Dining Chairs: Find the Right Seat for Every Side of the Table
A dining table gets all the attention, but the chairs are what your family and guests actually sit in every day. Comfort, durability, and style all matter here, and getting the mix right, side chairs for the long sides, arm chairs for the heads, is what makes a dining set feel complete rather than thrown together.
Furniture Fair carries a deep selection of side chairs, arm chairs, wood construction, and upholstered options to match nearly any table and any dining room style.
From the Furniture Fair Showroom
"A lot of customers come in worried they got a defective chair when it wobbles, but nine times out of ten it's just a leg installed on the wrong side or a bolt that needs tightening. We always walk people through it before recommending a return."
Caroline Rhinehart, Fairfield Store Manager
Side Chairs vs. Arm Chairs
Side chairs are the workhorses of any dining set: armless, space-efficient, and built to line the long sides of a table where you need to seat as many people as possible. Arm chairs typically anchor the head of the table, offering a bit more presence and comfort for the host or honored guest. Many of our chair styles are available in both side and arm versions, so you can build a complete, coordinated set rather than mixing unrelated styles.
Wood vs. Upholstered Dining Chairs
Wood dining chairs are the more common choice in our collection, prized for durability and easy cleanup after everyday meals. If comfort is your priority, our upholstered chairs add cushioning for long dinners and gatherings, while our leather options bring a more refined, upscale feel to the table.
Shop by Style
Windsor-style chairs bring a classic, colonial-inspired silhouette with a spindle back, a good fit for traditional or farmhouse dining rooms.
Chairs with inlay detailing offer a more refined, handcrafted look for formal dining spaces.
Color-forward upholstered options make it easy to add a pop of personality to your dining room without switching styles entirely.
Chair Wobbling? Here's an Easy Fix
If you've ever sat down at a dining chair only to feel it rock or teeter, you're not alone, and it's usually not a defective chair. Our furniture specialist walks through exactly how to diagnose and fix a wobbly or unlevel dining chair in the video below, using simple tools and a few minutes of your time.
has this happened to you you got a wobbly chair or you got a very unlevel chair you don't know what to do i spent a lot of money on this well how does this happen and how do i stop it from happening well today i'm going to show you first how to fix a wobbly chair and how to fix determine first of all and then fix an unlevel chair [Music] my name is mike chase and today i want to show you how to fix a wobbly chair and level an unlevel chair let me give you just a quick little story so i bought a dinette from here my wife and i it's a big it's a high dinette we ordered a double bench so a big bench now keep in mind i've probably put together thousands of these chairs not to exaggerate over my years i put it together my stretchers on the bottom of the chair are crooked and my chair my bench is unlevel well immediately guess what i did i want to call the manufacturer and get parts or send it back so i'm thinking about it and i start looking showing my daughter and all of a sudden it's like i realize i put the legs on backwards a simple little thing all the years but i failed to realize that this particular piece it was important where the legs went so i hope this today this video can help you not have the same frustration i had here's a wobbly chair this as you can see is quite unlevel our first thought is when we're putting these together so we buy seven chairs eight chairs and we put six or seven together and they're fine but we got one or two that's wrong our first thought is always to say well how did i get a defective chair i want you to change your thought pattern right there for a second these are mass produced hundredths at a time down the assembly line if one chair is bad they're probably all bad if one's good they're probably all good normally it's something simple even someone like myself has put thousands of these chairs together periodically i'll put one together wrong on the bottom of a chair there are letters that say l and r i want you to remember this is tough but where you're standing right now this would be the left leg where i'm standing it's the right leg so we do everything in the furniture business facing so when that that leg down there should say l on this side so make sure you put the left leg on the left side facing the right leg on the right side facing that's first and foremost so i'm going to show you how to tighten up a chair first so this chair is very very wobbly i'm going to do two things i'm going to show you how to correct this part at the same time the first thing you need to do is loosen all these up with these simple little tools these tools come with it screwdriver does not you just want to loosen everything up and get your chair loose get everything loose force these legs back into the make sure they're tight and then just tighten them back up hand tight first front both legs the left and the right this particular chair you can't put the legs on wrong so that's nice but you can put these stretchers on wrong and that will cause an unlevel chair tighten these back down very very simple as you see nice and snug by the way this is part of the maintenance that you're going to have to do over the years of owning this chair it's not a big deal just a little bit of maintenance keeping them tight phillips screwdriver put it right down in this opening tighten it and these will work themselves loose over the years depending on the amount of use it's not a big deal though just tighten it once in a while the last thing you want to do to correct just a wobbly chair remember we're not