Today I’m chatting about dining room chairs: our new grey velvet dining chairs, the amazing vintage dining chairs I literally thought into existence (and why I have to catch and release), plus I rounded up 10 affordable and stylish mid-century modern inspired dining chairs for anyone else who is searching for the perfect chair.
I liked our old blue tweed dining chairs but they weren’t perfect. Mostly I picked them because I just wanted to ditch the old cheap brown pleather ones we had. After months and months of searching for mid-century modern inspired dining chairs to no avail, these were the best fit for our small budget. Although they were always a little too traditional for me, I loved how comfy they were and also that shade of blue was perfect for our lake house. What I didn’t foresee was that Szuka would take a liking to them too! She was always rubbing up against them and depositing her fur. She is a low shedding breed, but by rubbing on the chairs she was basically forcing her fur into the fibers. It was not easy keeping them clean! Plus, as much as I loved the blue tweed, after inheriting some massive paintings from Hubby’s grandpa I felt like the house could use some more neutrals. A lot more neutrals. I’ve even been thinking about repainting the turquoise kitchen!
when the chairs were shiny and new!
It’s been really difficult to find any nice mid-century modern inspired dining chairs locally, especially because one of my favorite local furniture shops (where we bought our cream leather sectional) closed recently. I did find Canadian-made chairs in another local shop that I really liked, but they were over $500 a chair. Convinced Szuka would find a new way to demolish whatever dining chairs I picked out, the three C’s (“cheap, comfy, cute”) became my main criteria. When West Elm had a Black Friday sale, I put four of their Mid-Century Upholstered Dining Chairs (grey velvet, oil rubbed bronze legs) in my cart. I was just about the buy them when I realized that the “free shipping” offer excluded furniture, plus with all the taxes and exchange, they ended up being over $400CAD a chair. If I’m going to drop that kind of money, I’d rather support Canadian. In the end, after seeing them in the home of another blogger (influencer marketing works, lol) I decided to pick up these inexpensive grey velvet dining chairs from The Brick (also on sale for Black Friday – here’s a similar style in moss green from Urban Outfitters but this grey pair from Overstock is nearly identical). I have not bought anything from The Brick since our old brown sofa and ottoman from them disintegrated, but I decided to give the brand a second chance because they’ve really revamped their offerings in the decade since we last purchased anything from them.
The new grey velvet chairs have a nice lakeside appropriate shimmer. They have lower backs and less foam than our old chairs but they’re equally comfy – in a different way – because these conform to the shape of a body better. I was not sold on the chrome legs but then I remembered that our Modernica stools have chrome, so these mid-century modern inspired dining chairs really work, when you consider the entire open concept space. With the new velvet pillows on the sofa, I’m really enjoying the cohesive feel that’s developing.
The only drawback with these grey velvet dining chairs (and the reason I’m glad I decided not to splurge on $500 dining chairs at the moment) is that Szuka seems to resent them. She’s always karate kicking them into the table, and then leaning against the legs really aggressively so they press into the dining table and that leaves little dents. But she no longer likes rubbing on them! I just can’t win. I’m hoping the dents fade with use.
In a weird twist of fate, before I bought the grey velvet dining chairs, I reeeeallly wanted vintage Cesca chairs. I must have willed them into my life with the sheer power of my brain (it’s the only explanation haha) because shortly after wishing I could find some, I spotted an abandoned set in the Good Neighbor Shed! I stuffed them into the truck and very slowly (I didn’t have ratchet straps) drove them home, only to have Hubby veto them. Womp womp womp. Look how good they looked with our MCM teak table! I promised Hubby I’d sell them to offset the cost of the new mid-century modern inspired dining chairs, but I’ll be kind of sad to let the real deal go (picture them in velvet).
For anyone else searching for “cheap, comfy, and cute” mid-century modern inspired dining chairs, I thought I would share my favorites from Amazon. I only recently discovered that Amazon has so many beautiful mid-century modern style furniture pieces for great prices, and lots of them have amazing reviews. Had I stumbled across these before buying our grey velvet dining chairs, I would have seriously considered any of these – especially $1, 4, and 10… Which is your favorite?
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TOV Furniture TOV-D66 Swell Modern Upholstered Dining Room Chair – I love the clean shape and the unusual legs
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Buschman Set of Four Blue Eames-Style Mid Century Modern Dining Room Wooden Legs Chairs (Set of 4) – $99 for FOUR, great reviews, perfect for homes with kids
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Cardi Mid Century Velvet Upholstered & Metal Accent Chair in Green – those legs look like walnut but they’re much more durable metal
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GreenForest Accent Chairs Modern Velvet Living Room Chairs Large Fabric Shell Chairs – these have such a gorgeous shape and that shade of green is perfect!
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Edloe Finch Modern Velvet Dining Chairs (Set of 2) – the deep forest green is really trending and the legs are brass instead of black, like #4
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GreenForest Living Room Leisure Chair – the quilted back adds some visual interest to this simple dining chair
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Blue Mid Century Modern Upholstered Fabric Organic Chairs (Set of 2) – the organic chair shape is so comfy (we had one in our office) and it comes in other colors too
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Edloe Finch Mid-Century Modern Dining Chairs Set of 2 Rattan Back and Velvet Seat – these look like the classic Cesca chairs I lusted after!
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GreenForest Mid-Century Modern Velvet Dining Chairs (set of 4) – another great bargain if you’re worried your chairs will get rough treatment like ours, only $184 for four but there are great reviews and it’s an Amazon’s Choice
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Armen Living Butterfly Dining Chair in Blue Fabric and Walnut Wood Finish – I love the striking shape of this chair and the shade of fabric is my favorite “Lotte lamp blue”
