Tag: dining chairs

Spool Dining Chairs

“Where are those chairs from?” It’s a question that’s asked every time I share my dining room. I’m happy to share, but unfortunately, nobody is selling the same ones anymore.

We used to have Industry West’s Marais A chairs at the table. We still have them stored in the basement — they’re stackable and we use them when hosting for Christmas or other large gatherings.

They’re great chairs and hold up beautifully, but I liked them better in our previous house. I wanted a different look here, and it took a while before we were ready to buy. A full set of 8 dining chairs is expensive! Just as we were ready to purchase and I had decided on Abacus dining chairs by Noir, they were discontinued. I was almost able to get them at a great price because of it, but there weren’t enough left in stock. Next on my list was Redford House’s Abigail chair, but then I came across Baxton Studio’s Heather chair and those are the ones we have in our dining room.

The Abacus and Heather chairs are so similar because they’re both reproductions of antique spool chairs. Below are examples from 1st Dibs (chair 1, 2).

So where can you buy them now?

I started sourcing for this post in hopes of finding similar styles, and there are not many out there. The closest right now would be One Kings Lane’s Barton Spindle Side Chairs.

Ballard Designs’ Livia Spool Chair has similar elements and is very cute. The Redford House Abigail chair I had initially considered is still in production too. I’m not aware of anything more spot-on, but if this were for a client, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend any of these.

Going vintage/antique is another good option for simimlar chairs, and a coat of black paint on an interesting shape goes a long way. Phrases to search for online in this case: spool, spindle, bobbin, turned, barley twist, Jenny Lind. Spool is the most accurate term, but all of those have the potential to turn up something similar. Searching for other historical styles can be helpful (they’re sometimes mislabeled). Try “side chair” or “dining chair” and Jacobean, Georgian, colonial, federal, empire, regency, or ladder back.

And whatever chairs you have, if the seats are upholstered I highly, highly, highly recommend getting seat covers to safeguard against kids or other particularly messy people in your life. These are the ones we have (you can see the straps on the chair in the center below). The fabric would be so gross on the kids’ seats if we didn’t have the covers on.

August 27, 2020
9 Modern Wingback Dining Chairs
I keep finding new examples of my favorite upholstered dining chairs. You know, these?

It’s like a traditional wingback chair fell in love with Arne Jacobsen and had beautiful babies. See also: Deeda. (Oh, you pretty thing.)

I’ve rounded up a few more examples of the style below. Oh man, if my kids weren’t so messy, I’d be all over these for my dining room. There’s always the hostess chair route, I suppose. Just a pair, with one at each end of the table? (You know the second you get upholstered dining chairs a kid will drop a plate of spaghetti on them. I think it’s a rule.)

But still. They’re so pretty! And the shape is nice and cozy. Which one’s your favorite?
1. Galloway Wingback Dining Chair, Crate & Barrel
  Choose from several colors or go with a solid fabric instead.
2. Deeda Chair, Jayson Home
  Customize it or pick up this one that’ on sale.
3. 1940s Wingback Side Chair, Restoration Hardware
  Just perfect, from the shape to the nailhead detailing.
4. Sloan Fabric Armchair, Restoration Hardware
  That base!
5. Irvine Button Tufted Back Accent Chair, Overstock
  Button tufting? Where? Surprise — it’s on the back.
6. Portsmouth Upholstered Dining Chair, Arhaus
  Another turn around surprise — the back has exposed wooden support detailing.
7. Bowden Wingback Chair, One Kings Lane
  Great fabric and a lighter frame.
8. Hugh Dining Chair, Arhaus
  Brass nailheads and a lovely aged crackled leather finish.
9. Carmen Tufted Side Chair by Hooker Furniture, Wayfair
  No additional color choices, but the tufting is a nice detail.
Photos: Rangeview Reno by Studio McGee • Deeda Chair, Jayson Home
August 15, 2016
Coulda Woulda Shoulda
Alternate title: Photoshop is Fun!