talking about our level right now just wobbly you want to find this put your phillips screwdriver in there your allen wrench in there actually this one's using a phillips put your phillips in there tighten them all down and just make sure they're all snug we do not have a wobbly chair any longer so now we understand how to fix a wobbly chair we just fixed this one it is no longer wobbly now i want to get to probably the most important part of the video an unlevel chair you spent lots of money on a dinette you put it together you've got a chair that does this the first thought is is i've got a faulty chair a short leg or something maybe you do probably not and i'm going to show you why most floors first of all in all homes settle and are unlevel in some spots move your move your chair around on the floor and see it's gonna be already a little bit better right there than it is here but i do have an unlevel chair i believe how do i find out pick the chair up put it on a flat level surface your kitchen countertop would be good or your dinette table set it down easy so you don't scratch your table but this is a perfectly level tabletop now well look at that i do have an unleveled chair so we've determined we do have an unlevel chair so the way to fix that turn your chair upside down onto the flat surface loosen up all of the bolts up front if they're not already loose let's loosen them up get some wiggle on these legs okay so now we've got the legs loose now push them make sure they're set hand tighten them no more than hand tight right now and i'll show you why now we got the legs tight but they're just hand tight they can still move now i'm going to turn the chair back over and level the chair i want you to pull out on these legs and then push down and pull these legs out while you're pushing down putting some body weight if you have a small child you want to get down the floor they can sit on it and you can get down on the floor and do it i'm going to do it from up here so now we've got them in we've pulled the legs pushed down on it self-leveling we simply go up here find those bolts a little tricky but you got to find those two bolts and tighten them up if you want to use a socket you can do that i'm just using what the company is going to supply to you the manufacturer supplies those two are tight i keep putting the pressure down i come over here nice little torque on it don't over tighten it you can rip it out so don't over tighten but it's nice and snug now look at my chair perfectly level remember the chair was unlevel simply do that it's self-leveled it is not a faulty chair you don't have to wait on service or parts you can just correct it so more times than not it is not the chair that's faulty it's us just not knowing what to do and that's fine but in that chance that you do have a chair that you've done the steps that we're showing you here or our delivery team does the steps and we can't fix this chair from either being wobbly or from being unlevel we have a customer care department you place a call to our customer care department they will completely get you taken care of reach out to your sales associate he can direct you there or go to our online store and ask questions there also
Mike Chase on fixing a wobbly or unlevel dining chair
Match arm and side chairs to your table's seating plan. Use side chairs for the long sides of the table and reserve arm chairs for the head positions, or choose a family that offers both for a fully coordinated set.
Decide between wood and upholstered. Wood chairs are easier to clean and hold up well to daily use, while upholstered and leather options add comfort for a dining room where guests linger.
Check your chair height against your table. Standard dining chairs are built for standard height tables. If your table is counter or bar height, make sure your chairs are sized to match.
Consider color and finish as a way to personalize your set. Upholstered chairs in a range of colors let you introduce personality without needing a completely different chair style.
Frequently Asked Questions About Dining Chairs
Side chairs have no armrests and are designed for the long sides of a dining table, while arm chairs include armrests and are typically placed at the head of the table for the host.
Yes. Many households pair upholstered arm chairs at the head of the table with wood side chairs along the sides for a layered, intentional look.
This is usually not a defect. It's often caused by legs installed on the wrong side (chairs are frequently marked L and R) or bolts that need tightening. Watch our troubleshooting video for a step by step fix.
Not necessarily. Complementary finishes and styles often create a more personalized, professionally designed look than an exact match.
A good rule of thumb is 10 to 13 inches of clearance between the seat and the underside of the table.
Shop Smarter with Furniture Fair's Good, Better, Best Buying System
Dining chairs see daily use, so construction quality matters more than it might seem. Furniture Fair's Good, Better, Best buying system helps you understand what changes as you move up in price, from joinery and wood quality to upholstery durability, so you can choose chairs built to last as long as the rest of your dining set.
Why Shop Furniture Fair for Dining Chairs
A deep selection spanning side chairs, arm chairs, wood, upholstered, and leather options
Matching arm and side chair styles for a fully coordinated dining set
Color options for shoppers who want personality without changing styles
Our own in-house delivery team, never outsourced, with next-day delivery available on in-stock items
Browse our full Dining Chairs collection online, or visit a Furniture Fair showroom to see the finishes, colors, and upholstery options in person. Our design specialists can help you build a coordinated set that fits your table and your style.
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