BH | Studio Malvern Button-Tufted Dining Chairs, Set of 4

Deep buttoning, upholstery pulled down at intervals by buttons so the padding gathers into soft diamonds, came into its own in the Victorian house, where it dressed drawing-room sofas and the chairs around the dining table alike. It kept the stuffing in place through years of use and gave a plain chair a quietly formal finish.

All four chairs share a tall, gently curving back, deep-buttoned across the front so the padding gathers into diamonds and holds its shape, with dense foam in back and seat for comfort that lasts from the first course to the last. The woven fabric comes in Oyster, Bark, Smoke or Dove, quiet colours that let a good wood table take the attention. Dark wooden legs finish in non-marking caps, kind to floorboards when chairs are pushed back from the table again and again.

Four is the natural number for a family kitchen table, where the same chairs see breakfast, homework after school and a roast on Sunday. Set them around an oak trestle with a jug of wildflowers and a striped linen runner, or soften a formal dining room with them under a simple brass chandelier. Each colour is an easy partner of cream walls, rush baskets and pale timber, and lets a patterned rug or a bold painting do the talking. This listing is for a set of four chairs.