How to mix and match your dining chairs like a designer
Design by Time & Place Interiors
If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know that I love decorating with chairs. When I select seating for a client’s dining room, once in a while, I don’t want to limit myself to just one style when there are so many amazing chair options to pick from. So I’ll do a bit of mix-and-matching, giving the design some more funk.
When done right, intentionally mismatching chairs can add personality to a space while showcasing your love for design. It’s a bit rebellious but boldly chic. (The Spruce magazine picked my brain on this topic: see “7 Things That Immediately Make Your Dining Room Look Bad, According to Designers”)
Mixing and matching can help round out a dining set when there are only one or two of a perfect chair — perhaps to work around an incredibly lucky vintage find. It also keeps the design from feeling too static or overly formal, giving a jolt of character to your dining room or even to your small breakfast nook.
So, how do you mix and match dining chairs like a design pro?
1) Don’t be afraid to mix styles. A juxtaposition of antique and modern can be insouciantly elegant. To weave in a unifying element, keep colors or materials consistent while changing up the shapes.
2) Mix high + low design. It’s perfectly okay to pair a fancy designer chair with a flea market find, as long as each chair has character in its own right. This approach shows your ability to appreciate beauty at varying levels of sophistication.
3) Keep the chairs’ height consistent. Or at least balanced, with some tall and some short. It will make the design feel visually balanced.
Take a look at the beautiful designs below for inspiration on how to style with mismatched dining chairs for modern or eclectic settings. Enjoy!
Iconic is the name of the game in this modernist Manhattan space, where an Alvar Aalto table is accompanied by a Sof-Tec chair by David Rowland for Thonet, with a René Herbst Sandows chair. They’re both chrome modernist styles, but with slight variations to keep things interesting. Design: Taylor Fimbrez / Photo: Ori Harpaz
A neutral palette unifies the bold mix of modern and 1970s vintage chairs in this designer’s eclectic London apartment. Design: Hollie Bowden / Photo: Helenio Barbetta/Living Inside
There’s a lot of fun, vibrant design in this historic Brooklyn apartment, not least of which is the mix of chairs around (another Alvar Aalto table): Wishbone, Joe Colombo, and Eames included. Design: Aaron Probyn and Rebecca McEvoy / Photo: David Land
This stylish Paris apartment’s dining area employs a beautiful mix of 20th Century vintage chairs (the bentwood Thonet making its universal presence). Design: Tonale / Photo: Élise Helm
The different modernist chairs including the Bertoia steel + leather model (and a stool) in this London dining space are a fitting foreground to the color-block credenza in the back. Design: Eger Architects / Photo: Malcolm Menzies
An assortment of 20th Century iconic seating — including the Panton chair, classic Thonet bentwood, and Eames fiberglass — makes this all-black communal dining ensemble in San Francisco more intriguing. Design: Nicole Hollis / Photo: Laure Joliet
Two different modern chairs, including the iconic Cassina Cab chair, give a jolt of nuance to a simple Brooklyn kitchen. Design: Joshua Itiola / Photo: Max Burkhalter
Spot the difference: three slightly mismatched vintage chairs lend personality to a sparse industrial loft in East Berlin. Design: Hagar Abiri / Photo: Diana Adam
Want your new space to look fun and original?
Time & Place Interiors specializes in furnishing original spaces in New York City apartments, using an eclectic mix of vintage and modern designs. Use the link below to schedule a 20-minute free information call with founder Ksenya Malina to discuss your home’s design needs:
