How much fabric to reupholster a large dining set?

You generally need about half a metre per drop-in seat. A set of ten requires roughly five metres in total. It helps to buy a little extra to match patterns across the run. Stuffover seats demand more yardage because the fabric wraps right over the rails. Discuss the exact measurements with an upholsterer before ordering any costly material.

We have ten matching chairs but my husband says the two with arms sit much higher than the rest when pulled up to the table. Is this normal?

Carvers were often built slightly larger than the standard chairs. They sometimes have taller legs and a wider seat pan to give the person at the head of the table a commanding presence. Check underneath to see if modern castors were added later. Adding wheels to the front legs was a popular Victorian habit that tips the seat backward and raises the overall height.

Can I mix different wood types around one table?

People mix timbers successfully all the time. A long mahogany table looks fine with a harlequin set of oak or walnut seating. The trick is keeping the visual weight and chair heights similar. It helps tie the room together without everything matching.

I inherited a long run of balloon back dining chairs and a few of the backrests flex and creak quite loudly when someone leans back during a meal. Can they be fixed?

Balloon backs are prone to flexing because the design lacks a lower horizontal rail for support. The uprights take all the strain where they meet the back of the seat frame. A good restorer can dismantle the loose joints and clean out the old glue. They will rebuild the joint with fresh hot hide glue and clamp it tight to make it solid again.

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Set of 10 Chairs from the 19th Century

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A matching run of ten seats, usually comprising eight standards and two carvers, originally commissioned to surround a large dining table in a formal domestic setting.