Strudiness?

I sat on these at their Seattle store and while lightweight, they are sturdy! It certainly doesn't feel like it's going to break under you.

The backrest is a little bit flexible (like some similarly designed chairs from IKEA) but I think that enhances the comfort when you lean back.

laffcat- it is sort of like a struedel I think. Pastry-related question.

Just don't try tipping back and you should be fine.

I have owned these chairs for several years. I used to have 4, and now am down to 2. They break, and there's no way to repair them.

As you may already have seen, what connects the legs to the seat are 4 u-shaped pieces of plastic, one on each leg. If weight is distributed at all unevenly among the 4 legs -- for example, if one or two chair legs are off the rug and the others are on, or an adult-sized person shifts in the seat just so -- one of the plastic things will snap.

Once one snaps, the chair is done, because there's no way to replace the plastic part. I tried the west elm store, I tried the west elm warehouse, I tried other places that sell similar chairs, I tried furniture repair places. It was a months-long quest for replacement parts, and it was unsuccessful. Once you're missing one plastic piece, you can't sit on it anymore, because your weight will be uneven because of the missing piece, and the other pieces will snap in short order. This happened with my 85 pound, 11 year old cousin sitting on the chair.

So many had broken that I finally had to cannibalize a couple of the chairs and consolidate the plastic pieces on to two remaining chairs.

In short, no, do not buy.

Wow, eliz, that sounds awful. I withdraw my previous comment, which was more general.

i would say - they're sturdy. we use them as our every day chairs. but the lacquer chips off fairly easy. we've been noticing spots here and there. Basically wait til they go on sale, and buy them then. so if they break, you won't feel too horrible cuz you didn't pay full price. We got them last year i think right after christmas.

we have a few of these chairs and i have to be honest....they are not standing up that well to heavy, everyday use... they feel sturdy for a while and then eventually they start to "sag" (for lack of a better term) we use them around our kitchen table, too, and i end up doing a lot of work at the table as well so the chairs are being sat in a lot...if you might only sit at them for breakfast or dinner, they'll probably last you a while, but we're probably going to have to replace ours soon and we only bought them about two years ago... one chair is already out of commission and has been sitting in our guest room. . . sorry to burst your bubble . . . i know i was excited when we bought our chairs and the pop of color they add. . . on the plus side, if you have little ones -- they're super easy to clean and they make for great chairs for kids! just not great for everyday, heavy use.

I have similar, cheaper chairs that I bought on clearance from Target a year ago. They came 2 in a box. I paid around $7 per box(i actually bought 4 boxes because I did not realize that there were 2 in each box, so I took 2 boxes back). Those chairs have held up better than some ikea chairs I bought a few years ago for $20 a piece. The ikea chairs fell apart in less than 2 years.

They are very sturdy. One of them doubles as a computer chair, so it gets daily usage. I have not had any problems with them.

I have 6 at my kitchen table. They do say on the bottom they are only rated up to 200lbs. I have had a few larger people use them and now I have one where the legs are bent a bit. The legs won't all touch the floor evenly anymore and it seems no amount of bending will make them go back. I wouldn't buy them again.

i have had 4 for 2 years, and although i don't use them everyday, I haven't had any problems

I have had 4 white chairs for 1 1/2 years - they do not get heavy use - and are holding up great. Only one dent on seat where a heavy glass vase fell off the table. I will replace them with the same chair if and when the time comes.

Carlee134 - love it!! This should be on Kitchn, though! Ha ha!

I'm 6'6" weight about 228 and we have had a couple of this on the stool version for probably about 4 years, in the chocolate color, they are used everyday and we have frequent visits they are well built and have not had any issues with it, they are solid and sustain usage really well, the only drawback is that ours are in chocolate color, and i has a couple of scratches on the seat that's my only complain

We bought a number of really similar chairs to these for one of the cafes where I work.

They are constructed the same way (with really cheap looking plastic clips). We've had plastic clips break A LOT, but we've also had an inordinate number of them break at the bend in the plywood between the seat and back. FYI. Granted, that *is* in a food service setting, but if we're having problems with chairs breaking in months in that environment, I have to guess it's only a matter of a year or two before it would happen in a home setting.

We had four of those in the office I worked in at a conference table. They were totally fine in that setting, but we had other chairs for our regular seating.

What about the similar Jake chairs from Room & Board? Does anyone have experience with their durability?

We have these in my office. All the men tip back in them and then are surprised when they crack. The backs never fully break off, but they bend back when they shouldn't, which is disconcerting.

Until the dopes started leaning back in them, they were fine, so just don't sit stupidly in them and you're fine.

DO NOT BUY THESE CHAIRS!

While I have never owned this particular style we did own a similar style (the T back chair-- forgot the name). The seat is sturdy and could hold 300+ pounds routinely, the back is not. We bought four and three were damaged or broken within a few months of purchasing them. The problem was people leaning back in the chairs. I assume these are the same bent plywood construction so beware!

On a whole West Elm's quality is on par with IKEA. Such a shame because some of the designs are quite nice.

I thought for quite a while that West Elm had really cool well built goods. All the pink clouds and fluffly unicorns disappered when I walked through the doors of the new Seattle store. POOF!! just like that- gone. They tout Mango wood like it is some revelation- it's not. Generally the quality is on par with Ikea, as stated. I build furniture and the test I issue each piece it to lean back in it and bounce. None have broken; but if it does I haven't done my job and in this case West Elm hasn't either.

sure they look strudy :)
i mean, as strudy as any chair of that style.
strudy!

We've had the Room & Board Jake Chairs since 2008. They've held up great. But we're both closer to 150 than 200 pounds.

Had to go check – the chair legs are welded to a center block, which is attached to the chair with a bunch of screws and I'm guessing glue. And then there are those plastic clips.

We've also got a few nicks and scrapes to the surface of the chairs.

I'd have to say I really like the bending of the back, makes it way more comfy than if it were rigid.

I have the West Elm ones in a dark red. They haven't had any structural issues, though I haven't ever tipped back in them and have them set on hardwood or linoleum (so no uneven rugs underneath). However, they chip very easily. If that's going to bother you, I'd skip them. I probably wouldn't buy them again.

I just bought two of the chairs from West Elm and we use them around the dining room table. They are comfortable and seem sturdy to us. We have not had them a long time so I cannot speak to their long term sturdiness.

We have 4 in Tumeric and use them every day (2 people around 200 lbs) and most weekends have a group of people of various sizes using them and bending the backs a bit. We had to tighten the screws once a few months after assembly and then somehow ended up with a small chip, but that was easily fixed with a dab of paint and they look just like they did the first day. Their shape is fantastic and they clean up well. We bought them at a discount and I am very happy with the quality for the (sale) price.