By JULIE SCELFO
Published: November 16, 2009
WITH Thanksgiving fast approaching, many hosts face a perennial challenge: finding enough chairs so that a special someone isn’t relegated to the floor.
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Robert Wright for The New York Times
PULL UP A CHAIR Palo Samko tries out a campaign folding chair at Ralph Pucci in Chelsea.
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Those who don’t have adequate seating typically resort to the humble folding chair, known for being wobbly, uncomfortable and an eyesore. When the big day is over, they stash it away in the basement or a closet until the next gathering.
But shouldn’t the seating be as carefully considered as the meal?
According to Palo Samko, 34, a woodworker born in Czechoslovakia and now based in Brooklyn, it’s not hard to find well-designed folding chairs at a variety of prices if you know where to look.
Mr. Samko’s own furniture and accessories are sturdy and playful. His dining tables, for instance, often have hidden drawers that hold miniature art pieces, like a menagerie of animals carved out of wood.
But while he is passionate about inventive design, he said he never places form above function. “You can design crazy things,” he said, but if the furniture doesn’t feel good, “you can’t really use the piece.”
To find folding chairs that are functional and stylish, Mr. Samko went shopping in Manhattan and online, stopping first at Ralph Pucci in Chelsea. There, he admired six steel-frame folding campaign chairs by Jim Zivic, with seats and backs of various materials, including tanned leather, suede and shearling.
“This is a really special piece,” he said, sitting on one made with white suede. It could be used every day, he added, “in a cabin or in a really nice apartment.” (He wasn’t surprised to learn that all six chairs on display had been sold to a woman on Central Park West who planned to use them as her regular dining chairs.)
Around the corner at Bed Bath & Beyond, he lowered his 160-pound frame into a nondescript $14.99 wood chair. “I think even a kid could open it,” he said, noting its light weight. But he preferred another chair he found there, with a metal frame and a microfiber seat, because he thought it seemed more durable.
At Design Within Reach in the Flatiron district, he tried out the Lina, a “comfy” Italian steel-framed piece with a “really soft” leather seat and back, which he thought would develop a nice patina over time. He was particularly impressed by how easily it opened and shut — and the way it collapsed to a mere 3 1/2 inches wide.
His favorite find, though, were the vintage blue French school chairs at ABC Carpet & Home. “These are beautiful,” he exclaimed, running his hands over the chipped paint. The seat backs were comfortable, too, Mr. Samko said, even though they were made of a single strip of curved steel.
Newer pieces can be purchased “almost any time you want,” he said, but when vintage chairs sell out, “that’s it.”
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