In praise of the unmatched chair
The perfectly matched dining set is having a quiet retirement. In its place: a table that looks like it has been lived around.
By Layered Living
Six identical chairs around a table is a tidy idea, and a slightly lifeless one. It tells you the room was bought, not gathered. The most inviting tables we know break the rule on purpose.
The rule that lets you break the rule
Mixing chairs works when one thing holds them together. Share a material and vary the shape; or share a tone and vary the texture. A pair of upholstered chairs at the heads with timber chairs along the sides is a reliable place to begin.
Done well, an unmatched table feels generous — as though chairs were pulled in from across the house because more people came than expected. Which is, after all, the point of a table.
Match the spirit, not the silhouette.