I went to a couple of local stores today, just randomly chosen because they looked like they would carry formal dining furniture (Walter E. Smithe, Thomasville, and Drexel Heritage). As I expected no one had oak (except for mission which stylistically will not go with my china cabinet). So I looked for woods that were the right reddish brown color, which turned out to be, for the most part, mahogany. What I saw in all of these stores seemed to be really nice quality but I did experience sticker shock. (More from the price of the chairs than the tables: is $300 and up per chair normal? ArghÂ) I realize I havenÂt shopped for much furniture; when our kids were small utility ruled, and most of my good pieces are family antiques that I refinished myself. Subtracting the styles that wouldnÂt go and ones with distressing (I donÂt like distressing, at least not on a formal dining table), that left really only 2 tables found in 4 stores, one by Henredon and one by Thomasville. All of the stores said they had few styles on display but could order anything from the manufacturer. However ordering was what I didnÂt want to do, since I want to see the wood and workmanship close up. If I have to order anyway I might as well do it online. I have read about people on these forums ordering online but I have been concerned about getting something that is not the quality I am imagining. Are there any brands or vendors in particular I should look for, so I will not be disappointed? Thanks for any advice you can offer.

I have not sat in that chair, tho it is very similar in style on the back to a Padmas chair that I did sit in. They are nicely made and I thought comfy. That said, I think that chair is just way too heavy in feel for your table as it is; for sure I would only do 2 if you end up with that as your choice. Honestly, if animal hair is a big issue for you, draping fabric on the base doesnÂt really seem to get you away from that issue as you are trying to do. I think the base of your table is a part of the issue - it looks like a bistro table, which makes almost any chair you put with it feel too heavy. I know you said changing tables was not an option. Is that for financial reasons, or because you love the table as is? You might think about looking on your local Craigslist for a used table. You could check into replacing the base - perhaps a cement pedestal or birdbath from the local garden center. If you are crafty, you might try taking off the top, turning the table over and wrapping the legs with a heavy natural-colored rope/twine from the home center. It will take some time but little money, and would give the base more visual weight and a new feel. I did that to a couple of ginger jar lamps some years back, and it was a great, inexpensive solution. You could even stain the rope (as long as it is not nylon) to get a richer color. Then some rattan chairs, or even the wooden chairs, might feel more like they belonged. As for 2 or 4? I really think that depends on the chairs, but if for the majority of the time it is just the two of you, I would stick with two. Folding chairs or a pair of stools that compliment your chair choice would be fine for the grandkids when they come -- you could even paint and personalize them for each of them.

The stripes look right at home on your chairs, Bonnieann. How is the surface of your table holding up? White paint sure does give everything a fresh new look. Thank you for the Berry Staple Puller rec, My3dogs. I'll have to get myself one of those. Four of the chairs are in really good condition, just some dirty upholstery, the two in the basement need some help. They were well used :) Good question, Anele! Turquoise vinyl must have been the "it" thing at some point. Not attractive or comfortable but it did protect the layers underneath.

I definitely think Val's shield back are better quality than the first. Check the corners in particular, they are mitered and the profile of the carving turns the corners beautifully. The first looks like it's one solid piece and then routed out. Also the color on the carving perfectly matches the chair and is probably the same kind of wood whereas on the first one up top it looks more yellow to me and would make me wonder if it was a different kind of wood. I also really like the band 2/3 of the way down on Val's chair that breaks up the flatness of the splats. red, those are pretty neat chairs too. It's interesting how ornate the carving is on the legs compared to the back, but it all looks nice in that pic. The back is a bit different than you see commonly, so that's cool too. I also really love chairs where the seat feels more upholstered rather than screw on and re-cover, but it costs more to have them redone - which means you'd better pick something you like the first time you have them done. I believe this is indicative of an older chair. Sometimes a bargain is not such a bargain. The chairs I got were $100 a piece, which sounds good, until you realize that I gave them to a guy for a professional cleaning and polish and then reupholstering (the whole seat had to be rebuilt) and that added another $150/chair, but they are perfect. I bought the fabric myself on ebay for a steal (7 yards for 7 chairs, how lucky is that? I think I paid about $50 with shipping) I've been looking for more of the blue dragonflies for well over a year now and haven't seen it ANYWHERE. Here's what the chair looked like before (broken seat, horrible old fabric, the cat loved it though) After the cleanup/reupholstery: very dusty floor, sorry, it was during a time when we were stil doing work. I think it's funny that shieldback chairs are "back in" now. When I bought these from my antique dealer friends, they had them for years with no interest (of course I didn't know they had them because they were buried in the back room). I think they ended up selling them to me for less than they paid for them, just to get rid of them and they still ended up costing me a lot. I probably could have done some of that work myself (like the cleaning and polishing) but I was commuting 4 hrs a day at the time and was not looking for yet another DIY project.