# What makes a chair good for a home office?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-chair-good-for-a-home-office/217608>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 7, 2003, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-chair-good-for-a-home-office/217608 "2003-12-07T20:59:12Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\
**Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-chair-good-for-a-home-office/217608/1 "2003-12-07T20:59:12Z")

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I’ve been working at home for about a year. I spend long hours at the computer and on the phone. My arms hurt, my butt’s sore and I think my posture is getting worse. Help me.

What should I look for in a good chair? Are those funky-looking “ergonomic” chairs really any better than conventional “task chairs”? Am I going to feel better sitting on a $200 chair than I would on a $50 chair?

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**Author:** ![Indefatigable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9d8465/32.png) [@Indefatigable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indefatigable)\
**Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-chair-good-for-a-home-office/217608/2 "2003-12-07T21:01:57Z")

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We got one of those funky chairs that has no back support but does have a knee rest. It’s good, but we figured out that the best thing for reducing sore joints and stuff is to alternate chairs. We’d have that chair at the computer for a week and then put a different chair there for a week. The aches and pains that come from computer use are from _repetitive_ strain, so it makes sense that changing chairs would help the problem.

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**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\
**Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-chair-good-for-a-home-office/217608/3 "2003-12-07T21:10:45Z")

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I use what was described on the box as a high-backed executive chair. It swivels, rolls and has armrests. Quite comfy, and identical to the one I have at work. It cost ~$130, IIRC.

Beats the heck out of the $29 “typist’s chair” that gradually crumbled beneath me.

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**Author:** ![brianmelendez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/65b543/32.png) [@brianmelendez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianmelendez)\
**Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-chair-good-for-a-home-office/217608/4 "2003-12-07T21:17:25Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Ringo \*  
> **I use what was described on the box as a high-backed executive chair. It swivels, rolls and has armrests. Quite comfy, and identical to the one I have at work. It cost ~$130, IIRC.**

I took the same approach as **Ringo**. I liked mine so much that I bought an identical one for my office, and got rid of the one that my firm supplied. I have been using them both, very comfortably, for about seven years.