Avoiding back spasms and sore butts at the dinner table
October 9, 2011 10:10 AM Subscribe
Recommend comfortable, modern dining room chairs, please.
I need new dining room chairs. I’m looking for something relatively casual, inexpensive ($100 per chair or less, ideally), and modern looking. However, I’d also like chairs that are comfortable enough to sit in for a long dinner and after-dinner conversation.
The types of chairs I’m looking at are: knock-off Eames chairs, this type of aluminum chair, and this type of molded plywood chair. I’m open to other styles.
I don’t want to buy chairs and then find out they’re painful to sit in for more than 20 minutes. I've sat in comfortable, unpadded chairs that were more traditional styles, but haven't been able to test out more modern looking chairs. I'm also concerned that cheaper might mean more painful.
Has anyone purchased either these particular chairs or similar chairs that you would recommend based on comfort? Has anyone purchased these or similar chairs that you would not recommend? Alternatively, can anyone suggest a good way to figure out if a chair will be comfortable or not, short of sitting in the dining room display at a furniture store for an hour?
I need new dining room chairs. I’m looking for something relatively casual, inexpensive ($100 per chair or less, ideally), and modern looking. However, I’d also like chairs that are comfortable enough to sit in for a long dinner and after-dinner conversation.
The types of chairs I’m looking at are: knock-off Eames chairs, this type of aluminum chair, and this type of molded plywood chair. I’m open to other styles.
I don’t want to buy chairs and then find out they’re painful to sit in for more than 20 minutes. I've sat in comfortable, unpadded chairs that were more traditional styles, but haven't been able to test out more modern looking chairs. I'm also concerned that cheaper might mean more painful.
Has anyone purchased either these particular chairs or similar chairs that you would recommend based on comfort? Has anyone purchased these or similar chairs that you would not recommend? Alternatively, can anyone suggest a good way to figure out if a chair will be comfortable or not, short of sitting in the dining room display at a furniture store for an hour?
I'm pretty happy with my IKEA Tobias Chairs, which might be your style. I got them pretty cheap on Craigslist.
posted by Xalf at 1:28 PM on October 9, 2011
posted by Xalf at 1:28 PM on October 9, 2011
I used to have those West Elm scoopbacks. They're really uncomfortable for long periods of time, and after heavy use (by not-that-heavy people) the legs tend to splay out. Do not recommend.
In my recent search for new dining chairs, I went to C&B to try out those Deltas. They're okay, but after about 10 minutes of sitting in them (I brought a book with me to the store and just parked), I was starting to get a sore tailbone.
Finally I just threw up my hands and gave in to my dreams and bought real Eames chairs (not the dowel-leg versions pictured in your knockoff; just the metal eiffel base). I seriously considered getting those very ones you link to from Overstock, and checked the knockoffs out IRL at a semi-sketchy furniture store in NYC. They're really nice, very similar to the originals, and were comfortable to sit in. In my experience with the real ones, which are slightly higher quality but honestly not all that much so, they're very comfortable, really great for long, talky dinner parties. I say go for those.
posted by firstbest at 3:30 PM on October 9, 2011
In my recent search for new dining chairs, I went to C&B to try out those Deltas. They're okay, but after about 10 minutes of sitting in them (I brought a book with me to the store and just parked), I was starting to get a sore tailbone.
Finally I just threw up my hands and gave in to my dreams and bought real Eames chairs (not the dowel-leg versions pictured in your knockoff; just the metal eiffel base). I seriously considered getting those very ones you link to from Overstock, and checked the knockoffs out IRL at a semi-sketchy furniture store in NYC. They're really nice, very similar to the originals, and were comfortable to sit in. In my experience with the real ones, which are slightly higher quality but honestly not all that much so, they're very comfortable, really great for long, talky dinner parties. I say go for those.
posted by firstbest at 3:30 PM on October 9, 2011
Also: West Elm's Klismos chair is surprisingly beautiful in person, and really comfortable. I love the glossy red finish.
posted by firstbest at 3:32 PM on October 9, 2011
posted by firstbest at 3:32 PM on October 9, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
I did find a Apartment Therapy thread with some useful comments when I was looking for chairs which is here.
posted by SpaceWarp13 at 10:18 AM on October 9, 2011