The Windsor Chair

Interior by Tom Sheerer

I admit I have a thing for chairs, especially timeless classics whether it be a classic modern or classic traditional, I have a list of personal favorites that includes both and regret that I can’t somehow own all of them (but I'm working on it!).   I’ve always loved the lines of a windsor chair because the spindles and the graceful arc have such a graphic quality to them and they evoke a nostalgic sense of hand made craftsmanship.   I love how their elegant lines compliment both traditional and contemporary spaces.

Modern Country model home by Toronto designer Yanic Simard

In case you haven’t noticed, windsor chairs are HOT right now - I’m seeing them everywhere.  I would never categorize a windsor chair as trendy but like many classics from the past, they are definitely expieriencing a renewed appreciation from a new generation.  I first took notice about two years ago when i was recommending some for a clients kitchen and noticed their popularity seems to have grown since then.   Its hard to pick up a shelter mag lately without seeing them in a feature story or advertisement.  Last week while I was out sourcing chairs for a client I spotted them again and again, in even the most modern of furniture showrooms.  

P.E.I. Beach Home of Canadian Pamela Kline as featured in Country Living

Windsor Chair in distressed Black from the showroom of Sharon O'Dowd.

I'm partial to these chairs in high contrast black because it emphasizes those great graphic lines (like in the photos above), especially in white spaces,  but for clients I’ve often recommended them in a fresh colourful hue which makes them look like striking pieces of art.  

Red Canadian Maple windsor Chair from Toronto shop Commute Home

Tourquoise windsor chairs photographed by Karl Juengel via Brabourne Farm

A 1948 modern version, George Nakashima's straight back chair as seen at Toronto's Design Within Reach showroom. $700.

The Salt chair available at Design Within Reach.  $120

Crate & Barrel's Ingram Side Chair emulates the classic bird cage back windsor chair.  $250.

Martha Stewart's Everday windsor chair for Kmart was flat packed and sold ready to assemble for a mear $49.  For that price I wouldn't be able to help myself from taking a paint brush to them and going crazy,,,a beautiful chartreuse green perhaps....

 

The complete family of windsor seating also includes stools, with and without backs.  Windsor bar stool by Toronto's Windsor Workshop.

The famously beautiful kitchen of Nancy Meyers (Somethings Gotta Give) by designer James Radin as seen in House Beautiful.  He describes the windsor barstools as being "like a punctuation mark in the room".

24" Windsor bar stool by Toronto's Windsor Workshop.

Rod Back windsor chair in black by Toronto's Windsor Workshop.

Large comb back windsor arm chair by Toronto's Windsor Workshop.

An elegant large comb back windsor chair seen in this Sunroom by designer Michael Smith for a Millbook New York Farmhouse as seen in Elle Decor, photo via Cote De Texas.

Windsor Settee by Toronto's Windsor Workshop.

I think a perfect way to add some graphic interest or that "punctuation mark' to a hallway or foyer is to use the graceful windsor settee.  Unfortunately I was unable to find a photo of a windsor settee in this setting,,,,,so you'll have to tap into my designer vision with me here.......If I was to furnish a hallway or foyer with one of these beauties, I could easily envision them in hallways that looked like these....

Stone hallway of a model home toured by Cote De Texas.  How perfectly striking would a black windsor settee look in this gorgeous white and stone hallway.

How about a windsor settee painted fresh spring green or crisp white in this modern traditional home.

As beautiful as this rustic bench looks in this foyer, I can't help but think how perfect the curved back of a windsor settee would echo the rounded top of the panel door.

It would be easy to picture a black or white windsor settee in this modern panelled entrance hallway but with this neutral grey panelleling a windsor settee in any colour your heart desires would be a graphic pop of unexpected colour.

Dealing with Obstacles

A rough 3D sketch helps clients decide how to deal with unexpected changes

Despite how much preplanning and investigation is done prior to embarking on a renovation, you don't really get a true picture of the extent of new work required until after the demolition phase.  Often after the demo you'll discover structural or mechanical elements that need to be worked around or beefed up.   Quick decisions have to be made on how to deal with these obstacles without adversly effecting the design, the budget or the schedule,  but it can be difficult for clients to visualize how the proposed changes will look.   The quickest way to help them make their decisions is by showing them photos of similar situations or in many cases, I quickly draw up a rough 3D sketch to illustrate a point. 

In this case, I was working with a client on a kitchen renovation and after the demolition it was determined more support was required for the floor above and new beams needed to be added across the kitchen ceiling.   We didn't have much flexibility in where they could be placed which meant they weren't necessarily going to be equally spaced or centered within the room.  There was no space above the ceiling to install these and the homeowners didn't want to lower the entire ceiling, so,,,, since the beams were going to be visible, we had to decide how to finish them.  

My clients wanted to clad them in antique wood (as the new kitchen cabinets were being custom made from antique hemlock) to create a beamed wood ceiling effect, but I was recommending we just drywall them and paint them out white.  The house itself is a century home but the interior has been renovated in a very pared back modern style with lots of vintage mid-century modern furniture.  The house throughout is white with old wood floors.  The new kitchen design was what i would call a modern-industrial style, a combination of wood, concrete and stainless steel with simple clean lines.   

My suggestion on how to treat the new beams was to just ignore them.  The best way to not draw attention to something - is to make it blend in.  They weren't completely convinced and thought it might be a good opportunity to add more interest to the kitchen by making the beams a feature.    So I did these sketches to illustrate how the contrast of the wood on the ceiling would look.

The view from the hallway as you enter the kitchen.

