Truly M&P: furniture shopping musings

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

WARNING: a lot of text for something only relevant to me follows.

So I decided I wanted a chair. I have an office chair for my desk, dining room set chairs, and a folding chair for the porch, but nothing I could just sit and read in (well, I could on the couch, obviously, but it’s in front of the TV, and somehow it just feels wrong for some activities).

So I went to Ikea, which is both cheap and convenient, and got a comfy chair. Only when I assembled it did I realize something: I neglected to sit in it doing the activities I wanted to do. The back is naturally inclined, which means that if something is below a certain level in front of me, I’d have to crane my neck a bit. Reading is fine… As long as the book is relatively light. Net surfing on my iPad is a bit more of a strain, since it’s heavier.

So I went back to Ikea and tested out other chairs. I came to the conclusion that the only one that was better for what I wanted to do was a recliner. But it’s also twice the cost of what I already have. Is the extra “perfection” worthy of another $150? That is the question.

There are things I can do in this current chair to reduce the amount of time I have to crane my neck, but obviously it’s effort, and I’d prefer not to go to effort to relax. I could do my net surfing on the couch, of course, that’s no big deal, but I’d love to be able to do as much as I can on my new chair. It’s nice for napping, and, as I said, at the least okay for reading. Again, there are adjustments I could make with my body to help, like hiking my legs up on the footrest as a stand for the book/iPad, but again, effort is effort, and the whole purpose of this purchase was to relax more.

Not 100% sure what I’m going to end up doing (I have 88 days or so to decide whether I want to keep this chair), but right now, I’m kinda inclined to go with what I have, because I’m cheap, and I don’t know that the added cost is worth the extra effort and “perfection of use”. But maybe the next few weeks, and having to put my thoughts into words other people would be able to understand, will help. Hopefully so!

2

I’d be inclined to go for the third option - take the chair back and read on the couch in front of the turned-off TV, since I already have “not quite perfect” at home. But I’m even cheaper than you, it seems. :0)

3

Would putting a pillow behind your head remove the strain on your neck? Certainly cheap and easy enough to try…

4

See, that’s the thing: if I were inclined to do that already, I would’ve done it (more) by now! Otherwise, yes, I definitely would have taken that option! That’s what convinced me to go on this merry path in the first place, because I was musing on that very thing before the shopping commenced.

Good idea! I’ll try that.