Eames DAW Style Dining Chairs
The chair everyone recognises
You've sat in one. Possibly in a kitchen, possibly in a design studio, almost certainly on television. The moulded shell on splayed wooden legs is one of the handful of shapes from the late 1940s that never went away — it turned up in post-war homes, disappeared for a decade, and came back so completely that most people under forty assume it's contemporary.
What keeps it in circulation isn't nostalgia. It's that a single moulded seat, shaped properly, supports you better than a flat panel with a cushion strapped to it — and does so while weighing almost nothing.
Shell and legs
The seat is formed from a single piece of moulded ABS, curved through the back and around the arms so the whole shell flexes very slightly as you settle into it. The surface is smooth and non-porous: spills wipe off, and it doesn't hold marks the way fabric does. Practical if this is going anywhere near a dining table with children at it.
Legs are solid beech in the dowel arrangement — four tapered uprights braced with a cross-strut underneath. The wood warms up what would otherwise be a very cool object, and it's the reason this version works in a dining room where the chrome-legged variants can feel more like office furniture.
Where people put them
Around dining tables, obviously, but the armchair version earns its place as a desk chair too — light enough to move, comfortable enough for a couple of hours, and it doesn't look like office equipment in a room that isn't one. Also common in kitchens, breakfast bars, meeting rooms and reception areas.
Because the shell comes in a range of colours, a set doesn't have to match. Four different shells around one table reads as deliberate rather than mismatched.
The rest of the family
If this isn't quite the configuration you need:
- Armless, wooden dowel legs — the same shell without arms, tucks closer to a table
- Armless, chrome wire legs — cooler, more industrial
- With arms, chrome wire legs — the armchair on a wire base
- Bar stool height — for islands and breakfast bars
Dimensions
| Assembly | Legs bolt to the shell with the fixings and tool supplied. Ten minutes, one person. |
|---|---|
| Care | Damp cloth and mild detergent for the shell. Avoid abrasive cleaners and solvents. Wipe beech legs dry rather than leaving them wet. |
| Delivery | Free UK mainland delivery. |
| Returns | 14-day return window, alongside your statutory rights. |
| Warranty | Two-year manufacturer's warranty. |