Swedish Klismos Cane Back Dining Chairs in White, Sets of 2

The curved insert is the first thing anyone notices on these Cane Back Dining Chairs, a band of open weave floating in the crest rail and framed in oak painted a clean white. Saber-swept legs underneath give the chair its posture, pale and upright and precise. It is the Swedish reading of the klismos form, lighter and plainer than the neoclassical versions that came before it.

A cream linen seat sits tone on tone with the painted frame, so the cane panel stays the single point of texture anywhere on the chair. At 20 inches wide and 22 inches deep, the frame keeps a slim profile that suits a round table and a rectangular one equally, and it slides fully under an apron of normal depth. Six will ring a table without the backs meeting.

White paint and open cane belong in a room that wants air rather than weight, so they work in a garden room, a breakfast corner or a dining room with painted walls. Set them around a scrubbed timber table for contrast, or a pale painted one to keep the whole group tonal. One on its own suits a desk or a dressing table where a heavier chair would crowd the corner.