Ronnie Wire Base White Chairs (Set of 2)

I have been a fan of Eames design for many years, but unfortunately the pieces are out of my budget. So when I saw these repros on Overstock for such a low price, I had to jump on the chance. I am quite impressed by the look and feel of these repros -- they really seem like the real deal. Well made with exacting constuction and attention to details, I think they would fool most Eames aficionados. For the price, this is a great way to get the vibe of a modern classic.

• Would you recommend this to a friend? Yes

These are a reasonable facsimile of the Eames Eiffel Chair. I was almost scared away by how inexpensive they are, but it's a faithful knockoff. The chairs are slightly flexible plastic and have a matte finish. You'll find stiffer, fiberglass versions out there as well and I guess it's a matter of personal preference. Assembly was very easy. It's true that it takes a little work to line up the base/legs with the pre-drilled holes in the seat, but because the legs are angled you can flex them from the very end and create plenty of leverage without using a lot of force. The only really cheap part are the plastic disks that sit on the very ends of the legs, against the floor. It ships with extras, presumably because they will break off, pop off etc over time. Overall highly recommended.

• Would you recommend this to a friend? Yes

There were a few confusing parts about assembling these chairs and I was unable to find any instructions online so I thought I'd post some tips. - There were felt stickers covering the screw holes under the seat of the chairs. I'm not sure if these were actually intended for anything specific but I peeled them off and stuck them to the bottom of each black plastic chair leg cap to protect my floor. - One of the chairs had a few drops of hardened plastic obscuring two of the screwholes. This made it impossible to get the screw in correctly so I used a razor blade to scrape away the excess plastic. - In order to easily line up the holes of the legs and seat, I placed the chair seat upside on the edge of my couch. This allowed me to easily see how to line up the holes. - For each chair leg, there is a bolt, a washer and a lock washer. I first put the lock washer on the bolt followed by the washer and then put the bolt through the hole in the legs and finally into the screw hole in the base of the chair. You'll most likely have to pry on the legs a little to get all the holes lined up. I recommend hand tightening them all before using the allen to finish them.

• Would you recommend this to a friend? Yes

These dining chairs suit our purpose just fine. We purchased six (three sets of two), and will purchase one more set once we move into our new space and have a larger dining table. The poly seats do have flex (as opposed to similarly styled rigid fiberglass classics) which is both a good and a bad thing. It is good in that it makes them more comfortable when you are sitting in them. It is bad in that our toddler grabs the back to try to pull herself into the chair and the flex throws her off balance--but she is getting better at it already. By three, she should master it. Also, because the base is set into a narrower mount than the wood style ones we've looked at, they can tip, say, when a toddler is climbing into one. So, for now, we'll just lift her in and out. Other than those cautions, they are great little chairs with good looks at an inexpensive price. They are easy to clean, and the white plastic hasn't stained at all in spite of having tomato sauce and red wine sit on them for varying periods of time (even after a couple of days), which kind of surprised me a bit. They are super comfortable and definitely lend themselves to long, lingering meals with friends and family, which was important to us. So a win, win so far. Time will tell how they hold up, but if they break at least they are inexpensively replaced--important details with a little one using them as props for her imaginitive play. On an assembly note: one of our sets came with parts missing. But another came with double sets of the parts missing from the other, so it worked out for us. There were two hiccups in the assembly: one was trying to separate the two wire bases that were somewhat wedged together (hubby strongarmed that one) and the other was getting everything to line up in order to screw in the bolts. Because they are designed to have some tension in the frames, you have to screw a little bit of each one at a time (think tire changing--best done in an X pattern) to ease the process as much as possible. The black floor pad things were a bit uneven, but we just put the felt pads from the packaging on them with a little dab of glue and now they are more even and slide nicely on the floor.

• How did the color on site compare with the actual product? Color as represented
• Please tell us about the quality of the product. Quality what I would expect from a 60ish dollar dining chair
• How accurate was the on site description of the product? Good description; Reviews were even more accurate on the details
• Would you recommend this to a friend? Yes