I use armless chairs for our kitchen dining area and would find arm chairs cumbersome and annoying. In fact, years ago we had two arm chairs and the others armless and we wound up removing the arms (it was simple with the design we had). So I'm all for your idea of all armless.

Sure! Done all the time. Arms require a 'push-back' to use and therefore are harder to get out and away from the table.

Are you looking at Tom Seely windsors? They're not very well constructed...these are pound-in, glue socket chairs. In a proper windsor chair, the legs come THROUGH the seat and are bored and wedged (you can see the leg and wedge come through the seat). You will get a lifetime from bore and wedge chairs, and even more. Glue socket chairs go about 10 years before the glue bond breaks and they start to get rickety.

I don't have arm chairs (kitchen and dining room), and neither does my mom or my sister.
SIL has all arm chairs, and the arms are all loose and wobbly....

Go with what you like!

Thanks for your input. I am considering Tom Seely Rod Back chair (similar to windsor chair) and slat back chair. I heard Rod back chair is very comfortable, but I am concerned the depth is only 15 1/2". But I don't know if the slat back one will be as comfortable as a windsor chair. I do not have a local Tom Seely dealer here to "test drive".
Dcollie, is there another manufacture you could recommend for similar style with proper construction of windsor chair? I went for Tom Seely based on a recommendation from a salesperson. Thought they are high quality. Maybe I should reconsider.
Thanks a lot

Here is a link that might be useful: Rod back and slat back chair

I respectfully disagree on the quality of chairs by Tom Seely.
I find their chairs even though they are pound in glue socket chairs to be one of the better brands out there.
Their chairs do carry a 15 Mfg's warranty. Chairs that have the construction of the legs coming through the seat and are bored and wedged typically have a price tag of about $400 -$500 dollars each.
I have owned a set of the Tom Seely Rod Back chairs since 1996. I am the typical man who leans on two legs of his chair when I relax and the chair has held up with no loosening of the spindles. Just some real life experiences for you.

There are no good pound-in chairs. Period. They will all fail, just pick your failure time frame. I've been in the furniture business for over 25 years now, and sell on average over 1,000 quality windsors a year...seen it all.

Yes, good windsors will cost $ 350 apiece and up, but they will last for generations. The very nature of the design of an American Windsor means its the strongest wood chair ever made *IF* you make it correctly, and that means bore and wedge construction on all legs and even the spindles coming though the bows. It takes a lot of time and labor to make then correctly, hence the price. As in most things, you get what you pay for.

Sorry, I cannot recommend brands on this forum due to their strict anti-business policies for posting. You can email me off-list if you like.

From the descriptions above, I have glue socket chairs. Hard rock maple, bought 30 years ago, only problem is one of the rails on the back of one chair has come loose after abuse by the kids. I think we paid about $400 for 6 chairs and a table - table top is not solid wood,

I asked the store salesperson how Tom Seely rod chair is constructed, she had no clue, but she said she will find out. She ensured me again Tom Seely is high quality stuff but reasonably priced. The rod back chair is priced around $200 each.

Mactruck or anyone had experience with this Tom Seely Rod Back chair, is this chair comfortable? Is 15 1/2' depth too small? Slat back chair is 17' deep, I have a hard time to decide between these two. I would appreciate anyone's opinion. I have attached a link for the chairs again.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rod back and slat back chair

I am with dcollie on the glue socket construction. Trouble waiting to happen. Look for a continuous side rail/leg.

Sounds like the Slat Back chair is my safer bet.

dcollie, how can I email you outside the forum to get brand recommendations?

Thanks

My Rod Back chair is one of the more comfortable Dining Room chairs out there.
I have also sat in the Slat Back and it is also a comfortable chair. I don't think you can go wrong with either.

I have seen the cheaper versions of the glue and socket constructed chairs and it is something to be wary of. I just feel that Tom Seely is a company that will back up their chairs hence the 15 year warranty.

I also own a set of DR Dimes chairs that are of the true Windsor construction. Yes these chairs will last a lifetime. But are appx. double the cost Tom Seely's Rod Back chair. I am careful with them. However I am hard on my Rod Backs. Because of the price (and age of 10 years) I don't feel bad when I need to step on one to reach something high or what. Something I would never do with my DR Dimes chairs.
JMHO ;-)

Mactruck: I was the largest retailer of Dimes Chairs from 1978 through 2001 when I discontinued carrying them. They are FAR stronger than the Seely's that you own and if you want to use any of the chairs in the house as a stepladder those are the ones! They are incredibly tough. I used one with the back removed for over fifteen years as a "stepstool" in our freight trucks.

Here's a true story for you:

When Sony Studios made "The Patriot" starring Mel Gibson, they came to me for a large part of the furnishings for that movie, including the rocker you see Mel working on when the movie begins. They told me "We're going to have Mel throw the rocker against the wall and smash it, so we need thirteen of them, unfinished, because we will need several takes."

I told them "The rocker won't smash or break when you throw it, what it will do is bounce back off the wall and hit Mel in the head. Be careful."

So we did the (13) rockers and shipped them down to South Carolina where the movie set was located. Sure enough, I got a phone call from the tech guys on the set that the rockers would not break no matter how hard they threw them to the wall. We then told them to take a jigsaw and score every spindle and leg, cutting them 3/4 of the way through. That did the trick, and the chairs folded up nicely for the opening scene.

You will also find that Dimes will repair ANY chair they make (as long as the seat is not cracked) well beyond the 15 year Seely warranty. My oldest Dimes chairs in my house date from 1978 and I wouldn't hesitate to stand in the seat of any of them and jump up and down.

My email addy is drcollie@cox.net. This is my personal email and not my business one (again, mindful of the forum rules on businesses posting here).

Mactruck, thank you for sharing your experience with Tom Seely chair. I am trying to find out the real sitting area of the Rod back side chair. The saleslady said she doesn't have a chair on the floor that she could measure for me. Do you know the sitting area depth? If the chair is 15 1/2" in depth, then the actual sitting area will be around 14"? I want to place the order but I want to do this final check. Thanks for your help.