Home Help: 15 February
A reader of The Lady was surprised when, in her mother’s will, the 10 dining chairs from her family house were split between her brother and herself. ‘What use are five chairs, one needs even numbers,’ she said. Her brother is unwilling to reduce the number of his chairs, so she has enquired how she could inexpensively increase hers to a set of six or eight. The Antique Chair Exchange – 01271-870726, www. antiquechairmatching.com – is the best place to look. The website offers advertising space for people looking for antique chairs in specific designs and for those who want to sell odd chairs.
Dining chairs are very different to kitchen chairs. After years of knocking through two rooms to make a gigantic kitchen diner, many are thinking again and keeping a separate cosy eating area away from the dishwashers and steaming pans. Hares Antiques – 01285-831311, www.haresantiques.com – is another place to look for chairs for a dining room, especially if you are looking for sets of 10, 12 or more. There are some pairs and single chairs from original George III designs to Victorian balloon backs and 20th-century copies of Regency designs. Expect to pay £12,000 for a set of 10 George III chairs but only £3,000 for 12, 20th-century mahogany Chippendale-style chairs. It is much cheaper to search for antique chairs rather than get one copied, as that will cost £1,500.
Today, the fashion is for upholstered dining chairs. The Dining Chair Company has balloon and square backs on straight or curved beech legs. OKA has more than 20 different dining chairs, ranging from bistro chairs with cane seats such as the bestselling ‘Camargue’, to a modern interpretation of a Jacobean dining chair, with pale oak legs and Scandinavian and French Louis styles.
Nordic Style, who advertises itself as ‘Classic Swedish Interiors’, has a beautiful range of painted chairs in grey and white with slatted and lyre backs. These days, a dining room need not be a dark, stuffy room. Mahogany can be mixed with modern paintings and brightly coloured walls, although white painted furniture should be teamed with a painted table.
1 Camargue wooden dining chair, £169, OKA: 0844-815 7380, www.okadirect.com
2 Spindle-back dining chair, £295, OKA: as before
3 The Cromwell, £682 (excluding fabric), The Dining Chair Company: 020-7259 0422, www.diningchair.co.uk
4 Rosen chair, £595, Nordic Style: 020-7351 1755, www.nordicstyle.com (Main image above)
Email design enquiries to Hugh St Clair at homehelp@lady.co.uk
Dining chairs are very different to kitchen chairs. After years of knocking through two rooms to make a gigantic kitchen diner, many are thinking again and keeping a separate cosy eating area away from the dishwashers and steaming pans. Hares Antiques – 01285-831311, www.haresantiques.com – is another place to look for chairs for a dining room, especially if you are looking for sets of 10, 12 or more. There are some pairs and single chairs from original George III designs to Victorian balloon backs and 20th-century copies of Regency designs. Expect to pay £12,000 for a set of 10 George III chairs but only £3,000 for 12, 20th-century mahogany Chippendale-style chairs. It is much cheaper to search for antique chairs rather than get one copied, as that will cost £1,500.
Today, the fashion is for upholstered dining chairs. The Dining Chair Company has balloon and square backs on straight or curved beech legs. OKA has more than 20 different dining chairs, ranging from bistro chairs with cane seats such as the bestselling ‘Camargue’, to a modern interpretation of a Jacobean dining chair, with pale oak legs and Scandinavian and French Louis styles.
Nordic Style, who advertises itself as ‘Classic Swedish Interiors’, has a beautiful range of painted chairs in grey and white with slatted and lyre backs. These days, a dining room need not be a dark, stuffy room. Mahogany can be mixed with modern paintings and brightly coloured walls, although white painted furniture should be teamed with a painted table.
2 Spindle-back dining chair, £295, OKA: as before
4 Rosen chair, £595, Nordic Style: 020-7351 1755, www.nordicstyle.com (Main image above)
Email design enquiries to Hugh St Clair at homehelp@lady.co.uk