Venice 01 PU Chair in light grey or tan: fit and finishes

The Venice 01 PU Chair (Black Legs) is one of the plainer, more practical seats in the range: a polyurethane seat on black legs, in a choice of two finishes, at a listed size of 48 x 62 x 86cm. The listing describes the black legs as a striking contrast and the silhouette as suited to minimalist interiors, and it is the kind of chair that goes into a kitchen diner or an office meeting room as easily as a dining room.

Light grey or tan

The chair is listed in two finishes, Light Grey and Tan, and you pick one when you order. They behave very differently in a room:

• Light grey is the quieter option. Against the black legs it reads as a neutral, and it disappears against a grey or white table more than it stands out from it.
• Tan is the warmer option and the one that does something against oak or a wood-effect top. It is also the finish that shows up as a deliberate choice rather than a default.

If you are ordering a set, order all of them in the same finish at the same time. Two finishes bought months apart are the usual way a set ends up slightly mismatched. The listing does not state whether the two finishes are the same material in different colours, so if that matters to you, ask the shop.

48 x 62 x 86cm, and what it means at the table

The size is given as 48 x 62 x 86cm without the figures being labelled. The 86cm can only be the overall height, though the listing does not say what it is measured to; the 48cm and 62cm are the plan dimensions, and the listing does not say which is the width and which is the depth.

Use the 48cm figure for your table arithmetic. Four of these touching need 192cm of clear table edge and six need 288cm, before you leave any gap between them. If the 62cm figure turns out to be the width rather than the depth, those rows need 248cm and 372cm instead, which is a big difference, so measure your table and ask the shop which figure is which rather than hoping.

The 62cm figure is the one to watch in a narrow kitchen diner. That is more than a half-metre of floor for each chair, and if it is the depth it is what the chair takes out of the room even when it is pushed in, with the same again behind it for somebody to stand up. Measure from the table edge to the wall, the units or the next piece of furniture before you decide how many sides of the table you can actually use.

At 86cm the back is lower than the taller dining chairs in the range, which is useful if the chairs sit in front of a window or a low sill, or if you want to see over the table in an open-plan room.

What the listing does not say

Two figures are missing and both are worth a phone call before you order a set:

1. Seat height. Not given. Measure from your floor to the underside of the table top and ask the shop for the seat height, so you know the chair tucks under and there is knee room above it.
2. Care instructions. The listing calls the polyurethane seat easy to maintain but does not say how to clean it. Ask what it should and should not be wiped with, particularly if this is going into a kitchen.

There is also no weight limit, no stacking claim and no assembly note on the listing, so take none of those as given.

What it works with

Among our dining chairs this sits with the other polyurethane seats rather than the fabric ones. The Marbella PU Chair (Black Legs) is the closest comparison on black legs, the London PU Chair (Chrome Legs) is the same idea on chrome if your table has bright metal in it, and the Roma PU Chair (Ring Knocker/Chrome Legs) is where to look if you want the same practicality with more detail on the back.

Ordering

Decide on light grey or tan, count the chairs against the 48cm and 62cm figures, then order the set in one go. Delivery is free within 50 miles of our Glasgow store and £50 beyond. The photographs, the finish choice and the current price are all on the Venice 01 PU Chair (Black Legs) page.