How to Choose a Home Office Chair That Looks Like Furniture

A desk chair in an office is chosen by someone else and lives among forty others. A desk chair at home sits in a spare room, on a landing, or in the corner of the living room, and you have to look at it every day. That changes what matters. Comfort still comes first, but the chair also has to be something you would have bought for the room even if you did not need a desk.

Here is how to get both.

Get the sitting position right first

This is the only part of choosing an office chair that has a wrong answer, so start here.

Sit with your feet flat on the floor and your knees at about a right angle. That sets the seat height. Then put your hands on the desk: your forearms should sit level with the desktop without your shoulders rising to get there. If your legs are right and your arms are wrong, the desk is the wrong height, and it is easier and more comfortable to change the desk than to compromise the chair.

Two things follow from this. If you are the only person who uses the desk, a fixed height chair that fits you is perfectly good, and it will look better than an adjustable one because the gas lift mechanism is what makes a chair look like it was bought from an office supplier. If the desk is shared, or unusually tall or short, adjustable is worth the look. Our Aero mesh chairs are the adjustable ones in the range.

Mesh or upholstered

Mesh breathes. If you sit for eight hours in a warm room, that matters more than anything else about the chair. It also looks like a workspace, which is fine if the room is one.

Upholstered looks like furniture. Velvet, boucle, faux leather and rattan all read as a chair rather than as equipment, which is why they suit a chair that is on show. The Denton, the Sterling chesterfield and the Nash rattan back are all built this way.

Neither is more comfortable as a rule. Comfort comes from the shape of the seat and the back, not the covering, so sit on the shape you like and then choose the finish for the room.

Arms, or no arms

Arms take the weight of your shoulders during a long day, and most people who work at a desk for hours are better with them. They also stop the chair tucking under a desk with a low apron, which is the one practical reason to go without. Measure the underside of the desk before you order an armchair.

Chairs with a lower, sculpted arm like the Orion tuck under most desks. Chairs with a full upholstered arm may not.

The base

A five-point swivel base is the standard for a reason: it does not tip when you lean and it lets you turn without dragging the chair. On carpet it rolls a little less freely, which is usually welcome. On a hard floor, check the castors are the soft kind, or put down a mat, because hard castors on oak will leave their mark over a year.

Chrome bases are the most office-like. Black bases disappear. Wooden or walnut-finish bases are what make a chair look like it belongs in a living room, which is why so much of our range uses them.

Matching the chair to the room

A few pairings that work, from the range we actually stock:

• Living room corner. Something with a wooden shell or wooden legs, in a fabric that matches or gently contrasts the sofa. The Orion in walnut and black, or the Nash in tan with its rattan back.
• Spare room that is now an office. Here comfort can lead. The Aero mesh in a colour you like, or the Denton if you want vintage rather than technical.
• Bedroom desk. Quiet and low. The Orion in white or mint, or one of the Ornix upholstered chairs.
• A room with a strong scheme. The Sterling chesterfield in grey velvet holds its own against a dark wall.

Find yours

Every chair arrives flat with the base and seat as separate parts, and goes together in ten to fifteen minutes. Free UK delivery and 30-day returns.

Browse the office chairs. If the chair is for a small business rather than a home, our guide to furnishing restaurants, cafés and small offices covers ordering in numbers.