Tag Archives: chairs

This chair concept for fast-casual restaurants comes with a coat hanger and bag tray

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The way we eat outside has been changing over the past years, and fine dining and fast food are no longer the only choices available. In many parts of the world, “fast-casual” has become a popular option that combines the speed and price of fast food establishments with the quality of full-service bistros. Despite being a category in its own right, the furniture used in fast-casual restaurants doesn’t actually take into account the specific needs of this class of customers and is instead meant for either fast-food chains or full-service establishments. This chair design concept tries to break the mold by introducing a piece of furniture that caters specifically to fast-casual customers who need to hang their coats or keep their bags but can never find such a place with regular restaurant chairs.

Designer: Zhiyuan (Frank) Fang

Fast-food restaurant chairs are often made from plastic, designed to be cheap, easy to move around, and often uninspiring. Customers here are often in a hurry, anyway, so they don’t care so much for the things they’re carrying, presuming they’re even carrying some. Fine dining chairs, in sharp contrast, are elegant and a little more expensive in order to match the restaurant’s ambiance. They, too, don’t have convenient features for keeping your things, because restaurants often have available storage for those near the table or by the entrance. That leaves fast-casual diners to fend for their own most of the time, often resulting in awkward displays of jackets or even forgotten bags or purses.

The RACK Chair design was conceptualized with fast-casual restaurants specifically in mind. While the chair might find some uses in other diner types as well, the aesthetics, materials, and features truly shine in this middle-ground of the catering industry. It’s made from a variety of wooden materials, including birch, pine, walnut, and ash, giving it a bit of style and fine character. At the same time, however, the minimalist design and flat-pack-friendly construction are ideal for mass production and use.

The real distinctive parts of the RACK chair are the integrated coat hanger on the backrest and the storage tray under the seat. While it’s certainly possible to drape coats, jackets, and other clothing over the back of most chairs, they also have a tendency to slip off, sometimes unbeknownst to the owner. The tray offers a secure space to put in purses, document folios, and small bags for each reach, while also blocking unauthorized access from behind.

Some might downplay the impact that these two simple features can bring, but knowing that there will always be a place for your jacket, coat, bags, and things adds tremendous peace of mind and convenience. That in turn, will surely make the experience and location memorable, increasing the likelihood that you’ll be a repeat customer. After all, the last thing you need is to stress over your stuff when all you really want is to enjoy an affordable and delicious meal.

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Top 10 Chairs Designed To Function As The Ideal Seating Options For Your Home

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We often underestimate the importance of a great chair. When in reality, we really shouldn’t. We spend the majority of our day sitting on chairs, whether we’re working in our home office, enjoying a meal, or simply sitting and reading a book for leisure! Hence, this piece of furniture needs to be not only comfortable but ergonomic and aesthetic as well. And we’ve curated a collection of chair designs that meet all these criteria! From a chair with scissor-like legs to a traditional outdoor chair with a makeover – these innovative chair designs are not only a boon to your back and help you maintain a healthy posture, but are also super comfy to sink into and will perfectly match the interiors of your modern homes.

1. The Peach Easy Chair

Created by Annabella Hevesi, the Peach Easy Chair is a visually interesting chair that features an innovative mechanical joint solution that allows the foam to be shaped in a totally new and refreshing manner!

Why is it noteworthy?

The joint enables the foam to be shaped without cutting or casting – the first method creates a lot of waste, and the second method is quite expensive. Instead, a new ‘tufting’ technique was employed to distort the foam and create the shell out of the chair.

What we like

  • Provides a mechanical connection between components, eliminating the need for glue

What we dislike

  • The chair offers a slouched posture, which may not be ergonomic for the user, especially for longer durations

2. The Net Lounge Chair

Designed by Raffaello Galiotto for Nardi, the Net Lounge Chair is designed to be a modern alternative to the traditional outdoor armchair. The chair is made using monochrome recyclable fiberglass polypropylene resins with UV additives.

Why is it noteworthy?

The Net Lounge features a deep round seat, with an interesting wave-like form that encloses your body and forms a comfortable envelope while you read, nap, or watch a pretty sunset.

What we like

  • Holds towel clips that allow you to keep your towel in place

What we dislike

  • The aesthetics of the chair are a bit boring and unassuming

3. Noho Move

Design studio Formway teamed up with the brand Noho to create the ergonomically sound dining chair called the Noho Move.

Why is it noteworthy?

Both the brands collaborated to create a chair that can support and facilitate hours of sitting. “Our brief was to bring ergonomic performance to the dining room — that isn’t really something anyone has done before,” said Formway design lead Paul Stevenson.

What we like

  • Designed to support a wide range of movements such as stretching, fidgeting, and shifting

What we dislike

  • There is no option for customization

4. UMI Armchair

The UMI Armchair is designed by Rotislav Sorokovoy for the Ukraine-based furniture design company WOO, and it could be easily mistaken for a sculpture.

Why is it noteworthy?

The large and chonky furniture piece has a soft sculptural aesthetic to it and is designed to allow the user to interact with it, much like children do. The shape and texture of the armchair have been designed to welcome and invite people in and encourage them to engage with it.

What we like

  • Desiged to help you relax, read, and meditate, allowing you to peacefully unwind after a long day at work

What we dislike

  • Space-consuming and bulky design

5. Grid Chair

This simple well-designed chair is called the Grid Chair by SUNRIU Design, and it incorporates a few thoughtful details that truly set it apart. It incorporates flat elements to create storage spaces.

Why is it noteworthy?

