I suppose that if you don't have carpet or a rug under the the chairs and you want their little feet to stay warm in the winter, this is perfectly acceptable. After all, you can't have your chairs catching a cold.

I meant *the chairs* - sorry, I was giggling while typing.

given the number of times I was scolded growing up about dragging chair legs across wood floors at home (don't scratch the floors!), this seems like a brilliant idea to me. Of course, you have to wash them (I suppose?) and they may or may not end up being tacky, depending on your decor choices.

Oh, geez, no...

Guess you would tell the other chairs to go get their socks on before coming to the table. Wouldn't little nylons be sexier? Those shown look, yeah, redorkulous.

I hate that painted leg trend thing. Ugh. I think these are a neat idea but it would depend on the chair. Looks super cute on the ones pictured and a nice way to protect the floors. An easy crochet project for the crafty! Change them out every so often when they wear out.

Yaaaay! Finally something to knit with all my yarn scraps!

Well, if they really were made to keep from scratching the floors, then maybe, if you like the look. But to not scratch floors when people are stitting on chairs and pushing them back from the table, you'd need more than a little of of knitted yarn at the bottom - you'd need a thick pad of felt, like the kind they sell to stick on chair legs, and they would need to be fitted (or stuck) on in such a way that the padding would stay on the foot where it is needed and not slide up. Doubt these are made with the necessary padding and placement of it.

I'm going to check it out now!

Obviously, I'm worried about still scratching (or denting) wood floors with these. These would work well to quiet the sounds of chairs scraping on terrazzo floors, as pictured, which noise can be like chalk on a chalkboard. Hate the painted look, not much of a fan of the sock look, either. Argyle would be nicer :0

Yes! For bare floors it totally makes sense. I hate the sound of scraping chair legs across the ground.

I'm more interested in the table. Where did you get it?

It's a great gift idea for my upstairs neighbors LOL

No. The idea and the socks are cute, but in the end it just looks like something that belongs in a dorm room at most. There are felt protectors that you nail into the bottom of the chairs, which are discreet and stay on.

This is not a new thing. My grandmother's chairs wear chair socks. So do mine, for that matter. Felt pads fall off and little chair booties take about half an hour to crochet a set with scrap yarn. If you use a nice thick yarn and a tight stitch, they're far better and more effective at protecting your floors than those terrible felt pads that fall off every other week. We have easily scratched bamboo floors, so they're a must.

These, on the other hand, are a little silly. Way too high up the leg! Still, practical.

For those interested, a pattern!

http://www.thisdustyhouse.com/2011/11/chair-booties-pattern.html

Socks on a chair?! Hell to the NO. It reminds me of old people who have tennis balls on their walker legs. Not to be borne.

is it wrong to laugh? lol i cannot even imagine using these on chairs.. even if i had wood floors.. although this would solve the scratching problems.. smh

@cmk - room and board

my cat would have a field day. cute for a play room though!

Not gonna lie. I did this.
Hardwood floors and the felt pads just would NOT stay on the chairs. My solution? Felt pads and then baby socks. Ghetto? Maybe. Save my floor? Definitely.

Given the recent trend to dip the bottom of chairs and tables, it doesn't bother me. Felt pads are ok, but hair gets stuck on them.

YES

@bakerysensei - baby socks are never, ever ghetto. ;)

I would have killed for my previous upstairs neighbor to use these on her chairs! I don't know what she was doing dragging chairs all over her apartment, but it drove me insane. Little bitty chair socks might have been just the ticket!

I don't know why they did this on Eames chair as they come with a thick protection at the bottom, better than anything you can add (given you have real ones and not knock-offs). I'm not sure I like the look...

It really depends on the shoes.

I love it! I'm planning on having a housewarming/yarn-bombing party after we move next month to yarn-bomb some old kitchen chairs-- cover them in knitting and crocheting. I was thinking I'd keep it to the upper parts of the chair, though. I imagine the chair socks would get dusty/linty/hairy pretty quickly.

Oh Haters... you know they're coming to America, just like all cell phone trends and those little footie socks you wear inside ballet flats (yes, Japan had those first). I personally think they're kitschy and brilliant. Welcome to America, new trend!

The other post is correct; those felt pads don't work a darn..they evenutally come off so if these socks work better than I'm in. If it's just for looks; no.

You're supposed to NAIL the felt pads into your chairs? I guess that makes sense, but I don't want to drive metal spikes into my chair legs. And felt pads don't stay stuck. And they're gross if you have cats.

I LIKE the socks. They ARE redorkulous and that's what's awesome about them! I would totally have these on my chairs. And my chairs would ROCK them. :D

I suddenly just wished I could knit.

I think with certain decor styles its a nice touch! But it should not be a common occurrence.

Oh I did this years ago with my little vintage swivel rocker. The feet would scratch the floor when I moved it for cleaning, so I put some old baby socks on them. They could not usually be seen though, since the chair has an upholstery skirt. However, they did fall off a lot, so I finally duct taped them on recently. It's not ghetto if you can't see it, right?

If the socks are just yarn, will there wear out being rubbed along the floor?

Ain't nobody got time for that. So in other words, NO!

A year ago, I would have thought okay, maybe to make bland chairs look more interesting? But now I have beautiful wood floors and a vintage metal chair with worn out plastic feet. So hell yes! However, I can knit my own socks thank you. Or maybe sew some up out of some worn out personal socks if I'm really pressed for time.

