After suffering through budget-friendly options for far too long, we finally “took the plunge” and invested in “real” dining room chairs. Ooooof – I type that like it’s no big deal. But in reality, the process wasn’t particularly quick, easy, or inexpensive. Today, I’m breaking down why we finally decided it was time for an upgrade, how we ultimately picked what we did, and why we eventually doubled our order! 

Megan sitting on a light dining room chair next to a dark wood table.

Until Now

When we first bought our custom (solid wood) kitchen table about 10 years ago, we had sticker shock at the cost of the matching chairs. 

Not prepared to spend thousands more dollars on seating, we opted for these classic spindle back chairs as a budget-friendly alternative. 

At $60ish/chair and made of solid wood, we were able to get 5 chairs around our table for less than $400 (which, even at the time, felt like SO much!)

A dark dining room table with white dining chairs on top of a blue and white checked rug

After just two moves though (plus lots of wiggles from little kids), these chairs were practically falling apart and the painted finish was really chipping.

How was it (already!) time for new chairs?!

Thrifted

Knowing that cheap chairs would quickly fall apart again but still not willing to drop serious money on the “real deal,” I instead went the thrifted route, making over 5 of these solid wood chairs I scored for just $100.

Who remembers this debacle?!?

For months, I painstakingly refinished these chairs. But between the paint sprayer and the high-end paint and the new foam and stain-resistant fabric, I still ended up spending close to $400.

A dark dining room table with painted white chairs on a blue striped rug.

And guess what? These chairs slowly started to fall apart too.

By the time we were leaving our one-year assignment in Pennsylvania (just two years after refinishing them), we were placing them on the curb for free and were on the hunt yet again.

Clearly…the “cheap as we can get” approach wasn’t working, so I re-set my (price) expectations and began again.

Our Chair Criteria

Ten+ years of sitting in wobbly chairs helped me hone in on what we really wanted. Here’s what I knew we were looking for:

  • Solid Wood – No more rubberwood or manufactured wood or “mostly” wood.
  • Factory Assembled – If the chair came with an Allen wrench or assembly instructions, it was out. 
  • Not Painted – I looooove painted furniture. But without fail, painted chairs and stools nick within days of unboxing them. Paint was out, I wanted stain only.
  • No Fabric – We have kids, and I’m tired of scrubbing fabric seats. Full stop.
  • No Weave or Cain Texture – I love the look of a woven seat, but the idea of fishing crumbs out of gaps and stains out of natural fibers? Nope.
  • Light Color – I prefer chairs that contrast with our dark table; otherwise the whole arrangement feels too heavy.
  • $200-$400/Chair – While I finally accepted we couldn’t get away with $60 chairs anymore, we still aren’t quite ready for the $700-$1K/chair you’ll find at custom furniture retailers. I hoped this increase in budget would increase the longevity too!

Shifting From White to Natural

We love (love love) our dark wood table, but finding coordinating-yet-not-matching chairs is always so tricky.

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(Which is why I’ve primarily stuck with painted white chairs – everything goes with white!)

That “light color but not painted” criteria turned out to be the toughest one; that is NOT an easy combination to find. 

If we’re not doing paint, then what? I was hesitant to introduce yet another wood tone to our home, but going solid black (even stained) wouldn’t work either.

When I came upon this Juni Dining Chair in bleached ash from Crate & Barrel, my interest was certainly peaked. It was light, it wasn’t painted, and the reviews stating it was “indestructible” practically had me adding it to my cart immediately. 

A dark wood dining table with light colored wood dining chairs on a blue striped rug.

But the “naked” color felt so much like a gamble. They definitely read more “beige” than “white,” and I worried they’d look and feel random within the context of the rest of our decor.

But since the chairs checked every other box AND we had the option to return them, we took the plunge and bought five. 

Best (not so risky, but rather very calculated) gamble ever.

Natural wood chairs around a dark wood dining table on a blue patterned rug.

Why We Love Them

It turned out the naked wood color actually matched our cream/white sofas and our side tables perfectly. So even though we don’t have this exact wood tone anywhere else in our home, they still appear very intentional, cohesive, and high end.

A combined living room and dining room arranged with cream furniture and dining chairs and blue accents.

In fact, I think moving away from the bright white (unexpectedly) elevated our whole arrangement by making everything very streamlined and calm.

The stark white chairs (in our previous pictures) now seem so harsh to me, and it’s been an interesting challenge to make both beige and white work together in this home.

A dark wood dining table with light colored wood dining chairs against a cream wall with blue artwork.

Oh – and the quality? Better than we imagined. You don’t realize how bad bad chairs are until you sit in good ones. These chairs are wide, sturdy, actually comfortable and yes – indestructible just like the reviews said. It turns out that increasing our budget really did allow us to get better quality chairs.

What a joy it is not to have to apologize to guests for the horrible seating anymore!

Dive Deeper Into This Post

We originally bought five of these chairs; but now a year later, we own 11. In this week’s Voice Notes, I break down why we bought even more, and how it’s one of my very favorite things we’ve done in our new house.

A dark wood dining table with light colored wood dining chairs on a blue striped rug.

See You Soon!
Megan