Dining chairs can range from surprisingly cheap to ridiculously expensive. Your only limitations may be your dining room furnishings, your budget… and perhaps your environmental awareness. Let me explain. Your dining chairs are an opportunity to choose furniture made from sustainable wood and non-harmful products. Sustainable hardwoods like oak, cherry and maple are a good base, and even better when the production process excludes any chemicals that could vaporize over time and pollute the air in your dining room.
Interestingly, if you have a dining table that isn’t too extravagant, you’ll probably find chairs that meet the above criteria and still look good in your dining room. Sleek, contemporary designs using natural materials can go very well with glass tables or tables made primarily of metal. And of course dining room chairs can be “green” and durable at the same time. No one says you have to sit on chairs made from cardboard or recycled soda bottles.
Naturally, if your budget stretches, you can always take part in another form of recycling which is buying old chairs. Whether or not you choose to use them to seat your guests is another matter. Admittedly, buying those handcrafted 18th century master craftsman dining chairs makes you a bit wary of using them for guests who might not appreciate their full value.
Another option is open to you as well. If your current set of dining chairs is looking a little worse for wear, then you can still get a little more life by using seat covers. Since seat covers can be relatively inexpensive, you can even enjoy “new” sets of chairs for every day of the week!
However, there comes a time when even the best recycling tips and tricks will no longer save a set of chairs whose time has come. It might be the right time to review all the furniture in your dining room, from the chairs to the sideboard to the table. Depending on what you have and how you want your dining room to look, you may find that a new set of dining room furniture brings new life to the dining experience.
One of the basic choices you will have to make in this case is whether to buy chairs with arms or without them. It’s a matter of space, mobility and whether or not you and your guests at the table would like to lounge in your seats. Having arms on dining chairs also makes it easier to move the chairs around if you want to continue the conversation away from the table. On the other hand, you would probably want to buy chairs for your dining room that do not require too much cleaning or maintenance, and that are protected against the stains that will inevitably occur in an area where food is common.