Black Dining Chairs

Black dining chairs do the job a picture frame does. Around a walnut or white oak table they sharpen the edges of the room, and the wood reads warmer next to them. That is why black and wood dining chairs are the pairing designers come back to, and why a brown dining table with black chairs looks intentional when a near-match in wood tones would look like an accident. On a black dining table, black chairs make a graphic, modern statement, so give the seats some leather or a woven back to keep the set from reading as one solid block. With a white or stone table the contrast is the whole point, and it holds a room that is otherwise all light neutrals. The material decides what the black actually looks like. Black wood dining chairs let the grain show through the finish. A hand-rubbed ebony lets the wood come through at the edges and wears in well over the years, while a flat painted black stays crisp and more modern. Black leather dining chairs are the most forgiving choice for a dining room that gets used every night, since top grain leather wipes clean and softens with age. Black upholstered dining chairs in velvet or performance fabric make long dinners more comfortable and bring texture to a room full of hard surfaces. Spindle and Windsor backs keep a traditional room light on its feet, and black rattan or cane lets light pass through the chair so a row of six never looks heavy. Black metal frames are the slimmest profile of the group and earn their place around a small round table. Plan on about 24 inches of table length per chair and roughly 12 inches between the seat and the tabletop. Armchairs need more room, so check the arm height against the table apron before you order. Many of these chairs ship as a set of 2, which means a set of 4 or 6 is two or three sets. For the ends of the table, try black armchairs at each head with side chairs along the length, or bring in an upholstered chair in a different fabric. Two chair styles at one table is how a dining room starts to look collected over time, instead of bought in one afternoon.