Short answer
Yes, when the frame is welded steel with a powder-coated finish: steel is strong in slim sections, so the chair looks light and still carries a heavy load.
The weak points of cheap metal chairs are not the steel but what is done with it: bolted joints that loosen, thin tube that flexes and paint that chips. Check the joints, the tube and the finish before the look.
Our Sella, Bella and Isabell are welded from raw Swedish steel, powder-coated black and upholstered in our own factory in Sweden. Our guide to wood vs upholstered dining chairs compares steel and oak frames.
Yes, with an upholstered seat and back: you sit on foam and fabric, not on steel, so the frame decides the shape and the upholstery decides the comfort.
Our steel chairs have seats of high-density cold-cure foam under vegan leather, velvet or bouclé. Isabell's backrest is upholstered to full height, so your whole back is supported, and Sella adds armrests at 25.2 in for the longest dinners.
Because you sit on the cushion, a steel frame does not feel cold; in our experience, a powder-coated finish also feels warmer to the touch than bare or chrome-plated steel. Our guide to comfortable dining chairs covers seat depth and the angle of the back.
Only on bare feet: steel legs on a hard floor scrape and clatter, and felt pads under the legs stop both.
A welded frame itself stays quiet, because it has no bolted joints to work loose and creak. The upholstery helps the room too: soft seats absorb some of the sound that hard chairs and a hard floor bounce around.
Replace the pads when they wear thin; in our experience, that is once or twice a year with daily use. We sell furniture pads for chair legs.
Floor Protector PadsFelt pads · quiet on hard floors · from $9View Floor
Very strong for its size: a welded steel frame is one piece, with no screws or bolts to loosen, and ours are rated for 440 lbs per seat.
RISE, Sweden, a laboratory accredited to ISO/IEC 17025, has assessed Sella as meeting EN 16139 Level 2, the level for intensive use in the European standard for non-domestic seating, and Isabell Level 1, based on RISE testing including stability tests on both chairs. The 440 lbs rating is our own.
That is why a slim steel chair can carry the same load as a thicker oak one. Our guide to dining chair weight capacity explains what the ratings and standards mean.
Not indoors while the powder coat is intact: the powder is baked into a hard, continuous layer that seals the steel and resists chips far better than wet paint.
Powder coating covers welds, curves and the insides of bends evenly, which is where paint is weakest. The parts that take the knocks, the front legs and the feet, show wear first.
Wipe the frame with a damp cloth and dry it; avoid abrasive pads, scouring powder and strong solvents. If a frame is ever scratched through to the metal, dry it and contact us about touching it up. Our guide to powder-coated steel explains the process step by step.
Sella for armrests and the longest dinners, Bella for the lightest look, Isabell for a back upholstered to full height.
All three have an 18.1 in seat and an overall height of 31.9 in, so they can be mixed around one table. The chart below sets out where they differ.
| Sella | Bella | Isabell | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Armrests | At 25.2 in | None | None |
| Width x depth | 19.7 x 21.7 in | 16.9 x 19.3 in | 16.9 x 19.3 in |
| Weight | 17.6 lbs | 13.2 lbs | 13.2 lbs |
| Build | Upholstered seat and back, armrests | Free-standing legs, no rails between them | Fully upholstered on a composite base |
| Fabrics | Vegan leather or velvet | Vegan leather, velvet or bouclé | Vegan leather, velvet or bouclé |
| RISE assessment | EN 16139 Level 2 | Not assessed | EN 16139 Level 1 |
| Table width per chair | 25.5 to 27.5 in | About 23.5 in | About 23.5 in |
Yes: black steel chairs give an oak table one of its strongest, most modern contrasts, and let the grain of the table take center stage.
A slim black frame reads as a line against the wood, so the chairs frame the table instead of competing with it. A warm seat, such as ivory or sand vegan leather, softens the contrast in a light room.
Our guide to chairs for an oak table shows which of our chairs suits each oak finish, and our guide to oak dining chairs covers the wooden alternative.
Sella Dining ChairFrom $439Armrests · EN 16139 Level 2
Bella Dining ChairFrom $399Free-standing legs · 13 lbs
Isabell Dining ChairFrom $379Full-height back · EN 16139 Level 1
Floor Protector PadsFrom $9Felt pads for chair legs
