Side-by-side matching chairs are designer favorite
In the first two Design Translation challenges we completed over at The Design File, our living rooms had side-by-side matching chairs. I thought it was a coincidence. But nope. Designer rooms everywhere have pairs of chairs — almost always shown sitting right next to the other.
I actually love the trend. It’s really sharp. Look at the photo above. This handsome living room was created by designer Phyllis Harbinger and featured on HGTV.com. The room includes just the look I’m talking about.
It’s absolutely everywhere. And now that I think back a little, it’s been that way for quite awhile.
Elle Decor has had matching chairs on its covers quite a few times, including on this February 2008 cover. So has Metropolitan Home. Look at right for a cover from March 2007.
(OK, I think I know what you might be thinking. Matching chairs have been around forever. Some people go into a furniture store and just buy an entire suite of furniture so everything matches. Well, that’s not really what I mean. I’m talking about what I’ll call the “designer match.”)
I’m particularly fond of this look when the chairs are modern, like the ones shown below right in a living room photo from BHG, or when they are a sort of updated traditional, like the eclectic space below left, also from BHG.
Here are a few more rooms with side-by-side matching chairs:
This living room by Vastu, an interior design firm in Washington DC, uses a pair of sleek, modern chairs as part of a grouping around a fireplace. Photo by Tim Bell.
The room below by Jaymes Richardson has a pair of fun modern chairs of wood and leather. I love the low profile.
The fantastic modern HGTV space below has twin floor cushions and matching modern chairs. I love the light upholstery on the dark wood floors.
The very formal living room below by Baylor Anne Bone, which was featured on HGTV.com, has a beautiful pair of striped, upholstered chairs that bring some nice pattern to this room.
Finally, this living room is from a home tour I featured on The Design File earlier this year. The home was owned and decorated by Jeffrey Cufaude of Idea Architects and I thought this beautiful room was perfect to include this post.
So what do you think? Do you like the trend? Or are you ready for this to go the way of avocado appliances!
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#1 Civility Design on January 20, 2010:
Thank you for the inclusion of one of our projects — Couldn’t agree with you more – pairs of chairs only enhance the “order and balance” sought after by so many in the integration of their rooms, and therefore, in their lives! One always has to do with the other in good design!
Jaymes Richardson / Don Raney
Civility Design