For the new year, a time when everyone’s hopes are high, I thought what better way to get all those resolution makers off their butts than some slightly uncomfortable chairs. The Slightly Uncomfortable Chair Collection was designed by the Sid Lee Collective, part of the notable Sid Lee advertising agency, and features seating designed to promote shorter, more efficient business meetings. I’d add shorter procrastination sessions, less time spent in front of the computer, and more time spent on one’s feet.

Since 1958, Ercol has been bending thick wood laminations to create the beautiful curves of their famous butterfly chair. Some people consider this chair a cousin of the Eames LCW Wood chair, but many other see it as existing in a class of its own.

I like to think it has its own charm – the beech and elm Ercol Butterfly Chairs are particularly striking with their extreme wood grain detailing on the backs. The vintage set above was sold by Love Vintage Furniture, which has so many great photos of mid-century modern furniture on its web site.

Then again, here are some more modern Ercol Butterfly Chairs, in dazzling special edition colors made for Tent London 2010. I would just go crazy for one for my daughter’s room, but in this point in her life she’d probably just chew off the finish.

Which Ercol Butterfly Chair do you like best? Au naturale or colorful?

Ladies and gentlemen, I need your help today. I’m in one of those mental places where I find myself torn between two different opinions. So you tell me, because I just can’t decide… Is this chair from Meritalia ugly? Or really, really freaking ugly?

“Who doesn’t love a comfy, distressed, brown leather sofa?” is a question I saw once in a magazine, and the answer is me. I love comfy leather and I love distressed leather, but brown? *yawn* If your home is decked out in an amazing brown palette, that’s one thing. But why not get a little more colorful? Before I begin, I have to say that this post is for Kai Jones, who said: I would love to see a variety of options in leather furniture. Due to allergies I am supposed to only have plain wood or metal, or leather-upholstered furniture. Your wish is my command! (Variety? Yeah, I can do that.)

The benefits of leather furniture go beyond not absorbing dander and mites and such – leather furniture can be wiped clean with a damp sponge instead of needed a full shampoo, Aniline leather in particular can be deliciously soft, leather warms to your body temp on chilly days, and leather furniture is really, really durable. It’s not entirely maintenance free, of course, but what in this life is? I certainly wouldn’t kick a sweet red leather sofa out of bed.

Leather furniture can be traditional and classic and awesome, which I think is the main source of leather’s long lasting charm. How nice would it be, do you think, to curl up with a good book in this orange leather chair? Just keep in mind that all leathers are not created equal – after Aniline, there’s the sturdier but less soft semi-Aniline and then the extremely durable coated leather, which could be softer. (via)

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They may not be insanely comfy, but vintage theater seats and stadium seats can be an awesome addition to a super chill household. That’s where I think they belong, anyway, because old stadium seats that have been refinished are still going to be less than perfect. Unless you’re the cool kind of person who thinks unperfect is perfect, dig?

These vintage theater seats were salvaged from a movie theater in Chicago that closed down in the 50′s. Awesome. And they’re for sale for $950 at Rhapsody Attic , which is awesome if you happen to have a thousand bucks around. Plus shipping. A whole lot of shipping.

How can you not love these?

(Images via Rhapsody Attic and Penny’s Enchanting Home)

As weird chairs go, I suppose this one could be weirder, but at least it can double as a dish drainer in a pinch. What’s the strangest chair you’ve ever seen?

Isn’t this bent wood chair from Brocade Home just adorable? I’m squeeing over the high gloss white paint job that suits it much better than silver, one of the other available colors.

It gets a little lost in all that black and white in the display room, what with the beautiful cutouts in the back of the chair fading into the background so that it looks like a plain white chair at a glance. I’m thinking, though, that most of you reading this don’t have huge swathes of busy monochromatic wallpaper in your house or apartment. Or maybe you do, who knows. Do you?

No, no, not that blue velvet (though some people certainly want it, maybe you). I’m talking about blue velvet chairs, yum. Velvet phones, flocked chairs, I love it all.

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I think I’m in love. With a chair. Don’t tell my husband, okay? Vintage Thonet chairs become something new entirely when reupholstered in a bright blue fabric that’s been hand screen printed with a collection of California’s birds and blossoms. Sadly, these gorgeous chairs from En Route Studio will not be en route to my home any time soon. A set of four chairs costs $1,100, and as The Beard so sarcastically put it: “Cute! And they’re in our price range, too!”