Cafe Seating – If In Doubt Choose Classic

If you’re starting out from scratch or looking to upgrade your cafe furniture then choosing the style of your cafe furniture can be very daunting. Do you go modern, vintage, traditional or a mix of one or more styles? Naturally this is pretty much a case of personal taste and in part may also be dependent on whether your cafe building is contemporary or traditional. However, if you really can’t make up your mind what style of cafe seating to choose then we’d recommend choosing a classic design such as bentwood.

For those of you who know little about bentwood chairs, here’s a brief history.

Up until the industrial revolution furniture making was a long laborious task since it was all made by hand from natural materials with ornate carvings that represented the social and political mores of the times. As a result only the wealthy and royalty could afford it. All this was about to change, however, when Michael Thonet developed the bentwood chair. This chair was the first to be mass produced and totally changed the way in which furniture was made and distributed.

Thonet was an Austrian cabinet maker who spent his time experimenting with chair designs using birch rods bent into curvilinear shapes using steam. His chairs were unique and had gentle curves which at the time was different to anything else out there. Since his chairs were made from birch they were lightweight and durable and joined together with just a few screws as opposed to complex joints. Because of this they were able to be packed unassembled with pieces for several chairs packed in one box to save on shipping costs. I suppose you could liken this to the modern day Ikea flat pack furniture, that we’re all familiar with.

The bentwood design is timeless and the No 14 chair is still being manufactured today. It originally consisted of just 6 pieces of wood, 10 screws and 2 nuts although 2 more pieces of wood were later added to give it more strength.

We’ve got a variety of bentwood chairs with many of them having been given a modern twist. Take our light timber bentwood chair for example. This has been given a new look with two steel cross back straps which give it an edgy contemporary feel and a good contrast in texture between metal and timber. You may prefer our cross back bentwood metal chair in black which has been given a top rail and seat in light timber for contrast. If you crave more colour then take a look at our range of No. 18 steel cabaret chairs. The classic bistro chair, these are available in a wide range of vibrant colours and look wonderful paired with most tables. Whichever you choose, they’ll never go out of fashion and you can makeover your cafe simply by changing the colour of your walls.

In fact whatever your taste and budget, we’re pretty sure you’ll find a bentwood chair that fits in with your vision. Why not browse our online store for inspiration or call in to our Brendale warehouse to see our products first hand. If you need any more information then don’t hesitate to give us a call on 07 3205 1616.