Parts of a Chair Diagram – 11 Labeled Parts, Crest to Foot

All 11 parts on the diagram

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Start here: 6 main parts 6

Seat The flat part you sit on, carried by the seat rails.
Leg Holds the chair up; the back legs carry on up as stiles.
Splat The central upright board of the chair back.
Crest rail The topmost rail of the back, across the stiles.
Stile An outside upright of the back; the back leg carried up.
Armrest Supports your elbow and forearm; an armchair has two.

The back 2

Shoe Sits on the rear seat rail and holds the splat’s foot.
Ear An end of the crest rail standing out past a stile.

Seat, arms and legs 3

Seat rail A rail between the legs that carries the seat.
Stretcher Joins the legs low down; this one is H-shaped.
Foot The bottom end of a leg, here a square pad.

How this list was compiled: Read 2026-09-24. (1) A furniture maker's glossary of furniture terms, https://philafurniture.com/glossary-of-furniture-terms : crest rail, the top horizontal piece of a seat back; ears, corners reaching past where crest rail and stiles meet; stiles, the outer uprights framing the back; splat, the upright piece in the middle that is the chair's backrest; shoe, the section covering the join of rear seat rail and splat, which supports the splat; seat rail; stretcher, a crosspiece joining the legs, often shaped as an H or X; armrest; feet. (2) A prop maker's parts of a chair, https://www.props.eric-hart.com/resources/parts-of-a-chair/ : apron or seat rail, arm or armrest, arm support, cresting rail or top rail, ear, foot, leg, seat, shoe, splat, stile, stretcher (a museum's school chair-parts sheet uses the same list, https://pressroom.winterthur.org/pdfs/AmericanDecorativeArts_PreVisitChairParts.pdf ). (3) Wikipedia, Chair, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chair : legs, a seat and a back-rest; an armchair has armrests. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site by script, 2026-09-24. Licence: own work

How it works

A wooden chair is a seat on four legs, joined under the seat by seat rails and lower down by stretchers. The back is two stiles, the back legs carried up, with a crest rail across the top.

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Parts of a wooden chair back

The splat is the centre board of the back. It stands on a shoe, a small block on the rear seat rail, and meets the crest rail at the top. Where the crest rail runs past the stiles, its ends are the ears.

Rails and stretchers

Seat rails, together called the apron, run between the legs just under the seat and carry it. Stretchers join the legs lower down: this chair has an H-stretcher, one along each side and one across the middle.

Questions and answers

What are the parts of a chair called?

A chair has a seat, legs ending in feet, and a back. Seat rails and stretchers join the legs. The back has a stile at each side, a crest rail on top and often a splat in the middle; an armchair adds armrests.

What is the top of a chair back called?

The crest rail, also called the top rail or cresting rail: the topmost rail of the back, running across the stiles. Where its ends stand out past the stiles, they are called ears.

What is the part of a chair you sit on called?

The seat. Seat rails carry it, and the legs hold it up. The upright board your back rests against is the splat, here shaped like a vase.