Dining chairs...hardback or upholstered? Which one would you choose? Which did our client choose?

By Mercer Moore, Designer
La-Z-Boy - Pensacola

My client, Anne, moved into a new home.  I was designing the house, room by room, and we were focusing on the dining room.  She had handed down a few pieces of her older furniture to her grown children and sold or thrift shopped everything else.  She was ready for a fresh start with her new home! However, she kept her old dining room table.  Because it was, well...old...plus rather casual, it was chosen for  the breakfast room table.  She loves it because of its history of family get togethers and it served as a homework headquarters for many years!  But she really wanted a more elegant look in her new dining room.  After  choosing a round dining table with an optional leaf for her new dining room, she was at a crossroads deciding on chairs: 

                    upholstered or hardwood? 

I told Anne that I frequently design upholstered chairs for the dining room versus the kitchen because they really do lend an air of formality.  Plus, fabric absorbs sound. Many clients have an open-concept kitchen or simply a room with a lot of glass or metal that looks stark.  Upholstered chairs absorb sound and are a perfect way to add color and texture to a room.  Coordinating upholstered chairs with the wall color or carpet, or other accessories ties everything together and adds to the design aesthetic.  If a room is feeling plain, like it's missing something,  it's fun to pull colors from the room into upholstered chairs!

There aren't downsides as much as there are things to consider. Obviously, upholstery can be a tougher cleaning situation for a young family. With kids at home who might not use napkins or smaller ones who don't have total control over their food,  upholstered chairs will be a lot of cleaning trouble.

A Middle Ground...

There is a middle ground. La-Z-Boy has some great performance fabrics that make upkeep surprisingly easy.   I showed Anne how she can still have an upholstered seat, leaving a hardwood back if she doesn't want as much upholstery.  ​

Solid wood dining chairs will last for generations if treated well. Besides being knock-out beautiful,   La-Z-Boy wood dining chairs are built with solid construction, have excellent durability and longevity, and enhance the look of a wood dining table, just like Anne's.  And these dining chairs can be extremely comfortable and supportive.

Which would you choose? 

Vote in our "WHICH ONE?"  poll! 

Which one would you choose?

Created with Survey Maker

Which one did our customer choose?

Created with Survey Maker

CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT WHICH ONE ANNE CHOSE!