Friday Finds: Traditional Chairs Get Wild

This week Susi is changing up the Friday Finds to give you a high to low price comparison of several upholstered chairs in a similar style and fabric. These traditional chairs take a walk on the wild side in classy zebra print upholstery.

Sophie Lounge Chair is a luxury buy at $2629. Made from kiln-dried hardwoods and stamped hide upholstery, the Sophie is worth the expense.

The Rotundo Arm Chair, in plantation hardwoods and chenille fabric, has a bit more delicate frame than the others. It comes in at at $426.

The Zebra Print Occasional Chair at $150 is a steal. It has the same classy looks of the higher priced chairs without giving up quality.

• Posted at 12:16 PM
• living room chairs, upholstered chairs
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Tropical Year-Round Casual Chairs

If you live near the coast, year-round tropical home furnishings are more than appropriate, they keep that special vacation feeling in your home all year long. Tropical furnishings bring nature indoors when made from beautiful materials such as rattan, wicker and bamboo. Tropical-styled casual chairs make those long, lovely days overlooking the water a simple pleasure.

On the other hand,  what if you don’t live near the coast and still yearn for a little slice of paradise to add to your home without it standing out from your other furnishings? The New Pacific Monaco Living Chair in natural Abaca twist weaving on a solid Mango wood frame topped off with a leather cushion should do the trick. The tropical materials paired with the dark leather chair cushion create a casual chair which will blend nicely with other wood and upholstered pieces alike. 

• Posted at 2:29 PM
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Discover Ashley Furniture on StylePath

I read somewhere the other day about Ashley Furniture being the #1 furniture seller in North America, which led me to wonder why. Well, apparently according to their website they “sell top-quality furniture at incredibly low prices.” They are able to do this for a number of reasons: They streamlined their design, production and delivery process by cutting out the middleman in all of these areas. They have their own furniture designers on staff, they keep limited warehouse space at their Ashley furniture home stores and fill orders from regional warehouse locations which they deliver with their own fleet of trucks.

Ok, so they’ve apparently got the quality and price down, but do they have great looking furniture designs? What styles do they carry? If I wanted to go full out modern with only Ashley furniture designs could I? Or contemporary or traditional? I remember running across a few pieces of their furniture on StylePath so I thought, I would investigate further.

Wow! Here’s what I found—we have 44 pages of Ashley furniture in every style, design and price point for every room of the house. I’ve found some beautiful pieces I would love to take home with me. Take a look at our Ashley Furniture pages for yourself.

Ashley Furniture's North Shore Upholstered Arm Chairs (Set of 2) for under $450.

• Posted at 5:51 PM
• Ashley furniture, living room chairs
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Exotic Zebra Print Upholstered Accent Chairs

Adding in a hint of animal print to most any interior design style or room gives a touch of the exotic and looks very chic. A zebra print can be quite dramatic with its contrasting black and white swirly stripes. One of our favorite upholstered accent chairs is the Zebra Print Occasional Arm Chair from Club Chairs. Made with a classy black durable wood frame accentuated with zebra-striped fabric on a fully padded seat and backrest, this upholstered accent chair offers comfortable seating in an elegant package. Accompany a solid colored sofa with two of the zebra upholstered accent chairs for a chic look.

Every review we have read for these chairs says the buyer is amazed by the quality of the chairs for the low price. Some reviews even mention how many compliments the new chair owners get on their animal print upholstered chairs. At under $165, you can’t beat the look or the quality of these beautiful accent chairs. 

Sandy on Club Chairs.com says of the Zebra accent chair she ordered, “This chair can really transform your space and give your room a face lift! The zebra print works in eclectic and even traditional, formal rooms. We have ours sitting in the living room and I like that it brings a bit of playfulness to the room. For this price I'll probably order another one!”

Club Chairs' Zebra Print Occasional Arm Chair

• Posted at 1:13 PM
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An Upholstered Chair with Personality

Furniture with personality seems to shout out “Look at me!” This upholstered arm chair, besides being fun and funky, has very practical characteristics. For example, the Loge Easy Chair is perfect for people who like to sit and lounge at the same time, it’s also designed to accommodate tall people with its low and deep design.

The Loge was designed in 1989 by Gerard Van den Berg in Holland and continues to be a classic choice in modern designed interiors due to its almost endless array of upholstery choices in fabrics and leathers. When it comes to upholstered chairs, the Loge Easy Chair wins our vote hands down for its artsy look, cool personality and functional attributes.

Gerard Van den Berg's Loge Easy Chair makes a great a addition to any modern or contemporary interior where no other upholstered accent chair will do.

