Intro:
There are a lot of different chairs in the world.
In fact, there are chair designs to reflect almost every important period of history, from every different culture and civilization.
There are even some designs that are so old and iconic that nobody has any idea where they originally came from!
It seems that as long as there have been humans walking around on the earth, those same humans have also been sitting.
And at a certain point in history, they started building better stuff to sit on than rocks, logs, and dirt.
So in this post, we’re going to dig into a few of the different most well-known and iconic chair designs that everyone should know about.
Almost all of these designs are instantly recognizable, even in our modern-day culture—because most of us have, at some point in time, utilized all of them.
Let’s dig into it and study the origins of some of the more ‘iconic’ chair designs.
1. The Butterfly Chair
A butterfly chair is a type of chair that features a metal frame.
This frame includes four protruding loops of metal, and then a sling (made from leather, canvas, or some other materials) is looped around this metal frame—giving it an almost ‘hammock-like’ look and design.
You just sit in the hammock—and boom! It’s a comfortable, simple chair design that works quite well while also looking fantastic!
It was first designed in Argentina in the 1930s, and soon made its way into popular culture in the United States.
2. The Saucer Chair
The Home Blog describes the saucer chair as such:
“The typical saucer chair is a spin-off of the Papasan design. These traditional furnishings originated more than a century ago in South East Asia. The chair is usually wicker or rattan and built with a moon- or circle-shaped design.”
They’re comfortable, efficient, attractive, and come in a wide variety of different styles. They’re perfect for modern/luxury decor, as well as for a college dorm, an apartment, or even a campsite!
Consider ordering one to keep in the living room, the drawing room, the foyer—or even in your bedroom.
3. The Adirondack Chair
If you’ve ever seen a slanted-backed wooden chair that almost looked to be ‘hand made’ of wooden planks sitting on a porch, then you’ve probably been exposed to the Adirondack chair design style.
These chairs are a signature style signifying American decor from the early 1900s, and were originally created to be simple and effective at keeping sitters ‘upright’ on hilly terrain.
Nowadays, they come in wood and injection-molded plastic. They’re pretty popular as an outdoor patio furniture staple.
4. The Director’s Chair
Nobody who has ever looked into the magical history of Hollywood has ever gone very long without being drawn to the iconic style of the director’s chair.
This chair style gets its name for the fact that directors would sit in such chairs on movie sets. They’re actually a type of folding chair that can be easily transported from set to set. The seat is usually made of sturdy canvas—as is the back.
These chairs actually date back to seats that were made common during the Roman Empire. They also saw extensive use as ‘safari furniture’ in the early 1900s.
5. The Windsor Chair
The Windsor chair is a style of kitchen-table chair that’s characterized by wooden spindles that make up the chair’s back.
These chairs are well known for being a style that’s as old as the United States itself and were a common type of chair used in American households even back in the 1800s.
However, it is believed that the design itself actually hails from 16th century Ireland and Wales.
It’s believed that English settlers were the ones who brought the design to colonial America. The rest, of course, is American farm-house style history!
Conclusion
Hopefully, this post has helped you to understand just a few of the most common and iconic types of chair designs that humans have been ‘sitting on’ for ages.
Of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg.
There are all kinds of different chairs in the world.
It’s not necessarily something that many people think about, but there’s a rich history to be found in researching this stuff—and we find it pretty fascinating!
