A classic piece of design, the Barcelona Chair is nowadays one of the most popular options for modern chairs around the world. Its stylish figure and comfortable look have called the attention of many Interior Designers and even set producers that use its particular profile to the most luxury and elegant spaces.

Nevertheless, in spite of the worldwide fame of the Barcelona Chair, there are really little options in color, due to the inner strength of this design. The most common options in color for the Barcelona Chair are:

Black

The classic option. Its black leather (Aniline leather) shines and gives you the special feeling and smooth look of an elegant modern chair. Special for formal and modern spaces. It can even do great in executive offices.

White

One of its most popular tones. The Barcelona Chair in white looks great in several styles, due to its versatility.  In Scandinavian as a part of a clear and pure space; in Coastal Living, as a part of a fresh, marine space; and in Mid Century Modern.

A refreshing presentation, that harmonizes with the last trends in colorful, animated, living rooms.  Great in pairs.

Tan

Manhattan Home Design is one of the best alternatives in online furniture stores. It has entire design lines of high end, high-quality products, like the Barcelona Chair, or the Barcelona Bench.

Let’s continue sharing some interesting facts about the Barcelona Chair.

A team effort

The name of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe will be always the first to resound at the moment of talking about the Barcelona Chair and the Barcelona Collection. Though, a further look is revealing that the Barcelona Collection was more a collaborative effort by a team formed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe as chief of team, with  Lilly Reich, who was at the time Production Designer of the International Exposition of Barcelona 1929 and held a close personal relationship with the architect in the late 1920s. Lilly was a remarkable specialist in textiles and fabrics and was at the center of the creative process of the furniture efforts of van der Rohe in the 1920s.

Just until 1930

As influential as it was the Barcelona Chair and the Barcelona Collection, after that, there are not records of another  furniture creations of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Its supposed that it has to do with its separation of Lilly Reich, because in the beginnings of the 1930s, van der Rohe departed to the United States and Lilly stayed in Berlin. Since then, the work of van der Rohe centered around architecture, mainly sky-crappers and buildings.

Manhattan Home Design is one of the best alternatives in online furniture stores. It has entire design lines of high end, high quality products, like the Barcelona Chair, or the Barcelona Bench.

Designed in 1929 by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, the Barcelona Chair has without a doubt one of the longest and more successful journeys in the history of Design. Its iconic silhouette and its “X” stainless steel frame are a trademark of Mid Century Modern Style. Let’s see 4 interesting facts about this wonderful piece of design.

A very complex artifact

Beyond its role as the creator of the Barcelona Chair, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was a worldwide famous Architect, more popular for its sky-crappers than for its chairs. When he was consulted about it, he said: “A chair is a very difficult object. A skyscraper is almost easier. That is why Chippendale is famous”. A very interesting quote that showed us the respect that a famous figure of architecture has for an allegedly humble artifact, like a chair.

A team effort

The name of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe is completely associated with the creation of the Barcelona Chair, at a point where the chair is often named as “van der Rohe Chair” in some stores.  But this is incorrect since they were called Barcelona by van der Rohe due to the International Exposition of Barcelona in 1928.

Manhattan Home Design is one of the best alternatives in online furniture stores. It has entire design lines of high end, high-quality products, like the Barcelona Chair, or the Barcelona Bench.

Wanting to buy a Barcelona Bench? Check these 3 facts about it and falling in love with it!

1. Barcelona Bench Creator

Mies van der Rohe is recognized internationally for his architecture and his furniture alike. He was a German-American architect who design -together with its partners- the Barcelona chair presented at the Barcelona exhibition. He became so popular after that exhibition that he decided to make a whole collection which called: The Barcelona Collection.

One of the members of this collection is the Barcelona Bench. An Iconic masterpiece that shows only simplicity and elegance. Made from the finest leather; gorgeous Italian Aniline Leather Upholstery, and a solid stainless steel frame.

2. It’s small but enough dimensions

So after giving you a bit of background on this unit, you should know that it fits in any living room or office, its small size makes it as versatile as no other bench!

The Barcelona Bench dimensions are:

• Overall Depth: 16″
• Overall Width: 50″
• Seat Height: 19″

3. High-quality steel details 

Legs are polished tubular stainless steel, as a mid-century icon, Mies put the best materials on this member of its collection. These details will definitely give you a luxurious look!

