I’ve been working from home for awhile now and decided to maybe get a new chair as a Christmas present to myself. I’ve been using a cheap chair with wheels and get some back and butt aches. I figure I can get one to fix that. There are just so many styles and costs for chairs that I have no idea where to start! I had no idea you could spend over $1,000 on a chair! Any suggestions?
Everyone I know that has one really loves their bosu ball chair. If you google “bosu ball chair” it will give you plenty of options to consider. Other than that, find an office supply store that sells chairs and maybe has a few floor models you can test is all I can offer beyond “you generally get what you pay for.” The more you spend the better the chair.
I’d say you definitely want one with adjustable lumbar support
I agree-visit some chairs in stores that you can actually sit in.
Lumbar support is pretty important.
After a certain price point you are paying more for the brand. I’ve always done ok paying $100 or so, on sale at Office Depot or Staples. I’d keep my eye out for garage sales and auctions too. I bet lots of firms are going to be selling off great chairs at good prices because millions are now working from home. My son bought barely used $500+ high end chairs with a bazillion adjustments for less than $20 when our State University had their spring auction.
I got this chair from the Relax the Back store. It was $968, TTL. (I got the fabric seat.) I have sat in it for many hours per day since I bought it 2.5 years ago in May 2018. Over the years, I had made do with several chairs, including others’ cast-off office chairs. Decided to go Big. I’ve had no back problems since.
go to staples and try the chairs out.
Also you can always buy ergonomic cushions to put on your chair. I use a coccyx cushion and a lumbar support cushion. they make the chair much more comfortable.
good ergonomic cushions will make almost any chair more comfortable.
I never thought of just getting a good cushion. That’s a good idea.
I bought one of these, for about $400, on sale:
I like it because the seat is relatively flat, side to side, so I can sit cross-legged in it, as well as sitting in more conventional postures. I like to shift my position within the chair.
I agree that this is something worth trying before you buy. You don’t need a chair with a thousand adjustments, you just need a chair that fits you.
No matter how much you spend, it all comes down to how well a chair fits your specific back. Try them out in person. (or what puzzlegal just said)
Some years back we bought the same chairs as what we were using in the office. We already knew the chairs suited us, so there was no risk.
My only regret is that I just got boring black. My friend just ordered one in bright pink.
One of my coworkers got a gaming chair, and he finds it quite comfortable. Another one is still working at the kitchen table and complains often about his back. He’s about ready to buy a proper chair.
Rember the rule of thumb: Always spend money on what’s between you and the ground. Beds, shoes and chairs. You’re in the chair for 8 hours a day, so it’s worth getting something that will last.
I sought out this chair because my office had some in conference rooms, and I knew I liked it. And I knew I didn’t like the generally popular Herman Miller Aeron, which we also had in the office. Most people love that chair. And i hate it. Try before your buy.
I’ve purchased chairs both personally as well as managed an office where we replaced all the office furniture. At the time, I was forced to learn a lot about chairs and ergonomics.
The first thing that you really need to look at is your personal use. Specifically, how long will you be sitting in the chair every day? If you’re sitting in a chair for an hour a day, a basic $100 chair will last you forever. If you’re sitting in the chair +6 hours/day you’ll likely benefit from chair upgrades and spending more money
The next personal factor you need to look at is your body size and shape. Factoring in your height and weight consider your needs for:
- Adjustable arm heights (your shoulders should be at a normal comfort height when sitting, with you forearms parallel to the floor and at the height of your desk / keyboard when sitting)
- Hydraulics and the range of height to raise or lower the chair (Your thighs should be parallel to the floor when sitting.
- Is lumbar support helpful & required? Does a pillow suffice or do you need the chair to have a separate lumbar adjustment?
- Do you want or need neck support (usually a higher back chair or a cushion or adjustment). In my case, when I’m on long calls I like to lean back and rest my head. My wife on the other hand never does, she always sits forward in her seat. She’s never once used the neck support.
- Overall chair width, (depending on your “butt width”). Obviously, if you have a wide bottom, a wider chair will be more comfortable.
Aside from those personal factors, the quality factors built into the chair include:
- What is the internal frame made from? (wood vs steel)
- if steel, the thickness of the steel tubing and other components
- Is the internal steel frame welded or riveted together
- The quality of the hydraulics that adjust the chair height
- The casters (casters are rated by weight capacity)
- Fabric (thickness, durability and clean-ability)
- The density of the chair’s foam (denser foam will provide more support, especially if you’re heavy)
- Does the back tilt, if so how far back? Better quality chairs will allow you to tilt back further and still remain balanced, Chairs that allow you to tilt back more will usually have six legs on them versus four or five.