You saw the library last week, yes? The rug was on loan for a styling competition and it’s already on its way back, but the chairs that were supposed to be temporary are going to stick around for a bit longer. They’ve actually come in handy and the kids really like them! Well, that, and I totally lost the tags and receipt. What’s up, new chairs?

No, I didn’t intend to keep them. I picked them up in the first place because they were:
- the right color
- cute
- in stock
- affordable
- returnable
But also:
- the wrong finish (those silver legs)
- don’t look inviting / right for a library
- too modern / not interesting enough = looks cheap in context
They’re staying, for now, but I wouldn’t hesitate to sell them off at a steep discount. My loss, my mistake.

And here’s the thing. You know how you might kind of suspect something (ooh, those chairs aren’t as good as they could be), and then you have this weird job where your house and everything you do to it and put in it is shown to tens of thousands of people every day?* And then the choice you were least confident is indeed the thing people pick up on and don’t like? Yeah, that.

“They don’t really go with anything in the room and seem like nothing more than a last minute attempt to add a vibrant color to a relatively toned down room as well as looking like they ran out of money right at the end.”

Oof. I know. So here’s a little peek behind the curtain at what I would have really wanted to do for the rug shoot, had time and money not been a factor. (Aren’t those always the deciding factors?)

* Psst: I do love this job. I can take constructive criticism just fine (or worse), so I’m not complaining! Plus there were plenty of lovely, nice, complimentary comments as well. But you have to admit, it is a weird position to be in, right?

First up, the Roadhouse Leather Chair from CB2. I’ve written about these before, and a few other similar options. I would have gone with these, had they been in stock. It’s a lot of brown, but the leather adds a different texture that I like a lot.

Continuing on in that vein, we have another leather option. This time, the Baldwin Armchair from Jayson Home. I wouldn’t have been all that interested, having only seen them on the site, but in person they’re fantastic. Great scale, rich leather, just a nice, versatile chair.

That Eames rocker in the background does not go well with these. Ignore it. (It didn’t make the final shot anyway.)

How about some Wishbone chairs? I’ve always liked the look of them.

Nice, but they’re not really working here. Hoffman Prague chairs instead? Those are great too.

I like those. Definitely more “dining room” than “library” but that’s OK. I was staging it with glasses and plates. Thonet, windsor chairs (and modern interpretations like West Elm’s Scissor Spindle dining chair) — they all have a similar feel, just a tweak to the overall look. We’ve got a lot of mockups happening already here; let’s move on to something different!

Stripes! I may sell the striped sofa at some point (too long for the space). Go with these instead?

I like them, but I don’t love them. Maybe a couple of these hostess wingback chairs from World Market. They’re a little larger, so just a pair instead of four.

The color isn’t really working with that rug. Something darker, but still with some blue to reference the sofa. Like this.

Ah, but that kind of defeats the whole purpose of the shoot then, doesn’t it!

OK, we’re getting closer. I like the wingback and I like the upholstery, but it needs to be a different color. Restoration Hardware offers some nice fabric options, and I’m fond of their 1940s Wingback side chair. In blue? Charcoal? Mustard velvet! (OK, I’m probably the only one that really likes mustard/ochre/shades of brown/tons of wood. But so what? I’ll own it if I love it and nobody else does.)

Except those are all custom orders, and they would take too long. Plus, then they’re ours for keeps and whoa whoa whoa, what’s all this talk about commitment?

What’s that, Target? Your cute chairs are $40, the right color, and you have them all in stock ready to go home with me immediately? All right then, sold. And since I’m a scatterbrain lately, they can stay for now. At least it won’t sting too badly when the kids inevitably drop a marker on one of them while coloring — although that only ever seems to happen with the super nice things you pine and save for.

Now on to the important stuff. Which chairs are your favorite? And did you know that after making a bunch of these and coming across a chair I wanted to mockup that didn’t have the necessary alternate angles, I briefly thought I could turn it around in Photoshop so we could see more of the front?
October 7, 2015