The world of coffee tables is very diverse and wide, but you’ll probably not find a piece with such sculptural characteristics as the Noguchi table. This design is so particular that it’s considered both a piece of art and functional furniture, mixing style and function in a perfect balance. After several decades, it has become one of the most acclaimed, recognized, and admired designs of the style known as Mid-Century Modern. The philosophy of this style, based on practical and affordable, produced very attractive modern pieces at friendly prices. However, the Noguchi table became so famous and demanded that today an original piece can cost several thousand dollars.

On the other hand, there are very favorable options, such as the Noguchi table replica by Manhattan Home Design, marketed at a price three or four times less than the official product. It’s a replica that faithfully emulates every aesthetic and functional aspect of design that emerged from the astonishing and groundbreaking imagination of this Japanese-American artist, also known for his works in the fields of sculpture, architecture, landscaping, and design of scenarios in a career that spanned six decades.

Add a Noguchi table reproduction to your spaces, and you’ll discover the amazing attributes of one of the most iconic pieces in the history of furniture design!

What defines a good accent chair? We use what decorators and Interior Designers call “Accent Chairs” when we want to highlight a particular spot in a room, with a singular, beautiful and characteristic chair. And the Barcelona Chair is without a doubt a great accent chair.

Though, in general terms, we can’t really speak of an accent chair only, but accent furniture instead. It turns out that a chair a great way to bring something else to a room.

How do know if you need an accent chair spot?

As we mentioned, we are trying to highlight a particular spot in the room. Usually, in living rooms, we use the space combining functional needs with ornamental adds. In this game of balances, your main furniture is set to address your functional needs. So, the basic number of seats is already taken by your sofa, loveseat, and regular chair, among other options, like a bench.

Once your number of seats is been taken,  you have to check your focal points. Usually, the main focal points are the first thing to resolve in a decoration. The location of the fireplace, if there is any, is already established, unless you decide to make a renovation.  So, fireplace, TV and TV stand, and your sofa will have most of the time a very stable location. After this is settled, you can add an accent chair in a bare spot unattended. It complements your view like the cherry of the cake.

What does it take to a chair, to be a good  Accent Chair?

Your accent chair is different from your main set up. Is there to offer a seating space, of course, but its main feature is an outstanding design. A good accent chair is beautiful, garish, a little bit jazzy.  It will captivate the attention of your guests and it will lead to some funny talk.

While is different, and even contrasting with your current main furniture, your accent chair must have some properties. If you have a very fluffy sofa and seats, a bare chair, of leather of wood would create a good contrast.  You can do it otherwise, with a sleeker set of furniture, choosing an accent chair lounge style, like an Eames or a Womb Chair. 

What makes the Barcelona Chair is a great Accent Chair?

The Barcelona Chair is perfect as an “Accent Chair”. This is one single, unique chair that drives your attention in the room, and became one of the focal points. 

It has a stylish figure, an iconic “X” shape frame of stainless steel, and two comfortable leather cushions that invite you to seat and have a good chat. Either in its classic black presentation, white or other colors, the Barcelona chair catches your eye and it will bring a touch of class and elegance.

Manhattan Home Design is one of the best alternatives in online furniture stores. It has entire design lines of high end, high-quality products, like the Barcelona Chair, or the Barcelona Bench.

Have you ever wondering where the loveseat comes from? The name can make us think in a romantic scenario, but that’s not exactly related to the origin.

Loveseats were made in the late of the late 17th century designed exclusively to women who wore huge dresses -like the picture on the left- and were really different than a modern loveseat. Why? Because they were made by only wooden and slightly larger than a normal to provide clad in acres of heavy fabric to sit down comfortably.

So after years and fashion progress, women saw a private and great place to talk with its lover in a close way. This is how the name “loveseat” surged.

Why is the Barcelona Loveseat Iconic? It’s all due to its innovative design. 

At the end of the 20th century, the main object of loveseats had been lost, thanks to this more functional and refined designs were created such as the Barcelona Loveseat.

Few features about it:

• Manufacture: It has individually cut and sewn leather panels with full tufting on all appropriate seams.
• Quality: High Density, Fire Resistant Urethane Foam.
• Frame: It is ground and buffed by hand to a mirror finish.

