What's your favourite 20th century chair?

If you absolutely had to choose a favourite from the huge selection of classic Designer chairs, which would it be? Let's assume money is no object and you could choose only one chair, which one gets your vote? Well firstly it depends what you want to use it for - is it for dining, for lounging, for working, or just to look at and admire? As a dining chair I think it's pretty hard to beat the Eames Plastic DSR or DSW chair - I love the combination of plastic seat with the chrome (DSR) or maple wood (DSW) base. At gunpoint I think the DSR just about wins due to the chrome Eiffel tower base which is most likely to sit well with most dining tables and contemporary living spaces. Not to say I don't also love the curves of the Panton chair or the equally organically shaped Saarinen Tulip chair. I do in fact have a set of white Pantons at home, but that's mainly because they go beautifully with our marble Saarinen Tulip table and the bases won't get stuck in the stripped wood floor. As a chair to relax in, it depends how you are scoring. I think the Barcelona Chair is pretty hard to beat in terms of aesthetics and lasting appeal. However, the Eames Lounge Chair is genuinely more comfortable (especially with the ottoman) and for me comfort has to win out. Oh dear I sound old....My favourite office chair is simple, if predictable. I would choose the Eames Soft Pad chair any day. It combines the Eames Aluminium's appealing aluminium profile with the added comfort of extra padding. Plus with its 30 year warranty, it makes a pretty good investment piece - it will just keep going. As an occasional piece, say to complete a space such as a large entrance hall, the Wassilly chair with its clean lines and simple leather upholstery would definitely be a good option. Or how about the Nelson coconut chair? It stands out for its touch of humour with Nelson having compared it to an eighth of a Coconut. But for me the Egg Chair is perfect as it is as much a piece of art as it is something to sit on. Having weighed it all up, my overall winner is still the Eames Lounge chair and ottoman. I love the combination of the wood and leather; and having used it as a feeding chair for both my children I know how comfortable it is when it really matters - at 2, 3 and 4am! It starts to double-up as a spare bed. Plus I now have an emotional attachment to the chair which is difficult, if not impossible, to live up to.

Real vs fake in a recession - what would you do?

So it's official - we are in a recession. If you are looking to buy some new furniture and are thinking of going down the Designer route, should you still buy the real thing or is this the time to get yourself a cheap(er) copy? It may be a little harder to justify buying the real McCoy in these credit crunch times. At face value you are going to be comparing around £5000 for a genuine Eames Lounge Chair & Ottoman vs about £500 - £750 for a copy. Or you may be looking at a Saarinen Tulip table where a copy will set you back around £200 for a copy vs around £1200 for an authorised original. But the reasons to own the real thing haven't changed. Most people end up disappointed when their fake turns up - it doesn't quite look like the lovely image on the web site they ordered from. This is often because the companies in question "borrow" the official images from the genuine manufacturer's websites so the customer has pretty high expectations of what the product is going to look like. We've heard many customer stories from people who have bought copies (sometimes unknowingly). Typical problems include: the laminate layers start peeling off on a Series 7 Chair copy; or the chrome flakes off the frame of an Eames "inspired" Aluminium chair, or the stitching splits open on a repro Jacobsen Egg chair. So people end up very disappointed. And don't even get me started on the "after sales" service from these companies. Nobody ends up particularly proud of owning a copy. So my advice is to either wait until you can buy the real thing, or buy something else. If you are looking for a Lounge type piece you may be able to wait. But if you need a set of dining chairs now, why not go for slightly cheaper originals, such as Magis Butterfly chairs instead of Vitra Eames or Knoll Tulip chairs. At least this way you know that the Designer in question will still be compensated for their design and you won't end up feeling disappointed....

The Series 7 and Ant Chair

Love from Spud x