Home office ergonomic upgrade

"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
11/28/2018 at 17:46 • Filed to: None

When I started working from home, I had a very nice desk setup—complete with keyboard tray!—with a chair that was basically a dining chair rather than something that you could sit i n all day. I’ve wanted something more comfy, but didn’t want to spend a bunch of money on it. Thus began too much chair shopping.

The old chair, for reference

My wife and I had different requirements for a desk chair. She wanted something that fit in with her overall decor vibe. I wanted something that I could plant myself in throughout the day, repeatedly, with comfort. I looked at all kinds of ergonomic style chairs, which I would show my wife, thinking, “hmm well this one isn’t too ugly,” only to be promptly vetoed.

(Oh, also, no leather, because we’re hippie vegans , maaaaaannnnnnnnnn .)

Over the Black Friday/Cyber Monday long weekend, Staples was running a sale on a bunch of chairs, including some fake leather ones that were lighter colored. My wife liked the looks of !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and it was on sale for $80.

Since there’s a Staples mere blocks from my house, we went there on Saturday to check out chairs, including this one. I sat in it, and promptly ixnayed it. It sucked. I don’t know why it has 4 star reviews on Staples.com with all these people loving it. The bottom cushion is not very cushion-y at all, and the back angle is too far back.

I sat in many other chairs and the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in the store that seemed alright from a comfort/price perspective was just blah looking. But it had lots of adjustment levers to get it comfy, which was cool.

But it wasn’t that comfy, and neither I nor my wife liked the looks of it. So I said screw it and didn’t buy anything. Then on Monday & Tuesday I kept working in the same wood dining chair and it was bugging my back a little bit.

I decided last night before I hit the gym to go back to Staples and put ass to chairs again, to maybe find something that I thought was comfy.

The only chair that I thought was really comfy and not $300+ was !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! that was $200.

The gray leather reminded me of a dentist’s chair, and I didn’t want to spend that much, and I didn’t want leather. So, back to the drawing board. I was ready to give up again, but then I noticed !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! chair on sale for $100, but there was no floor model to test, and 0 customer reviews on the Staples site.

But the other Staples brand ergonomic style mesh chairs were pretty decently comfy. I felt like this one was at least better looking than the other $100 black mesh option, with its chrome base and sleeker styling. So I said fuck it, I’m buying it and if I don’t like it I’ll take it back. I just barely was able to shove the box in the trunk of my car.

Today, I set the thing up, and lo and behold, it’s actually comfy! My wife doesn’t love the look of it, but she agreed it’s at least not as bad as some of the other technical mesh looking ones. I’ve been in it all day and I’m not sore or anything.

All in all, I’m happy with my new chair. Now I just need to get a nice big monitor so I don’t have to stare at my 13" laptop all day. But that’s a purchase that will wait for another time.

Also, the basement is feeling a bit drafty (HVAC guy is coming tomorrow to check out our furnace) so in the meantime I’ve been putting a little space heater in front of the back door that’s next to the desk. So of course, this happened...

DISCUSSION (14)

lone_liberal > Textured Soy Protein
11/28/2018 at 18:11

A good desk chair is vastly underrated. Back before laptops really became a thing and I used a desktop at home I got a good one from a used office furniture place for dirt cheap. I think I paid $50 for a chair that was originally $400 or something like that. At my current office I was able to snag an ergo mesh one when nobody was looking. It’s wonderful but there’s no way I’d spring for the $600 this thing cost out of my own pocket.

Textured Soy Protein > lone_liberal
11/28/2018 at 18:23

Since I work from home, sometimes I’ll go chill on a couch with the laptop for a while. Also, my cat Oliver who is in front of the space heater there, at least once per day demands that I move over to a couch so he can sung up next to my leg. He does this by standing up on his back feet and reaching up to my leg all cute like, “H ey, I’m down here on the floor! I can’t sit next to you when you’re up on that chair! Let’s go to the couch!”

lone_liberal > Textured Soy Protein
11/28/2018 at 18:29

Cats have this inherent need to make sure that nothing productive happens on a computer:

Kinja'd!!!

Textured Soy Protein > lone_liberal
11/28/2018 at 18:34

Sometimes I slide in the keyboard tray, pick him up and put him on my lap and keep working with the laptop keyboard.

The Dummy Gummy > Textured Soy Protein
11/28/2018 at 18:50

This is such a great post to see. Glad you got you won the battle and got your chair. Your back and knees will thank you.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Textured Soy Protein
11/28/2018 at 19:08

I use a standing desk at work. At home, I’m forced to use the dining table. It sucks. I’ve thought about building a wall-mounted hideaway standing desk.

Kinja'd!!!

I was spoiled by an Aeron chair before I started standing. It would be hard to go back to a regular chair. Yes, they are that comfortable. Now that I’m working on contract in Houston , I had to make due:

Kinja'd!!!

Yes, standing with a couple of boxes for a desk is more comfortable than a conference room table and the crappy chairs they provided.

Saracen > Textured Soy Protein
11/28/2018 at 20:14

Ms Saracen does not like my office chair and wants me to toss it...I said no way, it’s the best chair I’ve ever had.

A good comfy desk chair is a must. If you’re working from home and sitting in the thing all day, your comfort far outweighs her aesthetic preferences.

Future Heap Owner > Textured Soy Protein
11/28/2018 at 20:22

Dude, I am very happy to hear this! I have made the same upgrade from an old dining room chair to a real office chair (in my case $40 off CL) and it has been wonderful for my WFH productivity. Not to mention my butt.

FatherMcKenzie > Textured Soy Protein
11/28/2018 at 20:57

I have a very similar chair, it’s absolutely great. And daaaaamn, that’s a pretty legit home office setup!

Textured Soy Protein > FatherMcKenzie
11/29/2018 at 09:26

Thanks, all the decorating credit goes to my wife . My input consisted of “I want a desk with a hutch & keyboard tray,” and she went to town finding something that fit her vibe. Well, I did a fair amount of searching for things to show her, and I also put it together, but she’s the decision maker .

Textured Soy Protein > TheRealBicycleBuck
11/29/2018 at 09:27

Your stack of boxes is very emblematic of corporate America.

Textured Soy Protein > Saracen
11/29/2018 at 09:28

Thankfully this chair is halfway decent looking enough that my wife doesn’t hate it. She was on board with me getting a comfy chair but we had different ideas of what kind of office chair was acceptable-looking.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Textured Soy Protein
11/29/2018 at 09:32

I plan to start a Kickstarter and become my own corporate shill. My key differentiator will be the ease of assembly. Just receive the boxes, then stack as required. Send me some measurements and I’ll send the appropriate pairing to match your requirements.

I’ll make millions.

Textured Soy Protein > The Dummy Gummy
11/29/2018 at 10:33

It wasn’t a battle so much as I made my preference clear and allowed her to provide input on the aesthetics. She vetoed a lot of chairs I showed her pics of before I impulse bought this one. Her reaction was a mix of “ick, black?” and “well it does look better than some of those other black mesh ones.”