Each interior design project has it's one (sometimes more) tricky element. The paint color that needs to look as serene in the sun-soaked corner of the room as in the dimly lit back wall. Or, the rug. Oh, the rug! Or, the frame gallery...it's just not coming together organically. There's usually something that needs tweaking and editing and more tweaking before we land on the perfect finished design.

For one of our recent projects, it was the dining chairs. We quickly found so many gorgeous, affordable, kid-friendly dining chairs that fit our big picture design. But getting approval from our client wasn't so easy. The importance of dining chairs is huge, especially in designs (like our clients) where there is no formal dining room. When your dining chairs are your everyday dinner chairs and your holiday hosting chairs and your pull-it-over-to-the-TV-for-extra-seating chairs and everything in between chairs, they need to check many boxes. And so, finding the perfect chair was a journey.

Here was our original vision for the dining room, in mood board form.

&nbs… — Wall color / Chandelier / Dining chairs / Dining Table

We were inspired by this lovely dining area that seamlessly mixes modern with rustic.

And so, we proposed ghost chairs! The perfect everything. Right?! If your little one spills grape juice, it takes a few paper towels and all is restored. They're also chic, cost effective and the ultimate design chameleon. Unfortunately, our client didn't love their look. They're also not always the most comfortable choice, especially those that are affordable.

So, we went back to the designing board. After some back and forth...okay a lot of back and forth (hence the "tricky" part)...we landed on the right chair for our client and for our design. We'll get there in a minute. But first, we thought you might be interested in some of the chairs we researched and considered. So many great options under $200...with one fabulous exception.

1. Ecole chair from Article (on sale for $179)

2. Viena white wood dining chair from Crate and Barrel ($109)

3. Marley arm chair from All Modern ($259.99)

4. Hugo dining chair from Wayfair ($176.99)

5. Madeleine side chair from Restoration Hardware ($132)

6. Parker dining chair from Target ($146.99 for set of 2)

7. Kelly-blue teal indoor metal chair from Amazon ($56.78)

8. Molded chair from Rove Concepts (on sale for $79.99)

And now, where did we land with our client? The Madeleine side chair from Restoration Hardware. We went with the white finish, which is no longer available (bummer). It's kid-friendly, comfortable (and cushions can be added in the future when little hands spill less grape juice), both classic and right now, well-priced and really pretty. Covers ALL the bases.

We can't wait to show you the finished project later this month!

- Leah

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