The aim behind the chair is to tackle the issue of accidentally knocking over your coffee, or a glass of water while sitting on a chair or couch. The Grid Chair is made up of four planks of wood arranged in an interesting grid-like manner. The various lines of the chair harmoniously work together to create a neat grid that creates extended flat surfaces on either side of the chair.

What we like

  • The extended surfaces serve as storage spaces to hold your coffee, books, and other knick-knacks

What we dislike

  • Space-consuming and bulky design
  • The wooden edges of the extended surfaces could hurt young children and babies

6. Havana Lounge Chair

Designed by LAB15 for the Danish brand Eilersen, this Havana lounge chair is a cozy and chonky seat inspired by the Cuban chairs of the Art Deco period.

Why is it noteworthy?

The comfy and super-rounded seat features a pebble-like pouffe in its center which forms the main body of the chair. The bulbous pouffe can be accentuated with single or double arms and an optional backrest. The Havana chair is built of organic shapes, giving it a rather cozy and cushy feel.

What we like

  • Upholstered in a large range of solid-colored, textured, or patterned fabrics or in leather

What we dislike

  • Space-consuming and bulky design, not suited for homes with space constraints

7. Nebula Lounge Wood Chair

Designed by Italian design studio E-ggs for furniture brand Miniforms, the Nebula lounge wood chair is a versatile and unique chair that is available in a choice of three different bases.

Why is it noteworthy?

Much like the aluminum base, the wooden base features a tilt-and-return mechanism that allows the chair to dynamically respond to shifting sittings positions, while also providing the warmth and subtleness of wood to the chair.

What we like

  • Optimum option for homes with a generous amount of space

What we dislike

  • Not recommended for homes with smaller real estate, as it may promote cramping issues

8. Kainchee

The name Kainchee is a unique one for a chair. Kainchee quite literally means scissors in the Hindi language. And if you look closely, you can understand why the designer dubbed his design Kainchee.

Why is it noteworthy?

The chair does look like two pairs of scissors, from the bottom half at least. The star feature of the chair is its intertwining and geometrically intriguing form. A band of walnut wood forms the seat of the chair, while subtly interlocking with the ash wood to form the legs of the chair. The interlocking walnut and ash wood legs bring to mind the image of two scissors!

What we like

  • Unique design with utility + functionality
  • Invites users to have seats, and engage with others in a social setting, in turn enriching their social life

What we dislike

  • It’s a concept!

9. Sand Chair

The Sand Chair was designed by product designer and architect Koichi Futatsumata, and it was launched as a part of Tendo Makko’s Japanese Modern/80 Project celebrating the 80th anniversary of the furniture brand.

Why is it noteworthy?

The Sand Chair is the epitome of contemporary Japanese design, and it has a unique flexible build, that allows it to be converted into multiple seating options. It isn’t actually named after the sand found on beaches, it is named after the ‘sandwiched’ components that come together to create this harmonious chair.

What we like

  • Available in a variety of configurations – without backrests, armrests, or even bench versions

What we dislike

  • At first glance, it seems like a simple + basic chair

10. Big Chair

The Big Chair is designed to be a playful and amusing furniture design, that functions as a whimsical element in your home.

Why is it noteworthy?

It has an expansive and inviting seat that is intended for one person but can seat two people. The Big Chair was created by BNF founder Ben Newman, and he says that the over-the-top, and exaggerated elements of the chair are inspired by the ’80s maximalism and the Memphis design movement.

What we like

  • Quirky over-the-top elements that set it apart from traditional & mundane chairs

What we dislike

  • As its name signifies, it is a bulky + space-consuming design

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This cute chair transforms waste into beauty using recycled plastic bottles

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The use of plastic in products has almost become so second nature that we spare no thought about how the material affects the environment in the long run. After all, there are plenty of benefits to plastic, such as its resilience, durability, and affordability, that we easily lose sight of long-term disadvantages. Fortunately, there are also more people who have become aware of this situation nowadays, and they have started to either move away from plastic completely or at least incorporate recycled plastics as much as possible. This chair is one of the latter, and while that in itself isn’t exactly extraordinary, the play of contrasting elements creates a harmonious composition that makes it look not only interesting but also welcoming.

Designer: Xingcheng Zhu

“XOX” might sound like an odd name for a chair, especially since it’s synonymous with a simple yet popular paper-and-pencil game. You immediately see the connection, however, when you view it from an angle and notice the two wooden X’s flanking the half-spherical shape that forms the chair’s seat and backrest. The choice of the name may have been based on that visual, but it also represents the very essence of the chair as a combination of contrasting elements.

While the standard design of a chair involves flat surfaces for the seat and backrest, the XOX Chair employs a hollow sphere that has a portion of it chopped off, forming the cavity for a person to sit inside. This circular shape sits in between the long, tubular legs of the chair, spindly in contrast to the fuller mass of the seat itself. Although the legs are the more visible part of the chair, their simpler and thinner forms draw your eyes immediately to the seat instead.

The materials used also contrast and complement each other. The legs are made of wood, a natural material whose grains create minute yet beautiful imperfections that give each piece a unique character. The middle component, however, is made from recycled PET bottles, resulting in a synthetic perfection with almost no blemishes. The seat is also completely transparent, giving it an airy and ethereal imagery that contrasts nicely with the solid and earthy tones of the legs.

This balance of elements yields a design that is both pleasing to look at and comfortable to use. Although it lacks the traditional armrests that add some support and stability to the body, the open spherical shape evokes feelings of openness and spaciousness, as if enveloping the person in protection and warmth. Best of all, it is also a design that is aware of the impact that furniture has on the planet’s health, implementing a sustainable solution that doesn’t compromise aesthetics and functionality in the process.

The post This cute chair transforms waste into beauty using recycled plastic bottles first appeared on Yanko Design.