Short answer
No: a contrast between chairs and table often looks more considered than a matched set, as long as something ties them together.
A matched set can look flat, especially in wood, where chairs and table in exactly the same tone merge into one block. A contrast gives each piece its own outline.
What ties them together can be a colour repeated elsewhere in the room, a shared material such as black steel, or simply a similar line: slim and straight, or soft and rounded.
Keep one thing constant and vary one other: the same model in two colours, two models in the same colour, or two models in the same material.
Vary more than one thing and the set starts to look accidental. Vary nothing and you are back to a matched set.
The chart below gives four combinations that work, with examples from our range.
| Approach | What stays the same | Example |
|---|---|---|
| One model, two colours | The shape | Isabell in Ivory and Jade Black vegan leather |
| Two models, one colour | The colour | Sella and Bella in Jade Black |
| Two models, one material | The material | Karin and Erik in the same oak |
| Chairs with arms at the ends | The family | Erik at the ends, Karin along the sides |
Match the wood exactly or contrast it clearly; a near-match, two slightly different oaks side by side, looks like a mistake.
An exact match works when chairs and table come from the same maker in the same finish. A clear contrast works when the difference is obvious, such as dark oak chairs at a pale oak table.
Our oak chairs and tables share the same three finishes, Oak, Dark Oak and Black Oak, so you can match a Karin chair to an Ann table exactly or step one finish darker on purpose. Our guide to chairs for an oak table goes through the combinations.
Oak chairs warm up a black or stone table, and black steel chairs with an upholstered seat echo a black frame while softening a hard top.
A black table with black chairs reads as one strong graphic block, which suits a modern room but can feel heavy in a small one. Oak or a light fabric breaks it up.
Stone tops are cool and hard to the eye and the ear, so an upholstered seat in velvet or bouclé balances them. Karin in oak at a stone table is an example of the first approach, and Sella in Jade Black at our black oak Diana table of the second.
Yes, if their seats are within about 2 cm (1 in) of the same height and they have a similar visual weight, so the table still reads as one set.
Seat height is the practical limit: guests on chairs of different heights sit at different levels and notice it at once.
Sella, Bella and Isabell all have a 46 cm (18.1 in) seat, so they can be mixed freely around one table. Erik, at 48 cm (18.9 in), pairs with Karin, at 50 cm (19.7 in). The dining chair height guide lists every model.
Sella Dining ChairSame 46 cm seat as Bella · from €489View Sella
Take the colour from the room, not the table: the floor, the walls or a textile, so the chairs connect the table to the space around it.
Chairs are the largest area of colour around a dining table, larger than the tabletop seen from across the room. A colour that already exists in the room makes them look chosen, not added.
Order fabric samples and wood samples and look at them next to your table, floor and walls, in daylight and in the evening, before you decide. Every chair in our dining chairs collection is available as a single test chair with free returns.
Isabell Dining ChairFrom €409Ivory vegan leather
Isabell Dining ChairFrom €409Jade Black vegan leather
Karin Dining ChairFrom €489Oak · matches Ann
Erik Dining ChairFrom €519Dark oak · armrests
