where can I find fun chic comfortbable chair?
January 25, 2012 10:48 AM   Subscribe

Help me furnish my living room with child-friendly, chic, stow-away-able chairs

I am furnishing my living room to be a flexible classroom when needed. Specifically, I want to buy comfortable seats for 6 people. It's going to be used for circle time with kids. We should be able to use them to play music-chair game and not having safety issues. So no rigid, wobbly plastic chairs that can hurt the kids. I hope they are colorful, appealing to the eyes, safe and comfortable. Adults should be able to sit on them comfortably. Better yet, I want to stow them away in a closet when not using them so that we have free open space for other activities. I haven't found any furniture that is what I want. Bean bag is not good enough because it's hard to get up and it's not comfortable. The hivemind, could you help me out? Budget is an issue, but I rather how what's out there first.
Another thing I want to buy is nice big rug. I want the rug to be comfortable and pretty, appealing to the kids, but also has a modern design, so that adults would enjoy having it in the living room. Any place to shop for the rug?
Thanks!!!
posted by akomom to Shopping (8 answers total)
 
I think the needs of the kids are harder to meet, so my suggestions aim there rather than at adult chairs.
- The Container Store kids chair
- Ikea Fargglad chair
- Ikea Bolmen stool

FWIW, I have seen adults use all these as chairs. They're not the most comfortable, but they work for most adults for a little while.
posted by cocoagirl at 11:03 AM on January 25, 2012


I used to have a bunch of really big pillows that I used when I needed extra seating...?
posted by mie at 11:05 AM on January 25, 2012


I have three Philippe Starck Prince AHA stools.

They're light, stable, and brightly colored yet sophisticated. They also alternate well as side tables, which is nice. They're easily shoved in corners, and if you stack them, they also look like a neat sculpture. My adult friends don't mind sitting on them, especially if we're playing a board game or sharing snacks. Oh, and they take a serious beating without looking like a pre-school's crayon-covered crap.

The site I linked to has them priced out at $110 a piece, but that's a total lie. I got mine for $40 a piece at a furniture store sale in Brooklyn, which isn't much more expensive than Ikea stuff. Do some digging!
posted by functionequalsform at 11:17 AM on January 25, 2012


Response by poster: Thanks for the reply so far. But those are not what I was looking for. I found this,
http://www.homedit.com/comfortable-nest-for-small-spaces/
but it can not be easily stored in closet. It must be very expensive and I can't find them. So, any more suggestions?
posted by akomom at 1:09 PM on January 25, 2012


Can you fit stacking chairs in your closet? Our school uses the chrome-legged stacking chairs pictured here, and they're not unbearable for adults (the sizes we use for the older grades are more comfortable than the kindergartens) - but there are a lot of nice, adult size ones available on the site too. Not colourful, but something clean and simple like this could be nice and looks really durable.

What about foam cube ottomans? They might stack away easily.
posted by peagood at 1:30 PM on January 25, 2012 [1 favorite]


Best answer: A bunch of possibilities, leaning heavily toward "fun looking":

Cheap:
Ikea "Mammut" stool (not foldable, but cheap, light, stable)

Expensive but under $100 per:
Offi Capsule Chair, $70 each, different colors
Offi Tiki Stool $80 (but cheaper in bulk)
Silly Soft Iggy Seat, $45 each, different colors/animals
Pkolino has a bunch of cute kids' chairs (including the Soft Silly Iggy previously linked) under $100

Less accessible or I couldn't find the price:
Magis Me Too "Trioli" chair (not foldable and *very* expensive, but cool) - There are a lot of cool chairs like this, for example the Bobles Tumbling Elephant which cost over $100/chair. I'm going to guess that is outside your budget?
Luxxbox has a bunch of nice kid/adult friendly colorful stool designs, but they only ship within Australia right now and I haven't seen pricing info. (That link is to a kickstarter page, but it gives a better quick overview of their product lines than their homepage does.)
Zenith Interiors Stool 60 is a similar thing, colorful fun stool, but I can't find pricing info.
Weamo kids' stools are fun, but over $100.
Flux Chair is way cool, colorful, folds up, but is $200. Sounds like the Flux Jr, kid size model might be more like $100, but not sure of this.
posted by LobsterMitten at 3:54 PM on January 25, 2012 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Thanks LobsterMitten, your post broadens my horizon. Now I am on my journey to realize my plan of setting up a fun environment for kids to play and learn.
posted by akomom at 4:51 PM on January 25, 2012


The P'Kolino stuff is super cute and our son loves playing with the pieces and sitting in his own chair. They are, however, not really large enough or supportive enough for anyone over 50lbs. Still a good buy and well made.
posted by flesti at 12:33 PM on January 26, 2012


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