Nolia Dining Chair

The Nolia Dining Chair from Four Hands takes the captain's chair and lets some air into it. The back is spliced, so the frame opens up where you expect a solid slab, and the seat is a rounded cushion over webbing, filled with polyurethane foam and polyester fiber batting. The frame is solid ash joined with mortise and tenon, corner blocks and cleats, and plastic glides on the feet protect the floor underneath.

Velvety polyester upholstery in a soft mushroom taupe sits against ash finished in a warm, toasted tone. The rounded seat and inflated profile soften the angles of the wood, which gives the chair a relaxed, mid-century-leaning look without feeling like a reproduction. It sits easily beside oak, walnut or painted tables, and it holds its own against plaster walls and darker floors.

Use it as a pair at the ends of a dining table, or pull a single one up to a desk or a window-side writing corner. The low arms make it a comfortable chair to stay in after the plates are cleared. Because ash varies from tree to tree, grain and tone will differ a little from one chair to the next.