The 11 Best Dining Chairs Our Editors Use Every Day 🪑
Comfort: B+
Value: A-
Delivery and assembly: A-
Overall chair rating: A-
Style: A
Metal and Leather Dining Chairs
Designer: Friso Kramer
Specs: Recycled plastic seat and backrest, steel frame and legs
Dimensions: 31.89″H x 17.71″W x 19.29″D
When Dutch designer Friso Kramer created the Revolt chair in the mid-1950s both ergonomics and economics were top of mind. In the innovative perch, two bent-steel sheets support a seat and back made from paper and resin. It was lightweight, elegant, and relatively easy to manufacture, making it a popular chair across the Netherlands. When I scored my black and white vintage ones on Craigslist back in 2014, I didn’t know much about Kramer. I chose them for their industrial schoolhouse vibe and Prouvé-ish qualities. But in the years since, Kramer has been ushered back into the spotlight—this chair and its sister, the Result, are now produced by Hay in a range of colors and materials (the back and seat now comes in oak or plastic, from $325). Assuming the new ones are made to the same discerning standards of the original, I can attest to their hardworking comfort. They’re not exactly cushy, of course, but there’s a slight flexibility in the back and a subtle curve in the seat that makes for easy, long-duration sitting, whether for a leisurely dinner or a day of work from home. –Hannah Martin, senior design editor
Comfort: A-
Value: B
Delivery and assembly: N/A
Overall chair rating: A
Style: A
Designer: Harry Bertoia
Specs: Steel frame and base
Dimensions: 21.75″H x 19.75″W x 28.75″D
Though the Bertoia Side Chair is potentially an exquisite outdoor seat, I love the sleek piece for an industrial moment indoors. With welded steel grids that make up the seat, the icon of midcentury-modern design comes in a variety of colors (with powder-coated finishes to hold up outdoors) and has sturdy, changeable seat cushions that also suit any number of hue preferences. Designed in 1952 by Harry Bertoia, the Knoll chair holds up historically and—in my personal opinion—holds up as a perfect dining chair. –Zoë Sessums
Comfort: B+
Value: A
Delivery and assembly: N/A
Overall chair rating: A
Style: A+
Designer: Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Specs: Polished chrome frame, leather back, molded clear-plastic glides with twin-pin snap-in construction
Dimensions: 31″H x 19.25″W x 27.25″D
I’ve been obsessed with the Bauhaus era ever since I visited Dessau-Roßlau a few years ago, but what I’m even more of a sucker for is a seat in a corset, so the MR Chair really scratches that itch. A man of the mindset that less is more, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe did a take on the classic cantilevered chair and transformed it into a pure vision of beauty with the MR Chair. I have an authentic pair of vintage MR10 chairs that I purchased from Carefully Curated in 2021. Since I prefer not to work from a desk at home, I spend most of my day at the dining table sitting in this chair, and, once I take a seat, my cheeks are glued to it! Knoll claims that the MR chairs were intended to be “a modern derivative of 19th-century iron rocking chairs,” which means that you can really lean back while sitting in one of these without breaking them too. What has surprised me the most about this chair is that it’s as functional as it is beautiful, and that’s the power of good design. The MR Chair is an investment that is 100% worth making. –Sydney Gore
