Our dining chairs are designed with both comfort and aesthetics in mind, they’re a great choice for both formal and casual dining settings, whether traditional or contemporary.
When it comes to buying new dining chairs there is a lot to consider – size, colour, material, design and budget. With so many different considerations we’ve put together a buyer’s guide with some tips and suggestions to help you in your quest to select the right dining chair. It’s advisable to begin with your table, as a lot of your decisions will be based on the way the chairs interact with your dining table. We’ll assume your new dining chairs are for an existing table or are being bought simultaneously with a new table as it’s generally preferable to match chairs to a predefined table rather than the reverse.
Measuring up
When it comes to choosing the right dining chair for your home the first thing to consider is the size of chair required. First measure both the space where your dining table is located and the perimeter of your dining table – the length and width or the circumference if circular. Next measure the distance from the floor to the table surface, at the same time measure from the floor to the underside of the tabletop. This will be helpful when you start to think about how many dining chairs your table can accommodate and what size of chair will work best.
When you’re measuring the space, remember that you’ll need breathing space between the chairs and the walls, enabling guests and hosts to move freely around the table when sitting down and dishing up. It is also important to consider where the table legs sit as this too will have an impact on the number of chairs you can accommodate.
How many Chairs can fit around my table?
Each person needs a minimum width of 60cm to allow for elbow room, however you could allow up to 75cms for a more generous dining experience. Once you’ve set the number of seats, you can determine your ideal chair width. The width of a standard dining chair can vary substantially, Another Country’s dining chairs range from 41- 58cms. Our Another Chair is a versatile and hardworking chair with a small footprint so is a great solution if you have a small space or are trying to squeeze as many chairs as possible around the table. Our Hardy Chair on the other hand is more generous in its proportions which of course means you will fit less chairs around the table. When working out the number of chairs it’s also important to take into consideration the table leg placement, some dining table designs offer more flexibility with how the dining chairs are positioned.
What is the right seat height for my dining chair?
Look for ‘seat height’ in the chair’s product description. This is the dimension from the floor to the top of the seat. For comfortable dining, the dimension from the seat to the tabletop (table height minus seat height) needs to be around 25-30cm. Do check whether there is any support under your dining tabletop that will interfere with where your legs will be positioned as a bulky frame will steal some thigh space, look out for this on extending tables particularly. The seat height of our dining chairs are 45-47cms which is typical for dining chairs, remember if you add a loose seat cushion you will raise your sitting height.
Should I pick a Dining Chair with Armrests?
Armrests offer more comfort and can make it easier to leave the table if you’re elderly or have a back issues, Arms do add some width to a dining chair so keep an eye on that if you’re trying to fit more dining chairs around your table. It’s also a good idea to check the armrest height and that the chairs will tuck under your table if you require them to do so.
Would a Dining Bench work for me?
When it comes to informal dining a dining bench can be a good solution, they’re great for squeezing guests in and can live against a wall if you don’t want them in use all the time. With a dining bench you can choose to add a seat pad or select a dining bench with a back, like our Bench One Back if you want a bit more comfort.
What style of Dining Chair should I choose?
We have designed dining chairs to go with most of our dining tables, that said you’re not obliged to pair our chairs with our tables as we designed them, many of our dining chairs work well across our collections and can be mixed and matched.
Finally we would always advise that if possible you sit in any dining chair before you make a purchase, comfort is personal and sitting for even a short period will give you confidence that you are making the correct purchase.
