Dining chairs are, at their core, functional. But that doesn’t mean they can’t be design statements in their own right. These homes from the ELLE Decoration archive show that looking to vintage and secondhand suppliers is a great way to source unusual seating, while a carefully curated mix-and-match approach is guaranteed to make dinner time a little more interesting.
Spherical and stylish dining chairs by Lara Bohinc
The London home of furniture designer Lara Bohinc is a canvas for her own studio creations. Her ‘Half Moon’ table in marble and brass and playful ‘Trevor’ chairs take centre stage in the kitchen, which also features the designer’s ‘Moonrise’ pendant light.
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1970s rattan in a Haussmannian apartment
‘I like my interior to be alive. I buy and resell all the time because it allows me to try things, make mistakes, and sometimes find the ideal mix.’ Vintage furniture dealer Charlotte Cadé is constantly sourcing pieces for both her online platform Selency and her own Parisian home. These 1970s rattan chairs are paired with a travertine dining table, another retro find.
These rounded dining chairs echo the architecture of the home
‘The layout was a perfect balance of curves and straight lines, so we wanted to stick with that. We even added extra curves, including in the furniture,’ says architect and designer Eduardo Tazón of his apartment located in Torres Blancas, the brutalist icon in Madrid. In the dining area, Piero Lissoni’s gently rounded ‘Season’ chairs for Viccarbe are the perfect fit for the sinuous curves of the rest of the home.
A pair of design classics in a London home
This London apartment shows that you don’t have to have six or even four dining chairs to create a stylish dining area. Studio Skey sourced a pair of ‘Casalino’ chairs by Alexander Begge from Golborne 44 and paired them with a fixed bench seat upholstered in fabric from Perennials. An Italian smoked-glass circular table from Antique Modern Mix and antiqued mirror from Chelsea Glass completes the chic dining set up.
Power pairing in a Parisian apartment
This dining area by Batiik shows that dining chairs don’t have to be a matching set. They paired green ‘In Praise of Epicurus’ chairs by Ettore Sottsass with wooden ‘The Absent’ seats by French designer and sculptor Eloi Schultz – despite being distinctly different their angular shapes work brilliantly together.
The retro glam secondhand dining set
For those who relish the thrill of the hunt, flea markets, secondhand stores and even charity shops can offer up some incredible furniture finds. Case in point is this retro fabulous gilt-edged dining set in the Margate home of Whinnie Williams, co-founder of interiors brand Poodle & Blonde. ‘It’s fun using old pieces,’ she says. ‘I usually know I want one key thing in a space and wait until I find that.’
The sunset-hued, cover-worthy dining chairs
This ombre moment by Studio Prineas, featuring ‘Miss Wood’ dining chairs by Missoni, was so good it appeared on the cover of ELLE Decoration in May 2024. The dining chairs are clustered around a vintage oak dining table, with two abstract artworks creating a focal point in the dining area; Last One Standing (2023), by Laura Jones (left) and Flying Dream (2013), by Andrew Hopkins.
Custom-made dining chairs by a furniture star
British furniture designer Max Lamb hand made these dining chairs and table for the London home of Emily Johnson, owner of ceramics brand 1822. Irregular and fantastical, they echo the sense of whimsy that is found in every room.
A mix-and-match dining set in London
This curated mismatch of chairs, including an aluminium and velvet chair by Mark Brazier-Jones and the ‘Costes’ design by Philippe Starck for Driade, gives a gallery feel to this dining area. Architecture firm Carmody Groarke specially commissioned an industrial glass table on castors for the home which was a former industrial unit.
India Mahdavi’s sunny dining chairs in the South of France
Bold yellow punctuates the graphic monochromatic scheme of this home just outside of St Tropez, designed by India Mahdavi. Her own ‘Afro’ dining chairs add a sunny jolt of colour to the dining room which also features her ‘Henri’ table. The black and white tiles from her Bisazza collaboration are mirrored in the ‘Rameua’ cushions.
