Office chair buying guide

Find the perfect chair to support you while you work with this handy introductory guide.

Ergonomic office chairs are designed to support your body in comfortable and healthy positions for desk work – and reduce your risk of musculoskeletal pain.

This is a quick summary! More detailed advice is available if you'd like it.

Image showing RH Mereo ergonomic office chairs around an office desk Shop Now

What's most important to you when choosing your new office chair?

You'll want a good all-rounder for your office chair in terms of support, features, quality and price.

Here's some tips on key deciding factors:

Support for your back and your whole body in a good position

A good ergonomic office chair adjusted correctly helps prevent pain in your back, legs and hips.

The chair features you'll need to help prevent pain include a sturdy 5-star base and seat height and back adjustability as a minimum - but look for further adjustments and more sophisticated back-friendly features on top of these.

For example, look for an independent back and seat mechanism with tension adjustment, a seat slide to alter the seat depth and an in-built inflatable lumbar cushion to give you tailored support wherever your body needs it. Your 'lumbar' region is your lower back. We want the lumbar support on the backrest of your chair to fit into the lumbar curve of your back. The Homeworker Plus Ergonomic Chair has all these features, for example.

A good office chair should provide supported movement, is flexible enough to fit your physical dimensions and will support you in a variety of postures. Choose from high back, medium back and low back chair options.

It's wise to buy your office chair from a good ergonomic specialist retailer since Posturite give your support and comfort such importance when selecting their chair range.

Office chair adjustability

Choose an office chair that can be adjusted quickly and easily to suit your individual height, weight and shape. We vary in the length of our limbs as well as our overall height! Avoid chairs which offer only very basic adjustments such as moving up and down only, and instead consider an office chair that's fully adjustable for seat height, back angle, back height, seat slide (for upper leg support) and lumbar (lower back) support.

See our guide 'Why do ergonomic chairs have so many adjustments?'.

If your seat depth is too short for you, this reduces support and can create pressure points on the back of the legs. If the chair's seat depth it's too long, it may mean that you can't sit back into the chair properly or you get pressure behind the knees.

To benefit from 'active sitting' choose a chair with a movement mechanism – you can lock it in place and unlock it to enjoy supported movement. More about active sitting is here.

If you opt for armrests (and that's not essential), choose a chair with height-adjustable armrests.

Office chair quality and durability

An ergonomic 'task' chair should withstand frequent use and last you for years. Numerous Posturite reviews rave about the quality look and feel of our chairs which is down to sturdy materials and good design.

For peace of mind, the Homeworker range from Posturite has a generous 5 year warranty on structural parts and 2 year warranty on moving parts and fabric, and many RH Logic and HÅG office chairs even come with 10 year warranties. Another benefit of buying from Posturite is that spare parts are sold for certain models, should you need them years down the line.

Buying for business? Head to Posturite for Business

Suitability for working from home

An office chair for homeworking usually needs the same features as a chair for use in the workplace, if you do the same tasks and for the same duration. Do look however for domestic-grade fabric and foam because for fire regulations in homes rather than office spaces, slightly different testing and certification is required.

You can have your office chair installed and set up for you at home if you like.

Office chair aesthetics

You don't need to sacrifice style for ergonomics. Your office chair should look good in your home: be inspired by office chair designs including the HÅG Futu Mesh 1100-S and the HÅG Capisco 8106 Office Chair.

Choose from fabric, mesh or plastic material for your office chair and don't be restricted by colour – black is popular but by no means the only choice! Is pink your pick?

By the way, a chair 'waterfall edge' sounds pretty but it has a sound ergonomic purpose – it helps stop pressure behind the knees.

Office chair price

Good ergonomic chairs start at about £280 in price for an entry-level model and you do get superb additional features if you can invest more than this, to enjoy the long-term benefits. A chair for work is an important purchase for your overall health which you shouldn’t skimp on.

The fans of high-end office chairs such as RH Logic's do enthuse about their incredible comfort. Ingenious R&D teams and ergonomists for chair manufacturers analyse precisely which mechanisms, components and materials will best support your body and prices reflect this high-level testing.

Don’t forget you can:

  • Spread the cost of a new office chair with Klarna at Posturite
  • Become an email subscriber to hear about any sales and offers

Office chair reviews

Reviews are a great way to research an office chair purchase. The office chair reviews at Posturite include:

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"A great, comfortable chair that has made a real difference to working from home"
Kirsty, reviewing the Homeworker Plus Ergonomic Chair.

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"Well made and literally slots together in 2 minutes, no tools required. Excellent work Posturite!"
Chris, reviewing the Homeworker Mesh Back Ergonomic Chair.

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"Exactly what my back needed! Superbly adjustable and can be tailored to suit the individual, I like the fact that the seat height can be elevated "above standard" mass market chairs"
Richard, reviewing the RH Logic 400 Ergonomic Office Chair.

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"The chair is excellent and has improved my working environment no end"
Jonathan, reviewing the HÅG SoFi 7500.

Want personalised office chair recommendations? Speak to our experts

Office chair sustainability

The Environmental Management System at Posturite has been awarded the ISO 14001 certification for:

Recycling

Recycling

Responsible energy use

Responsible energy use

Waste segregation

Waste segregation

Transport planning

Transport planning

Materials reuse

Materials reuse

Renewable energy generation

Renewable energy generation

Check the individual office chair descriptions for sustainability pluspoints, including if the chair can be recycled after use. One of the most environmentally friendly office chair brands is HÅG with models made from recycled car bumpers and ketchup bottles! Avoid the wastage (and false economy) of a cheap, badly made chair that needs replacing after a very short time.

Shop the full range of ergonomic office chairs at Posturite

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Any questions?

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