Wood cafe chairs

A wood chair is the oldest piece of kit in the trade, and it still earns its place on the floor. Here are 95 chairs on wood frames, from plain slat backs to padded backs with arms. Your first call is the seat: hard wood that you wipe and forget, or a vinyl or fabric pad that keeps a regular sitting through a second cup.

The seat wears before the frame does

Frames last. The seat takes the punishment: jeans, crumbs, the damp cloth at close and the child who kneels on it to see into the pastry case. That is why most chairs here let you choose the seat apart from the frame, and vinyl, fabric and plain wood all turn up across the range, often more than one on the same listing.

Match the seat to the length of the stay. A bakery where people buy a loaf and go can run on wood seats with nothing more than a wipe at close. A shop where the laptop crowd settles in after lunch wants padding, and vinyl is the cover you can wipe dry in a moment. Ask for a free swatch before you order a room's worth, and ask again for any reorder, because the color lists change.

Backs, arms and the table they meet

Curved backs, square backs, vertical slats, slat backs and a handful of bentwood frames all sit in this group, along with padded backs for the longer sit. Some have arms. Before you order those, hold the arm height against your table apron: a chair that will not slide under turns the aisle into an obstacle course every night at the last sweep.

Seat heights, on the listings that state one, sit somewhere from 17 3/4 up to 19 3/4 inches. Slide that under a top standing 29 to 30 inches tall and knees get the room they need. The Varden padded chair measures 19" W x 22" D x 33" H, while a plainer wood dining chair is 17 inches wide, which matters when you squeeze four around a 36-inch square. Prices range from about $44 to $306 a chair.

Keeping one look across the shop

Want a single back shape everywhere? The ladder-back wood chairs and the bentwood chairs narrow the range to one outline, and the upholstered-back wood chairs collect the padded ones. If wood feels too soft for a floor that gets kicked all day, compare the metal chairs before you decide.

Put the chosen chair on your shop plan with the seat and the stain written beside it. When the second shop opens, the order starts from the same line, and the regulars who visit both will sit in the chair they know.