Maddie Bailis, manager of new product and merchandising at Alex Mill, is a devotee of Eames side chairs. The chair’s timeless design works in a variety of settings, “which is a good thing for people in a small space who may move to a larger space later. These Anthropologie velvet chairs have the unusual endorsement of being “rabbitproof,” per Biggs, who uses them around a breakfast table in the room where she keeps two free-roaming pet rabbits. Design editor Caroline Biggs says they’re “surprisingly comfortable,” adding that the plastic fabrication is “so transparent and streamlined” that a full set makes a space “feel airy, which is not typical in a room with six dining chairs stuffed at a table.

Black Mesh Wire Dining Chair - La Maison Chic Black Mesh Wire Dining Chair - La Maison Chic

First produced in 1859 by Thonet, this classic chair, which became popular in Viennese coffeehouses, is known for being unexpectedly durable despite its delicate and light silhouette.For those looking for a quieter piece of furniture, interior designer Caitlin Murray says this chair’s open design and monochromatic colors make it a “soft addition” to an existing look. She uses it as a side table, pedestal, or plant stand, and “when I have more people over for dinner than I have chairs, I can just throw a pillow on it. The speckled plastic is “a nice way to bring in color to an apartment without feeling like it’s going to eat the room. Whether you prefer angular forms or curves, solid or wire frames, all of Cult Furniture’s metal bistro chairs offer clean, simple lines and timeless designs. chair, below, which has a bentwood loop that connects from the back to the seat — appears in Westworld, starring in a climactic fight scene.

Dining Chairs | Kitchen or Restaurant Chairs | Dining Room Chairs Dining Chairs | Kitchen or Restaurant Chairs | Dining Room Chairs

The lively colours available bring a sense of the contemporary to vintage metals chairs and can brighten up any interior, sitting well with both traditional and modern décors. This spindle-backed Windsor chair, manufactured by historic Czech chair company Ton (founded by Austrian furniture-maker Michael Thonet), is recommended by Fenton. One of the most imitated plastic-chair designs, the Eames molded chair, was first introduced as an entry in a MoMA low-cost furniture competition in 1948. Watamanuk describes the chairs as “sturdy” and “comfortable,” and Thompson has had her set for more than a decade.The chairs are quite sturdy, easy to clean, and comfortable — they’re effectively my working-from-home office chairs, too, and I haven’t noticed any back or neck pain from sitting in them for hours at a time.

Dining Chairs 2023 | The Strategist - New York Magazine Best Dining Chairs 2023 | The Strategist - New York Magazine

I’ve noticed the same effect with cats who treat every bit of upholstery as a scratching post — the density of a velvet weave just doesn’t interest them.

Translucent plastic, panels made from rattan with an open weave ( also known as caning), or thin wooden spindles make for a lighter silhouette, better for small spaces, while a solid back, upholstery, or wide legs are more visually dominant. Compared with other historic chairs, its customizable range of materials, finishes, and heights is “seemingly endless. Caning is one of the most ancient techniques, and I love how classic the look is with black-stained wood. Some of the homes that are really hot right now are mid-century modern ones with big open spaces and big, wide, open windows … In a space like that, furniture needs to have its own visual weight,” says Hellstern. She owns a vinyl-upholstered pair that she rescued from a renovation of her family’s synagogue in a Philadelphia suburb as a 10-year-old; she reports that they’re still in good shape.