- Does the chair tilt allow you to lock into an intermediate position? Better quality chairs will allow you to lock in any position from a few degrees tilted back to full recline.
All that said, those differences will never be apparent if you’re only using the chair for only 1 or 2 hours a day. They’d be wasted on you if you spent a lot of money, but if you are using your chair for +6 hours a day, those comfort and quality differences will pay off in time.
Aside from what I mentioned above,
Do some research at places like Staples, Office Depot, Costco etc. (bearing in mind that big box retailers only carry a very limited selection of each manufacturers offerings). There are likely companies in your area that only specialize in office furniture, they will have the widest range of chair selection. You’ll probably pay more but if you are using the chair that much it is worth it.
Look at online reviews and definitely go to manufacturer’s websites. The best ones will give you an indication of their appropriate chair for someone of your height and weight and sitting duration.
If you can find chairs of the style you like, test them by sitting in an upright “normal sitting position” (for you personally), and see how long you can sit that way without having to physically move to become more comfortable (i.e.: how long does it take until you have to shift your hips or butt position to get comfortable again?)
Hopefully this helps you understand what to look for.
A cushion might help your butt but it won’t help your back. If you’re going to be sitting in it for many hours a day you need a good chair; the $100 to $200 chairs from Staples will start breaking down in a few months – the seat will go flat, the arms will break, the adjustments will stop working, etc.
If you are considering the $1000+ chairs, do take the time to find a way to actually sit in the ones you are thinking about. The Herman Miller Aeron is very popular but I hated it; it may be good for heavy people who sweat a lot but it was terrible for my scrawny butt and it was impossible to sit cross-legged comfortably.
If you don’t live near a place that carries the high-end chairs so you can try them I suggest looking through Craigslist or some used office equipment stores, where might find some to try as well as finding some good bargains. I bought my Steelcase Leap chair (the one they use in the NASA control center) for $300; been using it daily for many hours for 10 years now – it’s filthy crusty dirty but extremely comfortable. Hmm … just checked CL and found a dozen used ones locally for $150 each … maybe I’ll go get a new used one to clean up my space a bit.
So yeah, do yourself a favor and get a good chair … but don’t buy a model you haven’t personally sat in.
About where to buy one, once you have an idea of what you want: most cities have a commercial office furnishing company or companies. They are the company called when Corporation X wants to replace all their desks & chairs with new ones – the company takes their old ones in trade & sells them new ones. That company will have a warehouse in some industrial area, filled with used office furniture. Including hundred of office chairs. Most accept retail customers coming in, wandering about trying out chairs, and then bringing their selection to the city desk to pay (often cash-only).
You can get real bargains at such companies, especially if you look for functional chairs, and can look beyond cosmetic defects/dirt. I’ve got my last 2 office chairs that way, and paid less than $100 for each, and I know that these brands sold for several hundred dollars when new. Certainly worth looking for such bargains.
You can spend crazy amounts on a chair, but when I researched it years ago, the big factors seemed to be construction materials, and knowing how long you would be using it per day. With adjustable ergonomics, you can find something in any price range that will be comfortable for an hour or two - it’s using the same chair for extended periods that is tricky.
Along with all the advice about supporting your back,shoulders and neck, don’t forget a vital part of your body: your elbows.
(Well, actually only one elbow-- the one you use with your computer mouse.)
Make sure the chair has a long armrest that is fully adjustable, so you can keep it exactly level with the desktop, even if you change the height of the chair.
Keep your elbow on the armrest exactly the right height so that it is parallel with the desk, and there is zero strain on your wrist as you move the mouse…
oh…one more thing: get a chair wide enough in the seat that there is room to share it with the cat. 
I have an Aeron chair at my office but of course I haven’t been in my office since March. I used to sit in my home desk chair for about an seven hours a week, but after the pandemic started, that shot up to about 47 hours a week, and my already-aged chair started to rapidly deteriorate.
Knowing that the Aeron chair at my office worked very well for me, this summer I bought an Aeron chair for home. At $1500, I’m no doubt paying a bit extra for brand, but with the pandemic happening I didn’t want to spend time in stores sitting in chair after chair; I already had confidence that Aeron worked well for me, so I was willing to pay a premium for getting a result I could count on.
One unexpected benefit is that a mesh chair is much cooler. Never noticed at the office, since it’s always cool in there, but at home in the summer my workspace gets into the upper 70s; a mesh chair beats sitting on what was basically a giant insulating pillow.
TL,DR: look for a mesh chair. Also, I agree with adjustable lumbar support and good armrests.
Wide enough if the cat decides to share it with you, you mean. After s/he gets done playing in the cardboard box the chair came in.