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1. Best cane dining room chairs
2. Best sculptural dining room chairs
3. Best utilitarian dining room chairs
For the past few years, I've been a fan of the mix and match dining room chair look. There is something charming and rustic about this trend for dining room chairs, bringing joy to your dining room table with different colors, materials and styles that come together in harmony.
But recently, I'm craving something a little more uniform to give my dining room a bit more of a calming, minimalist feel. While I think the mix and match look is playful and fun, and it certainly has a place, it can often feel a little chaotic for those days when you're craving a calming evening round the dining room table.
Looking to the recent trends in dining room design, here are three of my favorite dining room chair trends to look out for into 2024 and where to find them.
Best cane dining room chairs
I'm seeing a lot of wooden dining chairs with cane detailing, bringing a distinctly mid-century feel to any dining room. The cane look is an easy way to bring texture and the warmth of nature into your home, so it can also work for a minimalist dining room.
A great alternative to plastic, cane is naturally sourced made from palm leaves and woven to create a simple interlocking grid look. It's one of the most ancient techniques too, yet still manages to look great in a modern setting. Pair a light cane with stained wood or dark mahogany to really highlight the detail of the weave. Here are three of my favorites to buy now.
Materials: Cane and rubberwood
Price: $165
These straight backed dining room chairs have a supportive frame, making them a great choice for your dinner table. Taking up little space, you're bound to be able to fit many around your dining table with their lack of arms and tapered legs. The padded seat offers extra comfort and the cane back gives that little bit of extra detailing. They're on the market for a great price too.
Material: Rubberwood and rattan
Price: $229.99
I also love the shape of these chairs with cane detailing, with a touch of the mid-century about them. With a rattan mesh on the back of the seat and made from rubberwood, they are elegant-looking, portable and lightweight. It's also a great space-saving option as you can easily fold them away when not in use.
Material: Acacia wood and caning
Price: $278.60
This wood has been stained for a dramatic dark brown coloring that really highlights the detail of the caning. You'll still be able to see the grain through the stain, but each will vary, proving that it's handmade and one-of-a-kind. Four of these around a small round table might be a great look for a mid century dining room.
Best sculptural dining room chairs
Sculptural accent chairs that double up as a work of modern art are also having their moment. And it's not just in the living room. We're seeing these elegant, sculptural frames working well in dining rooms as people look to give the dining area a real entertaining focus and a bit of wow factor.
I love the bucket chair style that provides great support when you're sat down to eat. With arms that wrap around the chair and giving your arms somewhere to rest, when not in use, they can be admired from all angles.
The downside of the more sculptural look is that they take up quite a bit of room, and if you're trying to squeeze six chairs around a round dining table, it might not work. If you don't have room for six sculptural dining chairs, you can go for just two accent chairs at each end of a rectangular table to bring a bit of drama to the space without overwhelming it.
Material: Velvet
Price: $995
Upholstered in luxurious velvet, Soho Home's Morrell dining chair brings richness and elegance to your dining room. Velvet is actually quite an easy material to look after, even though it looks high-end, it's pretty easy to clean. You can also change the color of the velvet according to your preferences and dining room color palette.
Material: Boucle
Price: $300.49
With a sculptural look and a back that gives you a big hug, this boucle dining room chair has comfort as one of its top priorities. The chair is covered top to bottom in rich black boucle fabric, so it's super soft to the touch and on-trend. I like it in black but it's also available in classic cream.
Material: Velvet
Price: $468
Fully upholstered in soft-to-touch velvet, this sculptural dining chair brings elegance to your dining room table. It's available in a range of colored velvets, but there is something super calming about this artichoke shade of green.
Best utilitarian dining room chairs
Finally, the utilitarian look is really taking off. There is something retro and charming about a humble chair of this style. Made from wood, powder-coated steel, or even plastic available in an array of joyous colors, they feel elegant in a simplistic way.
They are also a great dining room space-saving tool as you can stack them and store them away when not in use. Here are three I've found that I'd happily have in my dining room.
Material: Powder-coated steel and oak veneer
Price: $325
There is something satisfyingly simple and graceful about this chair design from HAY. The Result Chair was created by Friso Kramer and Wim Rietveld in 1950s so has a mid century modern furniture feel, but the modern version has been adapted to be lightweight and versatile. You can pick it in a range of colorways too if you want to keep things interesting.
Material: Faux leather and stainless steel
Price: $649
With a slim silhouette and polished stainless steel bringing a sheen to your dining room, this dining chair has a utilitarian feel that will look simple but stylish. With a faux leather seating in rich butterscotch, the contrast of leather with steel is what makes this piece feel super luxe, where the shape of the chair looks effortless and simple.
Material: Powder-coated steel
Price: $119.95
For a playful pop of color and energy in your dining room, try these bright blue utilitarian chairs. They're on sale at the moment and come as a set of two, making them a bargain buy. Crafted from powder-coated metal, this dining chair works inside or out, and will look cute sat next to a smaller bistro style table or even a dining room table for children.
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