Seeking counter-height office chair; must be from Amazon.

February 22, 2021 7:59 PM

A job is covering a good amount of the cost of a very fancy counter-height office chair, but due to some mixups it won't be arriving for quite a while. In the meantime, they've instructed me to pick out a counter-height chair from Amazon, and they'll pay to have it shipped out to me. This is so generous of them, but I'm having trouble navigating Amazon's vast wasteland of choices with varying and difficult to determine quality levels. Any advice?

I'm assuming I should be modest in accepting their offer here, and not seek out top of the line chairs on Amazon (if they exist there). Maybe I should even be picking out a notably cheap chair. Since presumably I'll be getting the very fancy chair eventually, I'm in the unusual position of not caring if this one doesn't hold up for very long, but since I'll be sitting in this one for upwards of 10-12 hours/day for at least a few weeks, I'd want to make sure it's comfortable enough and won't hurt my back too much.

The seat height I need is somewhere between 25" and 29" but I'm not sure of the exact number.

Any advice or -- even better -- direct recommendations?

posted by nobody to Shopping (5 answers total)

I had a chair like what you're looking for at my old job, but we got it from Staples. The search term you want to use is "drafting chair". Mine was like this: https://www.amazon.com/Boss-Office-Products-B1617-BK-Ergonomic/dp/B002FL3LVC/ref=cs_sr_dp_2?crid=23COOLVJGHVUY&dchild=1&keywords=drafting+chair&qid=1614053527&sprefix=drafting+%2Caps%2C159&sr=8-3. I liked it, for what it was.
posted by DEiBnL13 at 8:16 PM on February 22, 2021 [2 favorites]

I bought this Uplift chair at the beginning of the pandemic and really like it. It's let me keep my adjustable desk at full height and easily switch between standing and sitting. I find I stand a lot more than I did at the office because of that. The tilt and bounce is subtle but doable if you want to fidget, but it's not wobbly at rest. I'm 5' 11" and 230 pounds.
posted by advicepig at 6:26 AM on February 23, 2021 [1 favorite]

My partner and I have the same drafting chair from Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0728HM239/ I'm petite, my partner's a medium-sized dude. I like that the arms can flip up and out of the way. Assembly and use are pretty straightforward, although a year in it creaks a lot when I lean back. I don't know that I'd necessarily recommend this one for 10-12 hours a day - my workday is closer to 8 hours, it's generally comfortable for that time, but some days I notice cricks in my neck/shoulder that didn't happen when I was still in the office.

If it helps your search, the big difference between my office-office chair and my home-office chair is a mesh seat. Both have mesh backs, which is nice, but for long-term sitting I think mesh seats are a little easier on the body. I didn't get one for home because a lot of Amazon reviews complained about the mesh wearing out over time, but your real chair might arrive before that happens.
posted by Fish, fish, are you doing your duty? at 9:03 AM on February 23, 2021 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks, all! Having three specific options to pick from for this was exactly what I needed to cut through the infinite-possibilities-and-infinite-reviews decision paralysis. Thanks again!
posted by nobody at 2:43 PM on February 23, 2021

I'm a big fan of these Laura Davidson chairs. If you get the soft pad chair, I recommend paying a bit extra for a fabric one instead of the vegan leather. The vegan leather doesn't breathe well. Not really an issue with the thinner ribbed model.
posted by TrialByMedia at 3:41 PM on February 23, 2021 [1 favorite]