Can I mix different wood types together?

You can. Harlequin sets are very popular. People assemble them by finding similar shapes in different timbers, like mixing oak with elm or ash. It takes time to build a good mixed group. The key is keeping the seat heights consistent so nobody sits lower than the person next to them at the table.

I inherited a dining suite from my grandmother but two of the backrests are quite wobbly when you lean back on them, how is this fixed?

Wobbly backs usually mean the mortise and tenon joints have dried out. The old animal glue turns brittle and fails over time. The loose joints take all the strain when someone leans back. A restorer will knock the frame apart. They clean the old glue from the joints and re-glue the whole structure. Never drive screws into the joints to tighten them up. Screws split the old timber. A proper glued repair will last another century.

Do carvers always match the side chairs?

Not always. Families often bought six standard chairs first. They ordered the carvers years later to match. A skilled cabinetmaker copied the original design. Look closely at the turnings to spot slight differences between the early and late frames.

We are looking to buy some seating for our long farmhouse table and wonder if drop-in seats are better than stuffed-over ones for daily family use?

Drop-in seats are much easier to maintain with children around. The upholstered pad sits inside a wooden frame and lifts right out. You can recover them at home using basic fabric and a staple gun. Stuffed-over seats have the fabric tacked directly to the rails. Recovering those requires an upholsterer to rebuild the edges. It takes longer and costs more. Practicality usually wins for daily dining. Drop-in frames let you swap out ruined fabric in an afternoon.

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Victorian Set of 8 Chairs

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A matching suite of eight seats, usually comprising six standards and two carvers, originally commissioned to surround a substantial dining table for formal entertaining.