Dining Chair Height: What Seat Height Fits Your Table?

Measure at the front edge of the seat, where your thighs rest, and on an upholstered chair measure to the top of the cushion. The overall height, to the top of the backrest, varies with the design and has no effect on how the chair fits the table.

The chart below gives the seat height of each of our dining chairs and the gap it leaves below a 76 cm (30 in) tabletop, the height of our own dining tables.

76 cm (30 in) is the classic height and the one we make our Ann and Luna tables to. Many older tables, and many Scandinavian ones, are a little lower, at 72 to 74 cm (28.5 to 29 in), and suit a seat at the lower end of the range.

Applying the 25 to 30 cm (10 to 12 in) rule gives the chart below: the seat heights that work at each common table height, and which of our chairs fit.

The three are not interchangeable. A dining chair at a 90 cm (35.5 in) kitchen island leaves you with the counter at chest height, and a counter stool at a dining table puts your knees above the tabletop.

If you are furnishing an island or a kitchen counter rather than a table, our bar stool height guide gives the same rule for counters and bars, and counter stools vs bar stools explains which of the two your island needs.

The aim is feet flat on the floor with the knees at roughly a right angle and the thighs resting on the seat, not lifted off it.

In a household with very different heights, pick the seat for the table first and let the tallest person decide within that range. Karin, at 50 cm (19.7 in), is our tallest seat and suits tall households at a 76 cm (30 in) table; Sella, Bella and Isabell at 46 cm (18.1 in) suit most people and lower tables. For a longer look at what makes a chair comfortable through a whole dinner, read comfortable dining chairs.