The seat decides how a dining chair feels, how you clean it and how heavy it is to pull out, more than the style does. The 17 designs on the first page of this grid have four kinds of seat. The table groups them from their product pages; The Chair - PP501 appears twice because it comes with a leather or a reed cord seat.
Seat | Chairs on the first page | Seat height (cm) | Weight (kg) | Care listed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Woven paper cord, reed cord or rattan | Wishbone (Y) Chair - CH24, CH23 Chair, CH36 Side Chair, The Chair - PP501, Cesca B32 Side Chair | 43 to 47 | 4.8 to 12 | Dust and spot clean |
Moulded shell in plywood, plastic or polycarbonate | Series 7 Chair, DSW Style Chair, DSR Style Chair, DAW Style Plastic Dining Chair, Masterchair, Louis Ghost Armchair | 42 to 45.5 | 6 to 11 | Dust or a damp cloth |
Leather | CH20 Elbow Chair, The Chair - PP501 | 47 | 7.8 and 12 | Dust, then a damp cloth or leather cleaner |
Padded fabric or velvet | No. 42 Chair, Beetle Style Dining Chair, Tulip Chair, Tulip Chair - Fibreglass, Tulip Arm Chair | 43 to 48 | 6 to 13 | Spot clean or vacuum |
Woven seats include the lightest chair on the page, the 4.8 kg CH23, and need keeping dry: the Wishbone page advises brushing the cord gently and avoiding excess moisture. Shells list dusting or a damp cloth, so they wipe down quickly after a meal. The Beetle Style chair is fully upholstered in velvet over high-density foam, and the three Tulip chairs add a cushion to the shell.
More pieces by these designers are on the Hans J. Wegner, Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen pages. For lounge and accent seating, see the wider chair collection.
Measure the table before you choose. Seat height, width and arms decide whether a set works, and each product page lists all three.
On the first page, seats run from 42 cm on the DAW Style Plastic Dining Chair to about 48 cm on the Tulip Arm Chair, measured to the top of its cushion. If you mix designs around one table, compare their seat heights first; the Louis Ghost Armchair is the only one that lists none.
The narrowest chair on the first page is the 45 cm Series 7 Chair, and the widest is the 67 cm Tulip Arm Chair. Six Series 7 chairs side by side take up 270 cm; six Tulip Arm Chairs take 402 cm. Add up the widths of the chairs you want, compare the total with each side of your dining table, and leave room between them.
Five designs have arms: the CH20 Elbow Chair, The Chair - PP501, the No. 42 Chair, the Louis Ghost Armchair and the Tulip Arm Chair, at 53.5 to 67 cm wide. Two list an armrest height: 67 cm on the No. 42 and 70 cm on The Chair. Measure from the floor to the underside of your table top. If the arm sits higher, the chair stops at the table edge instead of sliding under it.
Yes. The CH23 Chair has a black lacquered solid ash frame with a paper cord seat, and at 4.8 kg it is the lightest chair on the first page. The Cesca B32 Side Chair comes in ash or black lacquered beech on a polished stainless steel frame. The Series 7 Chair in walnut lists a lacquered finish that keeps the natural wood grain.
Yes. The CH20 Elbow Chair has a leather seat on a solid ash frame, and The Chair - PP501 has an Italian leather seat. A seat cushion in Italian semi-aniline leather, with a non-slip fabric underside, is sold separately for the Wishbone (Y) Chair. It measures 48.5 × 38.5 × 3.5 cm, and the chair is not included.
Six designs on the first page have solid wood frames. The Wishbone (Y) Chair is solid beech; the CH23, CH36, CH20, The Chair and No. 42 are solid ash. The Series 7 Chair is moulded plywood on steel legs. The Cesca B32 Side Chair has an ash or black lacquered beech frame on polished steel, and the DSW and DAW Style chairs pair a plastic shell with beech legs.
On the first page, the CH23 Chair is the lightest at 4.8 kg. The DSR Style Chair, Masterchair, Louis Ghost Armchair and Beetle Style Dining Chair each weigh 6 kg, and the Tulip Chair 6.8 kg. The heaviest are the fibreglass Tulip Chair at 13 kg, The Chair at 12 kg and the DSW Style Chair at 11 kg. A light chair is easier to pull out at every meal.
Nine of the 17 designs on the first page are listed as fully assembled, including the Wishbone, CH23, Cesca and the fibreglass Tulip Chair. The other eight need one step. The Series 7 has its legs fitted to the base; the DSW, DSR, DAW, Masterchair and Beetle Style chairs have the base fitted to the seat; and the Tulip and Tulip Arm chairs have the top fitted to the base.
Only the Series 7 Chair lists stacking. Its product page gives the instruction "Stackable", and at 45 cm wide and 8 kg it is also the narrowest chair on the first page. None of the other chairs there mentions stacking, so treat them as single chairs when you plan storage or extra seating.
The three Tulip chairs on the first page stand on one cast aluminium base rather than four legs. The Tulip Chair and Tulip Arm Chair have polypropylene shells, and the Tulip Chair - Fibreglass a hardened fibreglass shell; all three carry a cushion in a cotton and polyester mix. The fibreglass version arrives fully assembled, and the other two have the top fitted to the base.
Follow the care line on each product page. The Wishbone (Y) Chair lists dusting, spot cleaning and oiling for its beech frame, and its page advises brushing the cord gently and avoiding excess moisture so it keeps its tension. The CH23 Chair lists dusting and spot cleaning, and the Cesca B32 Side Chair, with its woven rattan seat, does the same.
Some pieces and finishes are held in stock for faster dispatch. On the first page, eight chairs show a stock dispatch line on the finish shown in the grid, including the DSW Style Chair and the Cesca B32 Side Chair; the rest show a longer lead time. Check the line under the Add to Cart button, because it can change with the finish you choose.
The product pages credit pieces to Hans J. Wegner, Charles Eames, Eero Saarinen, Arne Jacobsen, Marcel Breuer, Philippe Starck and Kai Kristiansen. These are reproductions: each product page states that the item is not manufactured by or affiliated with the original designer or associated parties. Customer support can answer questions about a specific piece.