• Posted at 10:59 AM
• living room chairs, upholstered chairs
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Three Famous Modern Chair Designs

The German-born American architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe once said of chair design, “A chair is a very difficult object. A skyscraper is almost easier. That is why Chippendale is famous.” In tribute to the modernist chair designers who created some of the most famous designer chairs in the world, we've given them a place on our list and given you access to the alternative designer styles on StylePath, so you can easily choose your favorite!

Bibendum Chair by Eileen Gray

Egg Chair by Arne Jacobsen

Tulip Chair by Eero Saarinen

• Posted at 6:14 PM
• designer chair, living room chairs
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Upholstered Chairs for the Living Room

Upholstered chairs in a textured or patterned fabric can add interest and comfort to any room especially the living room.  There is nothing like a comfortable upholstered club chair to sink back in and relax while watching a movie or visiting with friends and family. 

Originally, club chairs could be found in “men’s clubs” where men gathered to converse, drink and smoke cigars. The first club chair designs were leather with straight backs and deep seats for long hours of comfort. Today’s club chairs, designed for the home, are still comfort-oriented, but can be found in many styles, shapes, sizes and upholstery options. From the informal overstuffed thick-framed style to the sleek synthetic covered modern style, there are upholstered club chairs for every décor.

StylePath offers a ton of choices in upholstered club chairs. So sign in if you’ve already joined or sign up and let us suggest the club chairs that fit your style. 

Sam Moore Rio Club Chair in paisley print upholstery and brass brads.

• Posted at 4:06 PM
• living room chairs, upholstered chairs
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Blu Dot: Three Stand Up Guys

Being the obsessive chair fanatics we are—our furniture editor had "quite a few" in her home at one time and I’m on the hunt for the perfect chairs for every room in my house—it’s no wonder we see ALOT of chair designers and designs. A favorite, we want to share with you,  is the Blu Dot crew. They create the most amazing chairs in comfortable and fascinating shapes. Chair fanatics themselves, they even conducted a Real Good Experiment with one of their chairs and produce movies about their designs featuring a large furry squirrel.

John Christakos, Blu Dot’s CEO and founder, recently interviewed with Bradford Shellhammer over at dwell.com. In the interview, he touches on what makes Blu Dot different from other design houses. He tells Shellhammer, “As one of the few design firms that also manufactures and markets its own designs, I have learned that design is really the easy part.  And the most fun part, although I suspected that from the beginning.  Getting a design from sketchpad to marketplace is much harder than I originally thought.”

Charles Lazor and Maurice Blanks join Christakos to make up the three Blu Dot principals. The three college friends share a profound passion for design, art and architecture. Their mission?  To “bring good design to as many people as possible.” Their design philosophy? To "create simple straightforward objects in a complicated world. Clarity is very important to us." We like the way they think!

Another character trait we love about these guys is they don’t take individual credit for their designs. They approach concept, design and production as a collective effort. Christakos says of the process, “We are a design collective and have been from the very beginning. For the first several years, Charlie, Maurice, and I designed everything and we did that collaboratively. Some pieces may have started in my sketchbook or Charlie's or Maurice's but by the end they were truly a group effort. We are firm believers that the collective effort often yields results that can't be reached on a solo basis.”

Others are talking about the Blu Dot trio too. Marissa Bartolucci of American Contemporary Furniture, says of the three designers,  "With their inventive, can-do spirit that characterized the work of the Eameses, Blu Dot has resurrected the values of the Good Design movement and its popular potential."

Design on you terrific three! The Blu Dot Buttercup Rocker below would work great as a living room chair and has my name written all over it. Simply b-e-a-uuuu-tiful!

• Posted at 3:24 PM
• designer chair, living room chairs
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Calling All Bookworms

With all that’s happening in the world today, sometimes you need a place of your own to curl up with a good book and hot beverage. Necessities for the perfect nook are a comfy chair, side table and lamp. Even when you don’t have time to read, just having a cozy reading place ready can be comforting. Here’s what we suggest to help you create the perfect reading nook…

The Westbrook Multi-Accent Armchair by Signature Design for Ashley Furniture is fitted in beautifully-patterned upholstery in muted earth tones set atop showood bun feet. The thick rolled arms and plush pillow back of this upholstered chair will give you hours of comfort.

This hand-painted Round Floral Top End Table in its dark red finish makes a perfect companion piece to your plush upholstered chair. From the cabriole legs to the golden brown crackle top this table is sure to please.

Shed some light on that intriguing mystery you’re reading with this Quoizel Two Light Table Lamp. This handcrafted shining beauty is made from genuine fossil stone and looks remarkably like agate. A detail you that might interest—fossil stone is actually petrified wood which was embedded in the crust of the earth for eons!

• Posted at 9:15 AM
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