Chair me!

October 25, 2010 7:59 PM

What would you recommend as an office/desk chair for a small room?

I'm reorganizing my small room in a small apartment, and I'm trying to maximize my space. I'm open to any suggestions, but especially: folding office/desk chairs (do these exist?), elegantly minimal chairs, and chairs that would be short enough to slide all the way under a normal-height desk.

I'm willing to spend money, but inexpensive options are awesome.

I won't usually sit on this chair for more than 2 or 3 hours at a time.

Thanks in advance!

posted by hapticactionnetwork to Shopping (8 answers total)

Have you considered a yoga ball? I use mine to sit on when I'm gaming for long periods of time. Plus, you get to bounce.
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 8:20 PM on October 25, 2010

Maybe one of those kneeling-type chairs? they don't take a lot of room. Or any backless stool will do.
posted by brainmouse at 8:37 PM on October 25, 2010

The Ikea Jules chair is unbelievably comfortable, low profile, and cheap (often available on Craigslist, too).

My parents bought me one in high school, and my dad liked it so much he replaced his fancy leather home office chair with one.
posted by charmcityblues at 9:28 PM on October 25, 2010 [1 favorite]

One-piece school desks with the desk bit removed. My high school had some desks with fantastic chairs -- simple, attractive, durable, compact, and made out of chromed steel tubing and this super-tough, super-dense, super-hard resin-like material that was unbelievably comfortable. The design of the frame was flawed, though, and one particular tube that helped attach the desk to the chair broke frequently. The maintenance guys at the school would take a hacksaw and metal file to the broken desks and turn them into awesome cafeteria chairs.

Not all schools have such a resourceful maintenance team: The local middle school and community colleges just chuck broken desks (of an undesirable design, unfortunately) into the dumpster, even if the chairs aren't broken. YMMV, of course, and don't break any laws.
posted by clorox at 10:15 PM on October 25, 2010

Not sure if this fits your bill, but I just picked up a bungee chair from CB2 for my office and I really like it-- it's not very big (it's fitting very well within a 48" square space and easily under a regular desk), and the fact that it's made with the bungees makes it more minimalistic/feel like it takes up less space than it does.
posted by actionpact at 12:00 AM on October 26, 2010

Agreed about the kneeling chair - I have one (looks like this) and it just slides under my desk when I'm not using it.
posted by bent back tulips at 3:33 AM on October 26, 2010

I use a short (18", I think) saddleback (bar)stool. Short enough that my feet can be flat on the floor if I want, definitely fits under a desk, forces me to have better posture and stop destroying my spine. Something like this, although I've also seen them at target and I got mine from my local unfinished wood furniture place for all of $20.
posted by dorque at 4:25 AM on October 26, 2010

I use a very simple, very cheap chair from IKEA and I love it. If you want more comfort, buy or make a pad for your butt. I much prefer this to a bulky office chair, both in terms of saving space and looking nice.
posted by particular at 8:08 AM on October 27, 2010