How to Choose Dining Chairs
Dining chairs are structurally one of the most testing pieces of furniture to make as they not only have to look good, be well designed and comfortable, but they have to be made with the strongest framework and joints to withstand continual stress movements of swinging, rocking in chairs, knocks and constant pulling in and out from tables, which no other furniture has to contend with. Its little wonder that the best chair makers are the best cabinet makers. There are simply no shortcuts to chair making, which is why cheaper alternatives are generally uncomfortable, badly designed or structurally weak.
Choosing the correct dining chair for your room is an important decision and can be firstly split into the choice of either our taller chairs to give a more formal setting plus the pleasure of “sitting inside” the circle of chairs whose taller backs “cocoon” your guests around the table, or for more informal or multifunctional rooms choose our shorter chairs which allow you to put your arm across the chair back, read the paper or pass food or coffee over the top of them , giving you a more relaxed lifestyle and keeping your room more light and open.
For round and oval, square and rectangular tables our Taperback and Bladeback chairs with their slim chair back and fine chair top detail keep everything looking clean and contemporary, with defining lines echoing these tables’ profiles.
Our more modern, Infinity, Air and Slab designs with their clean square edges benefit from the lower square profile of the Shortback chair.
Should you be wishing to soften off the lines of rectangular or square tables then the Rollback and Scrollback chairs with their curved top feature and deep buttoning provides a hint of classic design and a wonderful “club” like feeling.
Our luxurious Laidback arm chair can be used either as an occasional chair which can then be brought into use at the end of the table or as a superb “around your large table” setting providing luxurious comfort for all of your guests.
Finally our Willow chairs with their carefully sculptured solid timber frames with ultra slim rails and back profile give your back great support without having wooden rails digging into your spine, with their carefully “flush fitted” horizontal rails.
Having selected the chair style you can now tailor your chair to your exact requirements. Chairs can create a visual feast of colour and texture , where colours of the rainbow can be juxtaposed together to stunning effect, or alternatively chairs can be combined in soft hues of the same backround colour for example, a two or three shades of blue, to gently break up the look of one solid colour, and bring a depth of interest around the table, or even two contrasting colours to blend with your surroundings. As always our attention to detail is exquisite and never more so than in our beautiful hand stitching in a choice of over 20 thread colours to blend or contrast with your chair colour, you choose.
Each chair is hand made to order. The first stage is to get the timber cut to the style you have ordered then start making the frame structure and internal upholstery to give your chair its final shape. This process can take between 3-5 weeks, thus giving you this extra time to choose your fabric. From your visit you may order samples of fabric which will be sent directly to you or a colour card can even be sent with your order confirmation allowing you to pick your colours at home, which is always the best way. We use “self-colour” stitching as standard but if you would prefer a contrast colour stitching or “blind stitching” please let us know. All of this process is totally bespoke to your requests.
We make our chair frames in Oak and Walnut and can stain and polish these timbers to your special requirements or to match your other furniture. Maple and Cherry chairs can also be made to order. These hardwoods give your chairs excellent strength and durability, and with an exact colour match to your chosen table, whereas High Street chairs are often Beechwood (a softwood) stained to a “Walnut or oak finish”.
You final choice in the selection process is to either opt for our firmer unsprung seat, or choose the luxury of our sprung seat construction, which gives you not only more movement in the chair seat through the sprung system, but also has the advantage of reducing the weight of the chair frame which can be an attraction also. It definitely gives you more “bounce”!
Once you have confirmed your order and chair specification you have two to four weeks to then decide on which fabric or leather to choose, and whether or not you would like a slip cover or a fixed cover to be made for your chairs (excluding Taper, Scroll and Rollback chairs).
From your visit you may order samples which will be sent directly to you or a colour card can be sent with your order confirmation allowing you to pick colours at home.
We use a “self colour” twin stitch as standard but if you would prefer either a “contrast stitch colour” or a “blind stitch” to be used just let us know and we will confirm details.
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