18 OF THE BEST DINING CHAIRS FOR EVERY BUDGET

One of the most exciting things about our upcoming move to Dallas is that we’re buying a townhouse! We looked at dozens of apartments and townhouses to rent before crunching the numbers and realizing that now is actually a great time for us to buy our first home together. It will be a huge change from our two small apartments in New York but I think it will drastically improve our quality of life (especially for Rory!). And needless to say, there are a ton of decorating decisions to be made! It worked out pretty nicely that Will and I tackled his living room for the One Room Challenge last fall as we can now repurpose all of those purchases in our new place.

Because we’re making a move from two rather small spaces to a real home, we definitely don’t have enough furniture to fill the space and can’t afford to furnish every single room in a matter of months. So it’s going to be a process and one that I think we’re both really going to enjoy! I can’t wait to start checking things off our list and document our progress on the blog. It’s funny, Design Darling really started as a place for me to talk about a newfound interest in interior design in college and has evolved in the years since to include style, travel, and bits and pieces of my life. Having our own house to decorate feels like Design Darling is going back to its roots! (Not that I’ll be ditching the lifestyle elements — just crazy excited to have a real decorating project to document!)

It’s been interesting to make joint decorating decisions (again, the One Room Challenge was great practice for us!) and to see what Will really cares about vs. when he’ll defer to my opinion on something. I’m excited to get outside the colorful/girly/preppy comfort zone I created when I lived on my own and decorate a space where we feel like both of our styles are represented. Let the sectional shopping begin! 😉 We’ve agreed to make decorating the main floor of the house the priority so we have space to lounge, eat, and entertain. I can’t tell you how happy I am to get into a routine where my bed is just for sleeping and not eating dinner, working from my laptop, watching TV, playing with Rory, etc.!

The main floor of the house is above the foyer and garage on the first floor and features an open floor plan kitchen, living room, and dining room. Neither one of us had a dining table or chairs in our apartments so we’ve been browsing options online until we actually get there and have a better feel for what will fit and look best in the space. I’m 99% sure about the dining table we’re going to go with but there are so many choices for dining chairs that I think we’re both a little overwhelmed. There are lots of different styles I’m drawn to (acrylic, chippendale, Louis XVI, slipcovered, upholstered, wishbone…) and I’d be curious to know which ones are your favorite!

best dining chairs for every budget design darling

Under $250:

one  //  two  //  three

four  //  five  //  six

Under $450:

seven  //  eight  //  nine

ten  //  eleven  //  twelve

Under $1000:

thirteen  //  fourteen  //  fifteen

sixteen  //  seventeen  //  eighteen

Any option that jumps out at you? Right now I’m leaning toward the chippendale style but I really don’t know how to decide! In any event I’m really looking forward to sharing our whole decorating process here and I hope you’ll enjoy following along on our next chapter! xx