Redorkulously cute. Would it work in every environment? Of course not, but neither would any other idea offered here be it textiles or paint or flooring or art or.... And hey, it's actually functional, whereas paint dipping is not.

@ Muesli: Um...nails kinda defeat the purpose of self-adhesive protectors.

I used to find tennis ball on walkers silly until my partner ended up using a walker at a young age. My partner was not even 40 before being walker bound.

My mom always had knitted covers on her chairs when I was growing up and I've seen them at loads of craft fairs so I'm surprised to hear it's a new trend. They're definitely useful but be ready to wash them frequently as they are hair and dust magnets.

I think it would depend very much on the decor of the room as a whole. I think they look good in the picture shown; I think the neon ones that were suggested would also be a nice way to temporarily try out that look in case you don't like it next year (or any other trend of that sort); and I think if you were trying to rock the granny look, these would be an absolute must.

Having said all that, I live in Japan and have full access to these socks in many colours, but I chose to use the felt pads... ( - _ -)o0

These look like the little knitted cozies people used to put on beer cans back in the old days (i.e. my childhood way back when, before soda was even sold in cans). Maybe you could find some of those at a yard sale & re-purpose them (smile).

no socks!

hahaha I love AT for letting me know of such things

For everyone that hates the pet hair on the felt pads....use cork pads. I cut up wine corks with my mandolin slicer and glued the slices to the bottom of the chair legs. No scratches, no more loud chair dragging sounds and the cork doesn't grab the pet hair. It. Is. Awesome.

yeah, those things would be a magnet for pet hair and dust bunnies. yuck.

ask and ye shall receive! argyle: http://www.designspray.de/produkt.php?kat=57&id=368&sprache=en&WebsiteId=qde8km05gli28eq2qdmaq7r2n1

It is the matter of taste.

But my concern is that they shouldn't have to wear socks. I don't understand why chair designers haven't thought of this fundamental problem. Expensive chairs destroy wood floors and carpets, makes a lot of noise. I have resolved to using cheap plastic IKEA chairs.

could be used for something phallic perhaps? just a thought.

I would think these would get holes through them pretty quickly for chairs that are moved around frequently. Maybe boiled wool socks?

We have some, and they are awesome for protecting wood floors. We wash them when they come off the chairs. They last much longer than foam pads, and they are not a choking hazard. Ours are dark brown, so they aren't very noticeable.

It's the "trying too hard" look. Just let the chair be a chair.

I could really use them. my chairs make a ton of noise on my terrazzo floor, and the foam pads wear out and fall off so quickly. I might seach this out.

It begs the question:

What happens when these socks don't last through very many scrapings across the floor... ankle boots?

If the looks fits with your decor - I think it's a brilliant idea for someone with wood floors, or simply a quirky aesthetic.

If it won't fit the look of your home most large hardware stores sell thick felt with a sticky side for putting under furniture legs... I use that. It works great. :)

Is it a little like putting lipstick on a pig? Yes, it is.
Is putting lipstick on pigs always a terrible thing? I guess it depends on the lipstick.
That being said, I think these would look better being neon - or a brighter, more vibrant color.
I would also say that lipstick should only be put on pigs when the pigs consent to it.

I lived in Japan for a couple of years for work. The reason they have these is because many homes in Japan still use traditional tatami (rice straw mats), which become easily indented or even torn from the furniture legs. They sell socks for chairs/tables, or they also sell tiny little pillow cushions which you can place underneath for larger legs which the socks may not fit, which protects the flooring. We used these in the apartment we were renting to keep the floor looking like new. But we didn't use it on everything, and after only a few months, we'd already find scuffs and tear marks in the flooring...

Yup, it's brilliant. After YEARS cursing those g-d sticky-felts (that do not stick for long, by the way), I rented a vacation home that had chair-socks in the wood-floor dining and living rooms. BRILLIANT!!!! Just brilliant. The floors in this vacation home looked amazing despite years of rental use. In this case, they used cute children's smartwool socks, but clearly knitting or crocheting your own is fine.

I get mine off of etsy.

Yeah, my chairs wear socks.

I wish I'd known about chair socks before I had to shell out $2000 to refinish a rental home's floors after a few very minor chair-scraps incurred after just two months. The furnished rental's chairs weren't properly protected with the vastly inferior felt sticky pads. Can you tell I am still livid about this. Grrr.

Neat idea. I will have someone to knit me some as I also have wood floors that I need to protect.

I have a friend who knit socks for chairs in her house - to protect her hardwood floors.

They work fairly well - but you need to be careful that you don't lose them when you pick up and move the chairs.

That's adorable. I have tile and I would do it just to have chairs in bobbie socks. Only some chairs though.

My girlfriend, who's an avid knitter, made several for the dining chairs in her home. She showed them to me and asked what I thought they were for. My first thought was "dick warmers". Needless to say, after revealing my thoughts to her husband's friends on their annual winter camping trip, she had several requests for her "dick warmers". Not sure how she determined the measurements but I'm ASSuming it's like Vegas - What happens at camp sites, stays in campsites...

Definitely looking for chair socks at all of my local Daisos. Even if I didn't get or use them, I must see them. And if they have brown, they could definitely help out my shitty, shitty kitchen chairs.