I am in the market for a new dining room set. The table I found has matching chairs in both wood seat or upholstered seat. I like the upholstered seats because I think they look more formal. However, I have kids and indoor cats so I worry that the upholstered seats will be a constant battle to protect from stains and cat hair.

I'm not sure how much we'll use the dining room. Right now we use it for dinner nightly (because our kitchen table was damaged in a move and never replaced). However, we are also purchasing a table & chairs for the kitchen so may start eating dinner in there and only use the dining room occasionally.

The uphoslstry has excellent reviews and is said to be very stain resistant.

Can anyone offer any pros or cons of upholstered or wood -- I can't seem to decide which ones I want.

tia....
Sarah

We had upholstered on the last set we had, and, in my opinion, they were NOT worth the hassle. It seemed I was forever trying to get rid of stains and I ended up reupholstering them myslef -- twice! I am very happy with my wipe down wood chairs now!

My sister in law got the upholstered chairs and they were very easy to reupholster, However when she bought them and we turned them over to check the chairs when she bought them severalof the chairs had cracked or chipped wood and had to be replaced. She had purchased them from a top of the line store at a top of the line price. She had purchased 12 chairs and said if the chairs had collapsed after she had taken posession of them from the stores she would have thought her children where jumping on them.

You could go wood and use chair covers for formal occasions.

cj/

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I like upholstered. I have some really nice mission style chairs with upholster. When I first bought them, it didn't take long for the kids to destory them. I bought vynl table cloths and reupholster but they tore easy. I finally after reupholstering them about six time,covered them in a areally nice fabric that matched my kitchen and then bought clear plastic table cover from the walmar fabric dept, layered that also and since have had no problems, I get compliments all them time and the plastic is durable enough that the kids or a lot of weight will not tear the plastic when is what always happened to the vinyl. I would not want wooden seats, they are not as comfortable and our family uses the table more than just for eating.

I have always used draperies to cover my dining room chairs, that way they match the room better and the material is very strong and durable. Spray it with a stain repellent. To upholstry the chairs just turn them upside down, remove screws.
Take seat off.
Remove the staples or tacks.
Lay the seat cover over your material as you would a pattern and cut it. If you add padding allow extra material when you cut it to allow for the extra size.
Add padding if needed. You can buy it at material stores.
Staple or tack it to the seat.
Screw the seat to the chair.

wood is just uncomfy. My mom and cousin have wood chairs and everyone complains they are uncomfy. My first dining set was wood chairs and I couldn't wait to get rid of them. Those tie on cushion (to help make them comfy) made them look tacky. Who wants that?
When my mom & dad bought us a new dining set as a housewarming gift, I knew I wanted something upholstered. I found a really nice set with light brown microfiber. They could be redone easily, are comfy and my kids spill everything on them and I just spray some all purpose cleaner on them and scrub with a towel. I do that about once a month for my youngest (who spills more). 4 of the 6 chairs have only needed to be wiped off with a damp rag. I wouldn't get a regular fabric on a chair. It's not as easily to clean. Plus, look for a solid...patterns will bore you (or go out of fashion) must too soon. The idea of covers for the chairs might work if you go wood. I know *I* do not like the look of covers on chairs (just looks like you are trying to hide tacky chairs) but maybe I've seen one too many home redecorating shows (and that's what they use them for). I know lots of people who use them and like them just fine.

good luck...whatever your choice

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wood is just uncomfy. My mom and cousin have wood chairs and everyone complains they are uncomfy. My first dining set was wood chairs and I couldn't wait to get rid of them. Those tie on cushion (to help make them comfy) made them look tacky. Who wants that?
When my mom & dad bought us a new dining set as a housewarming gift, I knew I wanted something upholstered. I found a really nice set with light brown microfiber. They could be redone easily, are comfy and my kids spill everything on them and I just spray some all purpose cleaner on them and scrub with a towel. I do that about once a month for my youngest (who spills more). 4 of the 6 chairs have only needed to be wiped off with a damp rag. I wouldn't get a regular fabric on a chair. It's not as easily to clean. Plus, look for a solid...patterns will bore you (or go out of fashion) must too soon. The idea of covers for the chairs might work if you go wood. I know *I* do not like the look of covers on chairs (just looks like you are trying to hide tacky chairs) but maybe I've seen one too many home redecorating shows (and that's what they use them for). I know lots of people who use them and like them just fine.

good luck...whatever your choice

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Proud to say I haven't shopped at a Wal-Mart since Sept 2003

This one is easy. If I had the size of dining room I would have upholstered chairs. It looks very nice to me. As far as stains I don't think they are that hard to clean.
Eight Magic Secrets to Removing Stains From Your Upholstery- Homemaking at Exploring Womanhood's Heart of the Home Channel

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Thanks for the insight. The chairs we have now are wood and no one has complained -- maybe that is just what we are used to. The new table would pretty much be used for eating family meals and nothing else. I don't care for the tie-on chair cushions either.

The chairs I am looking to purchase have an off-white/invory colored microfiber type upholstry that is said to be very stain resistant. I think I am most worried about cat fur and having to remove it constantly if one of our cats desides that is their favorite place to lay -- they rarely lay on the chairs now, but they are like a magnet to new things in the house, so I just won't know until I get it in the house.. I guess I could always make some kind of cover to put on them when we're not using them and then remove it (and the fur) when we're going to use it.

Sarah........

A dryer sheet should remove pet hair with a swipe and now there are these
On-the-Go Solutions

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The political system is broke and it's a joke.

I'd go with the upholstered. Much more comfortable and classy looking. My old dining set had wood chairs and they were so uncomfortable. When I got my new set I made sure to get padded (mine have a faux leather on the seat, much easier cleanup for the cat and the four kids).

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I've had a Foreman Grill for about six years. I've done about 85% of my cooking on it, but I've never burnt myself. Probably because I don't use it as a pillow.

I've got upholstered dining room chairs. They're actually "desk chairs" from Cargo furniture. I like them in that they're comfy and they "rock" back. That's good for me, since I do a lot at my dining room table (It's kinda my "command center" for my life). However, my cats also like the chairs. One of the cats regularly sleeps them during the day and they get covered in cat hair. I've tried a lot of different products and the cat hair is just not easy to remove. Might be different with a microfiber/suede type fabric though. But it would be another thing to keep clean.

Personally, I'd go with the wooden chairs. Most of them pretty comfortable (we grew up with wooden chairs at the kitchen table and they were fine). They may not look quite a formal, but most of the time they're going to be pushed under the table, so you won't really seem them as much anyway. And, less to clean and worry about kids (and younger sisters) staining.

Not upholstered. Leather all the way

I bought 8 Kathy Ireland Leather wood chairs for my dining room, and I will never go back to upholstered. As stated above, LEATHER is awesome!!!

http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden...4/product.html

With kids I would NOT do upholstered, unless they were black! NO WAY!

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