As these sketches illustrate, cladding the beams in wood does two things - it creates high contrast with the white ceiling, and visually it brings the ceiling down.    In my opinion, this detracts from the impact of the understated, cabinetry free wall we had intentionally planned.

View  from the Dining Room

The view from the dining room is a good example of how the wood beams make the ceiling appear lower.  Often people will angst over obstacles like this and worry and stress about how to deal with it, and its easy to waste a lot of time and effort trying to recreate the wheel in attempts to disguise it or over-design it.  

When I'm faced with these obstacles, I deal with them in one of two ways:

 1. Make a feature out of it.  Only do this if you can integrate this into the overall design so it looks like it was always planned to be there, it should enhance the rooms design concept not detract from it.  The size, the placement, the way its finished should not look out of place with all the other elements in the room.

2. Understate it, make it blend in, make it disappear.  It may not be perfect, but it is holding the roof up,, providing you heat or  supplying you with water so its better than not having it at all!  If you look closely at magazine photos in your piles of inspiration rooms, you can spot obstacles treated like this in most rooms if you look for them, but because the room is so fabulous you never even notice it. 

On this project the final decision was made to understate the beams by painting them out the same as the ceiling.  As I promised them, in the end, when the kitchen was all complete they would blend in, become unaware of them and wonder why they were ever concerned about them in the first place.  I'll post more drawings and photos of this incredible kitchen reno in future posts...

Dining - Inside Out

Update July 20th:  I was sourcing some dining chairs for a client today and came across a couple of stunning chairs that are perfect for indoor and outdoor use and they're pretty reasonably priced, so I just had to include them with the post below ! (Room above: Hand Interior Design).

Web Chair $120

Stilt Chair $175

This will be my last post on outdoor furniture for the season, considering the weather’s been so lousy this summer we have yet to dine outdoors even once this summer.  But if we get lucky enough to enjoy a warm summer evening dining al fresco, then this is how I would make it more magical...

TAKE COVER.  For outdoor dining, I prefer a covered porch or awning rather than an umbrella, the post in the middle drives me crazy.  But i think my favorite summer product this season is Ikea’s Dyning Gazebo canopy, offerred in either a rectangular or trianglur shape.  You can string up one or two or three of these between trees or posts to create a dreamy canopy effect that looks like boat sails......  Great for irregular shaped spaces, and situations where awnings and permanent roof structures are not an option.  This is ingenious and a steal at $29.  

AVOID MATCHING suites of furniture.  Most people seem to have grasped the concept of not buying suites of dining room and bedroom furniture like our parents did, but somehow this concept hasn’t translated to our outdoor rooms yet.  Even though there is more of a selection than ever before, when it comes to outdoor furniture (most of it more expensive than our indoor pieces),,,,,I always seem to see entire backyards or decks furnished with matching sofas, coffee tables, dining tables, chairs, bar carts and side tables all from the same collection.  I know its usually less expensive to buy the entire set, but they will sell these pieces individually too so perhaps its a case of people rushing to furnish their outdoor spaces so they can just get busy enjoying them?

BRING THE INDOORS OUT. Whether its indoor dining or outdoor dining, chairs are always a big investment, because you need multiples.  Four, six or eight.  So why buy chairs that are only suitable for outdoors?  Stretch your patio budget by only buying 2 or 4 outdoor chairs, or one long bench, or,,,,,if you’re really tight on space and dollars, skip the outdoor chairs altogether and think multipurpose.   If you purchase chairs for your deck or balcony and they look like patio furniture then you minimize the amount of use they’ll get (I don’t think it ever looks appropriate to use them indoors, even in a pinch) and you’ll have to find dedicated storage space for them in the off season.   But taking your indoor chairs outside,,,somehow always looks decadent.

Today there are a variety great looking chairs that are suitable for both indoors and out (see photo collage at bottom of post) but you won't find these in outdoor section.   Initially you might have only ever considered these for indoor use, but surprisingly not only will all of these chairs look stunning in your kitchen, home office or dining room, they’re all suitable for outdoor use too!  And as a bonus, they all stack for easier storage if needed.   These are modern, clean lined and would mix well when paired up with chairs of any other style making them super practical. So if you buy a few extras, you’ll be prepared for extra dinner guests at anytime of the year and your mix of chairs will look stylish and chic as opposed to mismatched and makeshift.

EASY TO FIND.  These chairs are available in shops 12 months of the year which means you’ll never have to scour the city mid-way thru summer looking for some stylish outdoor seating.  If you’ve ever shopped for outdoor furniture after the May long weekend, you know how frustrating it can be to find anything.  But what do you do if its your first place, or your first backyard, its mid-way thru June and you’ve got guests coming for a bbq!?  You may not even have dining room furniture yet let alone patio furniture.  Investing in 2 or 4 of these chairs will give you the flexibility to use them inside or out.

I'm partial to these chairs paired with old rustic wood tables, especially trestle style, or chunky teak tables.  If you're outdoor dining space is well protected and you have a place to store a table in the off season, you can get away with almost any inexpensive table or create one using workhorses and plywood or an old slab door, then layer it with table cloths.    

Photos:  Living Etc., ebay, DWR, Living Etc. (3), Apartment Therapy, Chairs clockwise left to right, top; Alonzo Chair DWR $44 (sale),  Air Chair DWR $98 (sale), White Bertoia Side Chair DWR $450, Ikea Urban Chair $50, Navy Chair DWR $415, Ghost Chair DWR $400, Marais Arm Chair DWR $135 (sale), Panton Chair DWR $250