Bentley Dark Grey Chair on black legs: fit, velvet and checks

This is the all-dark version of the Bentley: a dark grey velvet back and seat on black legs, listed at 48 x 60 x 93cm. Black legs disappear against a dark floor and read as a deliberate line against a pale one, which is the opposite of how chrome behaves. If your table has a black metal base or black-stained wood, this is the leg finish to start with. The photographs are on the Bentley Dark Grey Chair (Black Legs) page.

The velvet is on the seat as well

Worth noting, because most of the chairs in this range describe a velvet back and say nothing about the seat. Here the listing states velvet across both the backrest and the seat. That is the better of the two to sit on, and it is also the surface that takes everything a dining table drops. There is no fibre composition, no cleaning code and no rub figure in the listing, so if these chairs are going round a table used every day, and especially a table children eat at, ask us what the fabric is before you order rather than after the first spill.

48 x 60 x 93cm, read properly

The three figures are given as one unlabelled string. 93cm is the overall height on a chair of this shape, and the sensible reading of the rest is 48cm across the front with 60cm of depth, but the listing does not label them, so confirm it with us if you are measuring for a tight space.

For numbers, work to roughly 60cm of clear table edge per place: four round a 1.4m table, six along the long sides of a 1.8m table. Keep about 90cm of clear floor behind each chair so a diner can push back and stand up without shifting the table. At 93cm the back is a good deal lower than the tall-backed chairs in this range, which is worth having where there is a sill, a shelf or a radiator behind the table.

Dark grey velvet, and why a photograph matters

Velvet has a pile, so a dark grey chair shows two different colours in the same room depending on where the light falls and which way the pile is brushed. That is the fabric behaving normally, not a fault, but it does mean a single product photograph on a bright screen will not tell you how the chairs will look in a north-facing dining room. Ask us for a daylight photograph, or come and see one. If the chairs have to sit beside an existing grey carpet or a grey sofa, that is not an optional step.

What the listing does not state

• Seat height. Only the 93cm overall figure is given, so measure the clear height from your floor to the underside of the table apron and ask us to check the chair will go under.
• Leg material. The legs are described as black. Whether that is metal or a painted timber is not stated.
• Floor pads. Nothing says whether pads are fitted. On a wood or tile floor, ask.
• Assembly. The listing does not say whether the legs arrive fitted.

The same chair, different finishes

The same chair is listed on polished chrome as the Bentley Dark Grey Chair (Chrome Legs), at the same listed 48 x 60 x 93cm, so the leg is the only thing you are choosing between. In neutral fabric with oak legs and a plain back there is the Bentley Beige Chair (Oak Legs). If you want the black hardware idea taken further, the Cheshire Chair (Black Ring Knocker/Black Legs) pairs black legs with a black ring knocker on the back, on a squarer 55 x 55 x 95cm footprint. Compare them side by side in Dining Chairs.

Before you order

• Divide your table length by 60cm to settle how many chairs you need.
• Measure floor to table underside and ask us about seat height.
• Ask what the velvet is, and how it should be cleaned, before the chairs arrive.
• Order the set together so the velvet comes from one batch, and check each chair before you sign.

Delivery is free within 50 miles of our Glasgow store and £50 beyond. The photographs and the current options are on the Bentley Dark Grey Chair page.