Commercial Upholstered Chairs: Fabric, Vinyl and Leather

Upholstered chairs are how a dining room signals that guests are meant to stay. They are also the chairs most likely to be specified wrong, because the frame and the fabric are chosen by different people at different times. Designform Furnishings builds commercial upholstered chairs for hotel restaurants, private dining rooms, country clubs, steakhouses, casinos and senior living communities. Every frame is tested to hold up to 400 lbs and carries a 3-year frame warranty.

Read the double rub rating before anything else

Double rubs (the Wyzenbeek abrasion test) are the single most useful number on a commercial fabric spec sheet. For restaurant seating, 75,000 double rubs is a sensible floor and 100,000 is where high-turn dining rooms and casinos should be. Residential upholstery is often rated 15,000–30,000 and will show wear within months in a commercial room. All seating upholstery should also meet CAL TB 117-2013 flammability, and many jurisdictions require documentation at inspection.

Fabric, vinyl or leather

• Commercial vinyl — wipes clean, handles sanitizer, and is the right call for booths near a service station, family dining and healthcare. Modern contract vinyls no longer look like vinyl.
• Contract fabric — warmer and quieter underfoot in the room; best for fine dining and hotel restaurants where spills are less constant. Consider a soil and stain finish.
• Leather — ages well and is worth it in steakhouses, club lounges and private dining; specify a commercial-grade hide, not furniture-grade.
• Faux leather — the practical middle ground: the look of leather with vinyl’s cleanability.

Seat only, or seat and back

A seat-pad-only chair costs less, cleans faster and keeps a wood or metal back visible. A fully upholstered seat and back is more comfortable for a two-hour dinner and lets you introduce a second material or a contrasting outside back. Many of our frames are offered both ways, so you can put fully upholstered chairs in a private dining room and seat-pad versions of the same chair on the main floor.

COM and COL

We accept customer’s own material and customer’s own leather on most frames. Send yardage requirements through your rep before you buy the goods — railroaded vs. up-the-roll and pattern repeat both change how much material a run needs. Minimums may apply.

Foam, and why chairs get uncomfortable

Ask what foam density is under the fabric. Low-density foam feels fine in a showroom and flattens in a year, which is the usual reason guests say a restaurant’s chairs are uncomfortable. For outdoor cushions, specify quick-dry reticulated foam and drainage.

Related categories

See upholstered bar stools and counter stools for the matching bar program, arm chairs for private dining, and lounge chairs and sofas for lobby and pre-dinner seating. Frames are also available in wood and metal.

Lead times and ordering

Standard production is 14–20 weeks, with 8–10 week rush available on most frames; COM orders start when the material arrives. Quick ship in-stock items leave in 2–3 business days. Minimum order is 4 pieces. Ganging hardware is available as a custom option; we do not stock stacking carts, but they can be custom made on request.

How do I get pricing? Contact your local sales rep or a project manager or administrator in our office and we will quote your list, including freight.

Browse the range

See every upholstered chairs we build in our upholstered chairs category, or start from the full product line. For help narrowing a list for a specific project, contact your Designform rep.