Our homes are dynamic spaces and none more than the dining room. Graceful and welcoming when hosting long chats for your dinner party. Flexible and practical for the days spent working from home. A family hub of activity for endless homework and meals.
Your dining table and chairs are a keystone of your everyday life and adapt with you through different moments of the day. It goes without saying you will spend a good portion of your life gathered in the dining room. Your furniture will see much love and use in this space and so it is worthy of some time to really consider the options when buying comfy dining chairs. An investment in quality furniture may cost a little more initially but can save you a pretty penny in the long run when it lasts the test of time avoiding replacement costs.
Here you’ll find your guide to choosing the best dining chairs to work with the ever-changing needs of your dining room and your unique way of living.
Ergonomics
Modern dining room chair designs can vary greatly with so many choices on offer. One staple to consider though is the relationship of the seat height with your tabletop height.
Ergonomic measurements for Australia take into account the average size of Australian men and women to find a comfortable balance that suits most people when designing tables and chairs. In Australia, the average dining table height is 75cm high. This is a good height for most people who can comfortably rest their arms on the tabletop without bending over or reaching up high. When selecting your designer dining set, you’ll want to check there is approximately 30cm between the tabletop height and your beautiful dining chair seat height. This will allow a good amount of space to comfortably fit your legs. If you are considering an upholstered seat in fabric or leather, remember the foam will compress as you sit down approximately 1-2cm compared to a solid timber seat. This means generally speaking that upholstered dining chair seats are usually designed 1-2cm higher than solid timber seats to factor in this compression to be just the right height after you sit on them.
Despite the many different dining chair styles available, they can be split broadly into two categories, with arms, and without arms. If you opt for dining chairs with arms, you will also need to consider the relationship between the arm height and the underside of your table. You’ll want to ensure the arms fit under the table when your dining chairs are pushed in.
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Comfort
Understanding human posture is critical for all good furniture designers. We all know back support is important, however, we need to dig a little deeper to truly understand what to look for when selecting quality dining chair designs.
For those of you familiar with visiting a chiropractor or physiotherapist, you’ve likely heard your neck and shoulder pain stems from further down your spine. Understanding where we need support in the back is key to choosing comfy dining chairs.
There is a tendency to assume that a fully upholstered dining chair back will provide the most comfort. There is an association with the softness of fabric or leather to be the comfiest. What you really need to look for are quality dining chair designs that have the correct lower lumbar back support. A dining chair designed with curves in all the right spots that gently cups the curve and angle of your lower back will provide maximum support. This element will ensure you have the greatest comfort sitting in your dining chair over longer periods of time. Whether that be long chats with family and friends around the dining table or working from home days spent in front of your laptop.
For ultimate comfort, luxurious dining chair designs will also incorporate a hidden webbed seat underneath their beautifully upholstered fabric or leather. A web suspension seat is made of tension strips that stretch across the seat frame and interlock like a web. When you sit on these they will flex to suit your specific curves and soften the impact to be less jarring. Over longer periods of time, they can make all the difference to your comfort levels. The vast majority of upholstered dining chair seats are instead constructed with layers of foam over a solid wood base concealed by a fabric or leather outer layer. The key to sorting good dining chairs from great dining chairs is finding ones made with a web seat.
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You needn’t sacrifice comfort for elegant dining chair designs. You can see FrancoCrea’s unique dining chair designs at our Melbourne and Adelaide studio showrooms and experience their hidden comfort firsthand.
Flagship Melbourne studio showroom
259 Swan Street, Richmond, Victoria 3121
Flaghship Adelaide studio showroom
442 Pulteney Street, Adelaide CBD, South Australia 5000