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Dining Chairs

The simplest things in the home can be the hardest to get right. Celebrated 20th-century designer Mies van der Rohe famously declared that it was easier to design a skyscraper than a chair. Browse our selection of classic and contemporary dining chairs here.

Jimi Solid Rubberwood Bar Bench La Redoute

This definitely has echoes of classic Ercol and it’s a great space-saver as well as a versatile piece that can be used in kitchens, halls and even bedrooms, so it’s well worth the investment. Rubberwood is regarded as eco-friendly because it's harvested when it no longer produces latex, meaning it would otherwise be burned, so it’s given a useful second life. It’s also more affordable, since it’s regarded as a by-product.
Two Bergen Dining Chairs Cox & Cox

Chairs are expensive – they are hard to make, after all. With that in mind it makes sense to invest in something you are going to love for a long time which is one of the many reasons I don’t have upholstered dining chairs as eventually they will become threadbare and stained. Better to buy quality wood in a classic style that you can always paint another colour if you fancy a change. These are oak so perhaps you shouldn’t ever paint them, but you could always strip them back again if you did.
Ambi Wooden Stool tall nkuku

You'll never go wrong spending on a good wooden stool. Tall ones can double up as plant and lamp stands and short ones as bedside or side tables. This is made from sustainable mango wood and while it looks perfect au naturel you could also paint it again and again as the mood takes you. Perfect for the renter who is trying to build up a collection of furniture that will work in any house no matter what its size or ownership.
Kartell Piuma Chair Heal's

Kartell have come up with a new technique to create this injection-moulded thermoplastic chair which means it's just 2mm thick but incredibly strong and weighs little more than 2kg, making it easy to move around from dining table to desk or vice-versa. Its curved arms will support yours and you can add a lumbar cushion if needed. I like this soft yellow to bring the sunshine into your office but there are six other shades to choose from.
Curved Back Velvet Dining Chair Rockett St George

Not everyone's floors can cope with a desk chair on wheels, so you need to look to dining chairs for inspiration. I have this one, and the curved back is very supportive while the velvet makes it soft enough for hours of sitting. Comes in ochre as well as green and when the day comes when an unexpected guest turns up for dinner, you'll be ready.
Pill Stool WOODMANCOTE RETRO

This small Gloucestershire-based company makes furniture from tubular steel and uses local sustainable hardwood - often salvaged. There is a huge range of tall and low stools as well as trestle tables with brightly coloured legs which make great desks.
Nord Stool/Side Table M&S

You can’t ever go wrong with a classic wooden stool – and it’s nice to see a design that isn’t basically a copy of the Alvar Aalto. This is made from sustainable wood and is probably a family heirloom in the making. You will use it as a stool or a bedside table and then a teenager will steal it for the university room and on it goes. The classic oak will gather a lovely patina over time.
Wood H17 Windsor Royal Design

Ever since visiting Skye McAlpine’s home for our podcast (The Great Indoors) I have been slightly obsessing over the thought of dark green chairs round the dining room table. You can either paint some vintage ones or you can buy these, which are classic in style but the colour will mix things up a bit. Dark green loves all the other colours on the spectrum and is, in case you were wondering, the colour of creativity. So if the last couple of years has seen you sitting working at the kitchen table, why not make the chairs start working for you? There are lots of other colours available, too.
Uley Chair Garden Trading

The line between what makes a good chair and an ugly chair is fine indeed and, sometimes, hard to define. This is a good one - the simple shape, rounded spindles and curved back give it interest without making it fussy. You look at it and want to touch it - that’s a good sign.
Effie Dining Chair Anthropologie

Everyone’s seemingly doing a variant of these chairs, from Soho Home to Oliver Bonas. Pick your price point, choose your colour and away you go. If you haven’t got room for six then buy two or four and add a bench. But be prepared to have to offer these to the guests.