The Home Office Desk Chairs

Think about every piece of furniture in your house and ask yourself which one you sit in the most. Is it a recliner? A sofa? Your bed? Well, if you work from home, it very well might be your desk chair. There is an adage advising not to skimp in quality on anything that connects you to the ground, meaning your shoes, tires, and bed. For the person spending at least 40 hours a week working at their desk, that same logic applies to their desk chair.

Knowing what to look for in a high-quality desk chair is a great place to start, and Kelly and Nick Niesen of Madison Liquidators have some great tips for buyers of all budgets and needs. The first question is always going to be who is using this chair? Is it one person? The whole family? As nice as having the world’s most adjustable chair might be, what’s more of a burden is having to recalibrate the settings every time a new user hops on.

Kelly says, “Nick is six foot four and I’m five foot five. If he and I have to share a chair, we need to find something that’s a comfortable medium for both of us.” Think chairs in a conference room. These chairs are meant to be comfortable for a range of users and often have minimal adjustments. “My chair that I use at the office is a conference room chair because I find it to be one of the most comfortable chairs. It’s easy; I don’t have to mess with it.”

If you’re shopping on a budget, a conference chair can also be ideal because the general rule is the more moving parts, the more expensive the chair. In fact, Kelly and Nick stress that if you are going to be purchasing a chair on the less expensive end, just aim for something with less mechanicals so you don’t sacrifice quality.

“The mechanisms themselves on a lot of cheaper chairs will be made out of plastic, and those pieces tend to break pretty quickly,” says Kelly. “The higher-quality chairs are going to have metal components or a mix of metal and plastic, and the overall assembly will just be a higher quality made to last longer.” Ever sit on a chair that just slowly sinks to the ground when you are on it or one with a seat lock that fails and you almost fall over backwards? How many years do you really want to deal with that?

Odds are a chair with low-quality components also has a low-quality seat. Kelly says, “The cheaper chairs will wear much more quickly and stain much more easily. The higher-end chairs are made with commercial-level fabric, which a lot of times is going to be a synthetic material that wipes off easily, so it is a lot easier to clean. And then the foam in the seats, some of them will just be a piece of foam stuck in there, whereas some of the higher-end chairs are going to be an injection molded foam, so it’s formed to be a specific shape.”

Now, what should someone who wants a chair that can last 30 years be looking for? Kelly and Nick both suggest starting with the warranty. Many chairs from big box stores come with a one-year warranty or less, and they are often voided by conditions that seem like regular use. Compare that to a good chair with a 10-year warranty or a great chair with a 20-year warranty, and the difference is clear. Yes, you are spending more money upfront, but you are also investing in a chair with the potential to last 30 years or more.

The benefits of buying the right chair for your body extend to your quality of life. When done right, being able to adjust armrest height, depth, and width; the tilt and tension of the back of the chair; and the seat pan’s tilt, tension, and position relative to the back of the chair all equate to a more natural sitting position with a reduced risk of developing carpal tunnel and other chronic conditions associated with prolonged uncomfortable use.

For a lot of chair buyers, the decision is going to come down to cost. Nick and Kelly recommend people who sit at their desk at least 10 hours a week should budget around $300 for a good chair and $1,300 for a great chair. Nick says, “You have to be careful spending sub $200. You don’t know what you’re getting all the time.”

If you’re in the market for a desk chair, go to a store with a showroom and sit in as many chairs as possible. Ask a lot of questions. Go into it with the mindset that you are choosing not replace your chair every two or three years. Nick says, “Ultimately, you have to buy the right chair for you. It should not be something that gives you anxiety; it should make you comfortable. It should be comfortable to sit in and a comfortable purchase.”

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Madison Liquidators

2224 Pleasant View Road, Suite 6
Middleton, WI 53562
608.831.1012
madisonliquidators.com