I am looking to buy a nice home office chair- comfortable and sleek

June 21, 2016 4:38 PM

Greetings HiveMind: I am looking to buy a nice home office chair and I do not know where to start. This office chair will be on wood floor- just in case you need that information. What is most important to me is a chair that is comfortable- that will offer good support for my back and bottom.

I also would like a chair that is nice looking. I am not looking to pay more than $175.
Here is the look I like:

Thanks!
I always love getting great tips and feedback from Metafilter folks :)

posted by TRUELOTUS to Home & Garden (5 answers total)

You are going to have a tough time finding a quality ergonomic office chair on that budget. For $175 you're looking at used items on Craigslist or junky Costco/Staples models.

For $500 to $700 you can get something pretty nice.
posted by killdevil at 4:47 PM on June 21, 2016

Agreed that you're not going to get a truly nice chair at that price, but you can certainly get something you can stand to sit in. I had a perfectly comfortable Staples chair - the recycled leather started disintegrating almost immediately, but that didn't make it uncomfortable. My current chair is IKEA - I went, sat in everything they had, and picked one that seemed to work. Is my gf's $2000 Relax the Back custom-made chair better for her than mine is for me? Yes, totally. Will I *ever in my life* be willing to spend that much on a chair? No, no I won't. Therefore, IKEA.
posted by restless_nomad at 4:54 PM on June 21, 2016 [2 favorites]

Oh you can totally find that model on Craigs. I saw one last week for under $100. Set up an alert with keywords and have it emailed to you... when you see your match, pounce on it! Be patient, might take a couple weeks.

Also... moving sales? Estate sales? Vintage or thrift shops? Ask around on social media!
posted by fritillary at 4:57 PM on June 21, 2016

I've had a very similar chair at work – white, similar shape, chrome arm loops – and I never felt like it fit me correctly. It was aesthetically nice and minimal, but I immediately switched to a different chair when I got the chance. I agree with jamaro that having adjustable features is great because you're not locked into one geometry and that flexibility allows you to maximize your comfort. I've had sciatica and other fun back issues, so ergonomics has become more important to me.

If you don't want to go the Craigslist route, you can also try eBay for refurbished models of nicer chairs (I did this recently and got a used but like-new Steelcase Leap – I did pay almost twice your budget, but these chairs are ~$920 new, so I'm pretty happy).

That said, there's also a lot of white office chairs on Amazon under $100 that seem really similar to your link.
posted by dire at 6:07 PM on June 21, 2016

Response by poster: Hi All- So I was thinking more Amazon, Ikea and Staples. Any ideas on models? Thanks!
posted by TRUELOTUS at 9:36 AM on June 22, 2016