If you are an enthusiast of Design and you decide to buy your Barcelona Chair, you are maybe undecided on what store to make the purchase.

There are so many options out there, that it’s OK to feel a little confused about it.

The market for furniture is huge now. There are lots of options both in price and quality. Generally, quality options are really very expensive, and cheap options are really low end, bad quality. 

But if you made you made your mind on a high-quality piece, like the Barcelona Chair at a reasonable budget, there is a way to identify and get a real price: the Replicas Market.

True to the original design
To obtain a quality product, with a design of quality, is better to look for specialized stores. Replicas stores have the advantage of following strictly the design created by the original architect or artist, and that’s a guarantee of good manufacturing.

Replicas manufacturers can offer low prices because they don’t use the original brand, and in consequence, don’t have to pay license fees or property rights for the use of brands.

Barcelona Designs is one of the best alternatives in online furniture stores. It has entire design lines of high end, high quality products, like the Barcelona Chair, or the Barcelona Bench.

When it comes to furniture, we see often ourselves thinking about it in “the old way”: Going to a store and delighting ourselves watching, touching and sitting in every piece we see, to decide purchase, or just for the fun of it.

But times have changed. And now we find that online shopping is not an alternative, comfortable way of shopping, but sometimes is the only one available.

It’s more than understandable thinking now about the convenience. If you want a Barcelona Chair, an exquisite and endurable piece of design, you want to be sure you are making the right decision on line.  In an ideal context, all shopping is better offline, live. The challenge for any online store is to make it unnecessary. Let’s see how it can be a better experience.

What about touch and feel?

In furniture, the touch and feel has been always a definitive impact. But apart from the direct experience of purchase, and prior to the emergence of electronic commerce, there were always magazine ads, brochures, Sunday mail, even street clowns and other funny strategies made to encourage people to go to the store; but in the end, the final decision had to do with the physical experience of seeing, touch and feel your item of furniture.

Today’s world is different. E-Commerce is here to stay. Right now the advances in technology encourage us to make better decisions online, and lots of products that we never thought to be we shouldn’t ever buy it virtually, are now on-line daily basis commerce, just like groceries. To E-commerce there is a long list of products to add: Blogs, News Sites, Facebook Ads, and so on.

But not everything has to be online when the store is online.
A great way to enhance your online shopping experience is to offer alternatives to complement it.
Showrooms
Showrooms are a great way to propitiate a close experience with the item of your preference. If you are in NYC, and if you want to feel more at ease, and you can reach the Manhattan Home Design Showroom, for example where all the furniture for an online store is in a beautiful display.
Swatches
Stores like Manhattan Home Design, or Barcelona Designs, just to name a few, send samples of fabric, swatches, to potential buyers. If you want to see in a close up how does it look the tan tone in the Barcelona Chair, you ask for a swatch, a small sample of that leather. That will be delivered to your house, and this way, without getting to the store, you can get that desired “touch and feel“ sensation, so crucial to make a final decision. In the end, a good store is good whether online or offline.

Don’t lose the opportunity to enjoy the Barcelona Chair in Barcelona Designs, where authentic enthusiasts of Mid Century Modern style are always satisfied with the best quality replicas alternatives for the most affordable prices. 

A daybed is always a good option to choose when it comes to reducing space goals. 

What’s exactly a daybed? Its a combination between a sofa and a bed, that’s where his name comes from. You can place it to make your living room more sophisticated and elegant.

The most iconic model is the Barcelona daybed that you can find at any furniture store. What we must mention is that this kind of furniture it’s not too cheap so maybe you should search for some Barcelona daybed replicas.

Knowing the Barcelona Daybed

This piece was originally designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, however, some Barcelona daybed replicas feature the authentic stylish and elegance as the original. It sits upon on a polished tubular stainless steel base and a strong ash wood platform finished with a protective clear lacquer.

Others Daybed Models You Can Add

If you still want to add a versatile piece of furniture but do not feel identified with the mid-century style, you can look for these types of loungers:

• Daybed Trundle – If you like the more basic style.
• Chaise Daybeds – If you like to have your own therapy session.
•  Sleigh Day Bed – If you like bigger daybeds.