average-size people, but the smallness of the chairs just did not look inviting. And every single set I found had wobbly chairs. Maybe they could have been fixed, maybe not. I didn’t want to take that chance. This is not a “holidays only” kind of dining room. These chairs are going to be used everyday, multiple times a day. Anything uncomfortable or wobbly need not apply.
After a lot more searching, I was able to meet all of my criteria with these slightly mid-century looking chairs from World Market. But I stalked them until they went on sale, and when they did, I pounced.
Regular price, they are $140, on sale for $110, and then I used a couple of coupons (out of the Entertainment Book of all places), which brought them down to about $103 each including tax. Not cheap, but not super expensive either. And we are going to use the heck out of these chairs, so it’s money well spent.
I like how they don’t stick up too far above the table, maintaining a more casual feel. I’m thinking of adding the green painted chair to the mix, especially as we transition Elise out of the high chair. She can beat that thing up, and it won’t really matter. Plus it adds a nice shot of color.
I’m almost finished with the whole room. I have a couple of tiny things to add, some accessorizing and then I’m calling it!
I love them! A nod to mid-century modern without being the petite size? Sign me up!
Yes! They come in bright colors too, which brings out the mid-centuryness more. The brown definitely tempers the style a little.
So…a year later, how are the chairs? Are the still extremely comfortable? Are they wobbly yet? I hate wobbly chairs…I just want a chair that is sturdy but comfortable for long Italian dinners..
Wow, it has been a year! The chairs are doing great. Not wobbly at all after everyday use. We use them for meals, but also for working at the computer, etc.
I did some testing and the seat on the chair I sit in all the time is a little less firm than another chair that doesn’t see much use. Not uncomfortable, just broken in. And not noticeable by looking at them, but just with the sit test. (Perhaps I need to rotate them.) Fake leather is still doing great too!
Hope that helps!
Thanks…it does help.