*This is a collaborative post with Apres Furniture Ltd
Bear with me. This post might not go exactly where you think.
I’ve realised that over the years I’ve spent a lot of time on office chairs but rarely given them any thought. They’re just there aren’t they? And if I asked you to describe an office chair, we’d all most likely have quite a similar description: high back, wheels, adjustable and a ‘functional’ and often dull colour. Was I right?
I am sure that someone thinks about office chairs in every organisation, some organisations more than others I suspect. I’ve worked in offices where new chairs were part of the refurbishment, where in the 80s chairs were colour coded (I kid you not). I can’t remember if it was red for supervisors, or blue, nor can I remember who could sit on the green ones, the enduring memory is the significance of the colour! I’ve also worked in offices where the chairs are, shall we say, past their best and offices where there’s a mixture of styles and it’s a bit like a cinderella test to get one that works for you.
But given that more of us have home offices, or at least a space to use when we work from home, then we too need to think about our ‘office’ chairs too. Even if our office is a desk in the corner of our living space or bedroom, the kitchen table or a home office. And I suspect for our home office spaces we’re looking for something more stylish than the office chairs of our imagination.
And really, comfort and practicality doesn’t have to come at the expense of style.
But here’s the thing, office chairs are no longer just the functional type we have in our mind’s eye.
They can be stylish too, and that means their use can be wider reaching too. Break the boundaries of your mind and think about these chairs as alternatives to dining chairs or for those that are more durable use in the garden. Or perhaps having some extra chairs because you host the most fabulous family gatherings and want a more cohesive look, then consider some of the designs of stacking chairs instead.
So next time you sit down on your office chair, at home and at work, really think about if your chair is delivering what it should be, and what you can do about it if it isn’t. I know I spend a lot of time in an office or in front of a pc, and really, everyone deserves something that’s more than just ‘functional’.
* This post is in collaboration with Apres Furniture Ltd.
