Choosing Dining Chairs for Your Existing Decor
A dining room is a formal space where holiday dinners are planned. So, you are likely to be tempted to decorate it formally, with matching chairs. However, the most important factor in the design is your personality. Since the dining table is the core of your dining room, there's extra pressure of matching the dining chairs’ styles.
Do Dining Chairs Have to Match the Existing Decor?
Surprising, but a dining room table and chairs do not need to match each other. A coordinating style of decor can give your room a good flow and unity, even if nothing matches. You can choose to mix without a match between your wooden table, solid wood dining chairs, or other furniture. You can mix up the colors of your dining.
Using this kind of aesthetic means having your dining set either feature chairs with different styles, but similar finishes, or feature chairs of all the same design, but with a different texture to their distress.
A set of mismatching chairs at your dining table makes a statement. Actually, there are some reasons why dining chairs don’t need to match. Some of the best reasons not to match your chairs include drawing the attention of the viewer to a highlighting part of the dining set or giving a bold color palette for vibrance.
But careful, as throwing together a bunch of different chairs does not always make a cohesive design. There are two main techniques of decor: one is matching and the other is coordinating. Remember, if the dining chairs and table do not match, then they should coordinate with each other.
How Can You Mismatch Dining Chairs?
Are you wondering how it’s possible to mix and match different dining chairs together? There are some rules to keep in mind when you decide to mix and match. Make sure the chairs are distinctive from each other in a way that the combination looks intentionally different, but cohesive.
Either choose chairs that have a similar height or keep the head chairs taller than the side chairs. Don’t be afraid to mix up the colors and add contrast, be mindful.
Traditionally, head chairs have arms while side chairs don’t, but you can overrule them if you want. Pairing a light and airy chair with a heavier one is a good way to create balance in a dining room.
Tips to Mix & Match Dining Tables and Chairs
There are practical as well as aesthetic factors you should consider when you buy dining chairs online or from a store to mix & match.
Dining Chair’s Height
Choose chairs that can be pushed under the dining table. If your table has a low apron, don't choose high-armed chairs. Because they would bump into the table and will not fit in. Select the right height chairs that give you proper legroom when seated. The chair seat should be around 12 inches lower than the bottom of the table.
Bring Cohesiveness
In coordinating design, it's okay if the chairs don't match your other dining, but find something that is common within the table and chairs. This will create a certain cohesiveness between them. Some of the factors that you can consider are- age of the furniture, color, furniture legs, feet, undertone of the wooden dining chairs, or some other design element.
Mixing Chairs
Mix matching the dining chairs instead of using an identical dining set provides visual interest. Some of the ways to get this style are: Using one style for end chairs and a different style for matching side chairs. An eclectic style, where no two chairs match. Having a unique head chair, or a chair that is different as a focal point, but the other chairs match.
Dining Chairs Arms
Though the side dining chairs allow more people to fit around the dining table, you should not ignore the armchair when mixing and matching. The arms of chairs not only stand out in the flatness of side chairs but also provide a comfortable place for guests to rest their elbows.
Conclusion
Even if you don’t choose to match anything while buying dining chairs online or in-store, you'll ensure that the variation in design elements coordinates and makes a sense of unity. Otherwise, it will look like you don’t know home decor. So, whichever style you prefer, if the rest of the house decor is focused on a matching style, you would better continue it. But if the rest of your decor allows, a coordinating style will work well.
