Proper office-swivel-chairs

• Feb 9, 2016

• #1

Trenchfriend

Messages

12,474

Location

Germany

Today, I bought a new desk-chair, because, after six years, my similar middle-classed massmarket-desk-chair had to be substituted, finally.
It's my fourth of these middle-classed (above 150 Euro) desk-chairs and their padding always lasted circa five years, +/- a half year. You can bypass with a pillow or whatever, until the new buy, but that will be ok for maximum a year.

I prefer the often called "boss-chairs", rather than the simple chairs. But this time, I'm surprised and happy, that the seating-surface of the new chair is even longer and really reaching my knees, what is very unusual for these massmarket-chairs!

As a car-driver, you just know this first important thing of the seating-surface.

And the whole quality seems a half class above my o.k.-old chair. See:


I think, there will be again nice 5 or 6 years with the new one, until the padding is over.

 

Last edited: Feb 14, 2016

• Feb 9, 2016

• #2

Edward

Bartender

Messages

24,789

Location

London, UK

I'm curently renovating my flat, redecorating in a style more sympathetic to its architecture (originally built right at the start of the fifties, and opened in 1951). This is one thing that seems to be harder to find in an older style, though I did see a pretty cool one once that was made from the pilot's seat from a Sabrejet...

 

• Feb 9, 2016

• #3

HudsonHawk

I'll Lock Up

Messages

4,381

Location

Heaven for men and dogs, Hell for women and horses

We have very fancy "ergonomic" chairs at the office. They cost like $1,200. Then again, I've had mine for over 10 years, and it's still perfect, so there's no denying the quality, even if you don't buy into the advertised benefit.

 

• Feb 9, 2016

• #4

tonyb

Messages

10,603

Location

My mother's basement

As with most furniture, I'd recommend buying a high-quality secondhand (or third- or fourthhand) piece over a lesser item new.

After all, as soon as you bring a new chair home and plop your rump down on it, it is a used chair.

Some "iconic" office chairs (think Eames) have been in constant production for, like, 50 years or more. Sure, they're modern, and not everyone's cup of tea. But they look as fresh as tomorrow, and the "real" ones (as contrasted with the knockoffs, of which there are many) are exceptionally well made. If I were outfitting an office, I'd go in search of some used ones.

 

• Feb 9, 2016

• #5

F

F. J.

One of the Regulars

Messages

221

Location

The Magnolia State

When I read the title, “Proper office-swivel-chairs,” the image that popped in to my head was something like this:

Anyway, my favourite chair is a (non-swivel) sturdy wooden office chair I picked up at a local antique store. According to the label, it is a “Douglas Chair” made by the Marietta Chair Company of Marietta, Ohio. The only thing I’ve been able to find out about its age is that the company closed its doors in September of 1936.

 

• Feb 10, 2016

• #6

HoosierDaddy

Messages

15,563

Location

East Central Indiana

One of the Christmas presents from the Wife this year. Comfy

 

• Feb 10, 2016

• #7

tonyb

Messages

10,603

Location

My mother's basement

You know you ain't a kid anymore when what you want from Santa Claus is a comfortable chair.

 

• Feb 10, 2016

• #8

S

Stearmen

I'll Lock Up

Messages

7,202

Doesn't get much more regale then this office chair! It currently resides at Goodwood house in England. It's former owner was, Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. By all accounts, it is a comfortable chair.

 

• Feb 10, 2016

• #9

Fading Fast

Messages

16,871

Location

New York City

F. J. said:

When I read the title, “Proper office-swivel-chairs,” the image that popped in to my head was something like this:

Anyway, my favourite chair is a (non-swivel) sturdy wooden office chair I picked up at a local antique store. According to the label, it is a “Douglas Chair” made by the Marietta Chair Company of Marietta, Ohio. The only thing I’ve been able to find out about its age is that the company closed its doors in September of 1936.

Click to expand...

I love those chairs and that desk and those bookcases. Currently looking for an affordable version of the chair to go with this desk I picked up off of Ebay:

 

• Feb 10, 2016

• #10

HudsonHawk

I'll Lock Up

Messages

4,381

Location

Heaven for men and dogs, Hell for women and horses

tonyb said:

You know you ain't a kid anymore when what you want from Santa Claus is a comfortable chair.

Click to expand...

Or the peanut brittle. That's a pretty good haul right there.

 

• Feb 10, 2016

• #11

HudsonHawk

I'll Lock Up

Messages

4,381

Location

Heaven for men and dogs, Hell for women and horses

Fading Fast said:

I love those chairs and that desk and those bookcases. Currently looking for an affordable version of the chair to go with this desk I picked up off of Ebay:

Click to expand...

I think you should go with this one. The more cowhide, the better:

 

• Feb 10, 2016

• #12

Fading Fast

Messages

16,871

Location

New York City

^^^ While I appreciate the thought, it would so overwhelm my small at-home office. But that is definitely one impressive chair.

 

• Feb 10, 2016

• #13

Trenchfriend

Messages

12,474

Location

Germany

Day two, with my new chair and I'm still happy.

 

• Feb 11, 2016

• #14

LizzieMaine

Bartender

Messages

33,055

Location

Where The Tourists Meet The Sea

Found mine at the dump, a late-forties vintage metal-framed leatherette office chair with a four-caster base. Had a property tag on it indicating it used to belong to the county, and it had been discarded because the clamp holding one of the wheels in place had cracked its mounting loose from the base assembly. I hammered a nickel into a curved shape, slipped it up behind the clamp to reinforce the broken part, and tightened it all into place. Total cost of chair and repair, $0.05. Been sitting in it for eight years now with no complaints.

 

• Feb 11, 2016

• #15

HudsonHawk

I'll Lock Up

Messages

4,381

Location

Heaven for men and dogs, Hell for women and horses

Fading Fast said:

^^^ While I appreciate the thought, it would so overwhelm my small at-home office. But that is definitely one impressive chair.

Click to expand...

Probably a good call. I think that chair is about $12,000.

 

• Feb 11, 2016

• #16

tonyb

Messages

10,603

Location

My mother's basement

^^^^^^^^
Late '40s? That's a bit too newfangled, ain't it?

 

• Feb 11, 2016

• #17

LizzieMaine

Bartender

Messages

33,055

Location

Where The Tourists Meet The Sea

When you select your office furnishings from the dump you got to take what you can find. It's a design that was pretty standard for a long time -- the manufacturer's tag suggests early postwar, but it the design was around prewar. So what the Vintage Patrol don't know won't hurt them.

It's a pretty sturdy piece of furniture regardless -- the base is a huge piece of cast aluminum, and the frame and arms are steel tubing. The leatherette seat has a gash in it, due to my habit of sitting with my feet folded under my thighs, the better to provide a stable lap for the cat, but it's nothing a strip of duct tape won't fix if I ever get around to it.

 

• Feb 11, 2016

• #18

tonyb

Messages

10,603

Location

My mother's basement

Pretty sure I've sat on that chair's littermate a time or three.

 

• Feb 11, 2016

• #19

2jakes

I'll Lock Up

Messages

9,680

Location

Alamo Heights ☀️ Texas

My old swivel chair from Bedford, Ohio.

From an old radio station building. Paid $25.
The petrified chewing gum under the seat came
at no extra charge.

 

Last edited: Feb 11, 2016

• Feb 11, 2016

• #20

Trenchfriend

Messages

12,474

Location

Germany

If I ever will buy a new desk in my life and dispose the old from 2001, I would definetely buy a classic one, without printer-shelf, to roll and sit under it, correctly.