Pull open a chair

FOLDING chairs have always been somewhat ugly ducklings. More functional than fashionable, they are the seating plan for latecomers and unexpected guests. Now available in a variety of styles -- espresso-bar chic, South American plantation and Scandinavian modern -- there’s a chair for today’s every indoor and outdoor need. Taking its design cues from a traditional German bistro chair, the all-weather Grenen teak and steel folding arm chair featured on F1 ($445, at Oceana Teak in Del Mar, Calif., [858] 350-8325) is part of the new generation of handsomely designed folding chairs that can lead useful lives out of the closet.