How to Make Your Cheap Office Chair More Comfortable
I have three office chairs, a situation that comes with the territory when you write about home-office products for a living. Two of them are Wirecutter’s picks for the best office chair—the Steelcase Gesture and the Herman Miller Aeron—and the other is a no-name, $50 chair that’s not much more comfortable than your average dining table chair.
Guess which one I use most often?
Although high-end chairs are definitely higher quality than your run-of-the-mill model from Staples or Wayfair—built with more premium materials, sturdier frames, and a much wider range of ergonomic adjustments—a cheap chair could still offer the best fit if you make some smart modifications. In most cases, all you need are a couple of inexpensive cushions to create a more supportive and comfortable seating position—and possibly a few tweaks to your keyboard and monitor so that your other gear sits ergonomically in line with your “new” office chair.
Remember, it’s not just about the chair
Getting the right ergonomic fit while sitting at your desk requires balancing a lot of different factors. The height of your chair has to be just right to match the height of your desk and keyboard, and the height of your monitor has to be set so that you’re not craning your neck. If one thing is off, your workstation—and, by extension, your entire body—is out of alignment. Even though it seems like the process should be simple, it’s surprisingly hard to know how to sit in a chair so that it doesn’t break your back after a few hours.
The biggest problem is that most office furniture is advertised as one-size-fits-all, whereas in reality designs are skewed heavily toward people of taller stature. The average 29-inch-high desk, for example, is designed to best fit a 6-foot-tall person. Similarly, many of the office chairs we’ve tested don’t lower enough to let people under 5-foot-6 sit comfortably, with their feet on the floor. After years of testing and interviews with ergonomic experts, we’ve realized that the solution to such problems can be surprisingly straightforward and cost-effective.
Adjust your seating position
To begin, use your chair’s built-in adjustments (if it has any) to lower or raise your seat so that your feet are flat on the floor, your knees are level with your hips or slightly below, and you can sit comfortably against the back of the chair. If you can’t achieve an ideal sitting position, you can try some modifications:
- If your feet are dangling even at the lowest chair height, a footrest will work wonders. Anything will do, including a foam roller or a cardboard box, but it’s worth investing about $30 to $40 in something that’s soft, stable, and designed to encourage your feet to move.
- If you find that your knees are resting higher than your thighs even at the chair’s highest setting, a seat cushion can help by raising your butt an extra inch or two. Some of my long-legged friends stretch their feet out under their desks because many chairs are too short for them, but that isn’t the best position to keep for hours at a time.
- And if you’re not able to sit comfortably against the back of your chair, get a lumbar support pillow. I’m 5-foot-2, and most chairs have seat depths that are too long for me, so I tend to perch at the edge of the seat. A lumbar support pillow gently encourages me to lean back and maintain proper posture at my keyboard.
Besides providing a better fit, cushions can make sitting on a cheap chair more pleasant. A great ergonomic seat cushion, for example, not only lifts you up but can also compensate for a saggy or too-stiff seat.
Pillows can’t make cheap office chairs less squeaky, wobbly, or unattractive—and they can’t help with major flaws such as an inability to recline—but they are an inexpensive option for making even a cheap office chair fit just right. Pillows are your body’s best friend.
Next, look at your keyboard and desk
The best position for your forearms and wrists is parallel to the ground or angled down, as if you were typing with the keyboard on your lap. For many people with fixed-height desks, this isn’t possible when you’re also striving to keep your feet flat on the floor.
- If your keyboard is too high, the solution is once again to raise your chair and get a footrest. An under-desk keyboard tray can also lower the keyboard so that you’re not straining your arms or shoulders.
- I have yet to encounter a desk that’s so low, people have to strain or hunch over when they type. But if you find yourself in this situation, it’s not your chair’s fault. You just need a taller desk.
Finally, check the height of your monitor or laptop screen
Position your monitor such that eye level is about 2 to 3 inches below the top of the monitor, so you’re not craning your neck either up or down.
- If the monitor causes you to bend your head down, which is common if you work on a laptop, you have a few options: Laptop owners can get a laptop stand or a height-adjustable external monitor, while desktop computer owners who find that their external monitor’s adjustment range isn’t flexible enough for comfortable viewing can try a monitor arm.
- If your monitor is so high that you feel like you’re craning your neck to see it clearly, try arranging your application windows so that they’re more centered in your direct sight line. And here’s a bonus productivity tip: Put the distracting windows (such as Slack or Twitter) outside that central zone.
One day, a better-quality office chair may be in your future. But until then, these tips should help you make do with whatever you already have.
Mentioned above
- The impressively supportive, adjustable, and durable Steelcase Gesture is still our pick for the best office chair for most people, as it has been since 2015.The Best Office Chairs
- We put our feet up for weeks to find the best footrests to help you improve the ergonomics at your desk—and make work more comfortable.The Best Under-Desk Footrests
- If you’re in need of extra comfort or support wherever you sit the most, an ergonomic seat cushion can be a helpful supplement.The Best Ergonomic Seat Cushions
- If you slouch while sitting at your desk for long periods or suffer from back pain after a long workday, a lumbar support pillow can make all the difference.The Best Lumbar Support Pillow
- The Rain Design iLevel 2 is our favorite laptop stand because it makes it easy to raise your screen to proper ergonomic height.The Best Laptop Stands
- We’ve spent hundreds of hours researching and testing monitors of all shapes and sizes to find the best one for any need (or budget).The Best Monitors
Further reading
The Essential Ergonomic Gear for Your Home Office
by Erica Ogg
We’ve spent over a thousand hours testing more than 100 pieces of gear that encourage ergonomically healthy posture.
Wirecutter Picks to Help Boost Productivity When Working From Home
by Wirecutter Staff
Streamline your home-office setup, get your desk organized, and find new ways to focus (noise-cancelling headphones for the win) with these picks.
5 Tips to Declutter Your Home Office
by Jenni Gritters
Clutter can creep up on you when you work from home. Here’s how to get organized so it doesn’t mess with your focus and productivity.
The Best Home-Office Furniture and Supplies
by Ben Keough
We’ve spent countless hours finding the best home-office furniture and supplies. Here are all the picks you need to ensure you’re comfy and fully equipped.