The tyranny of chairs: why we need better design
theguardian.com
theguardian.com
When the WFH wave hit, people seemed to be going mad buying webcams and office chairs. Loads of people I work with spent a lot of energy researching and discussing chairs etc.
I have a sit-stand desk and I stand for perhaps 2 to 3 hours any working day. But the rest of the time I just sit on a normal old wooden dining chair. No pain. No aches. No RSI. No CTS.
I've been doing this for decades and nothing seems to have gone wrong yet. I do run 2 to 4 times a week so I do wonder if that helps avoid problems?
Are all the uber-expensive office chairs just snake oil? Or have I just been lucky?
You are doing well by standing. Keeping your core strong will help.
The thing you have to ask yourself is - are you using willpower to overcome bad seating? If you have good ergonomics you will maintain good posture even when you're tired. The idea is to balance your body so it stays in place. Keep your head balanced, your arms relaxed without hunching your shoulders, your wrists at a good angle. If you're looking to the side or up or down, you're going to use muscles instead of balance to maintain your position. (Laptops are not ergonomic and are responsible for long term damage to your body - there are no osha approved laptops)
If you have your wrists at a bad angle, on the hard desk or across the sharp edge of a keyboard, the little ropes and pulleys that get your forearms to move your fingers will wear out. (I use a wrist rest to maintain position, and keep everything warm and comfy)
So true. You can sit on anything with any awkward position you want, sleep 3 hours a day, and don't feel a thing.
Then you turn 30...
As for ergonomic gadgets those never helped, simply trying to keep myself strain free - like instead of having split keyboards holding my hands in angle over the keyboard without bending my wrist -, relaxed, but trying also holding myself not flowing down of furniture. In some kind of balance.
It is funny though that Aeron is brought up as an example of a "universal" design: they are admittedly not universal since they offer 3 sizes (A, B and C). When looking at chairs, I've only went with their Embody because of the fluid back mobility it allows when sitting, though I still wonder if I should have gotten Aeron C (I always found it sad they did not continue with the practice of differently sized chairs with Embody which I love). I've also have a sit/stand desk that I switch between every day for the last ~10 years, but I've still developed back problems.
Why do I say all that — at 6'5" (195cm) I believe to have pretty strong core and legs, but I developed back problems when I got a kid (herniated discs, with a nerve getting pinched in the lumbar area recently). I live in a world where everything is too low for me, and I have to take an unergonomic position to achieve many things. Especially with kids (baby cots, strollers, they are really short, but everything, really).
A dining table chair has a seat length that generally allows me to only rest most of my bottom on it, but basically nothing of the thighs (which are also longer than average even for people my own height), which means that majority of my 90-100kg weight is concentrated on a small area. That hurts, so I have to move around and change the area under pressure.
I had to stop playing jumping sports (I jump around 30 inches/75cm high when not in regular exercise, so that's how far down I "fall" when going down) because impact on landing was too strong and it started hurting in my back. Yet after being in bed rest for 5 days for a pinched nerve, I went for physical therapy and could immediately hold plank position for >1 minute. "Your core is strong, so it is probably genetics", my physiotherapist would say. It's not only genetics, it is the fact that I am outside the design range for all the products that people use every day (I am probably among the 3% of largest humans and even the widest covering "universal" products cover from 5-95%: I can imagine very short people to have similar issues). I can barely find a car I can comfortably drive (if I push the seat back enough so my thighs rest on the seat instead of being in a squat, steering column will frequently not come out long enough, and my shoulders will hurt). I might fit in a Mercedes S-Class, but sorry, I can't afford it (though even that is designed for comfortable sitting in the back).
And I thought that's what the OP is about. Are you averagely sized, or do you maybe have some parts extra long or extra short? Or are your shoulders narrow or maybe extra wide (eg. I can imagine someone with very wide shoulders having more trouble with laptop keyboards)? Even the way our elbows and tendons connect is very different, so relative position of every limb could be taken into account to develop non-universal products.
I guess you have to find where you are "unusual" in your body constitution to really emphatise with the OP and how "universal" design is not the way to go when designing products for the physical world.
The same holds for the virtual world, but for some marginalized groups (at least in the past, like people with disabilities), legislation is required to make sure the basics are available to them. But generally, the market is ripe for less universal products.
That is, I can't lean on youth. But I also don't have near the pains mentioned on so many message boards.
Now, do I have trouble staying focused? Oh yeah. Staying motivated? You bet. Haven't exactly been a pleasant year. But my seating seems to be the least impactful thing going on right now. :(
I think there are a lot of stressed and unconditioned office workers who want some magical device to solve everything. Vertical mice, split vertical keyboards, expensive chairs. None of it replaces exercise.
Might be a controversial opinion.
Most things in life aren't some sort of instant solution. If you run you won't live to be a hundred. If you smoke you won't get lung cancer. What these actions do is shift your probability distribution in certain ways. Running frequently improves your overall life-expectancy, smoking increases your risk of lung cancer¹. You can do everything right and still have trouble. You can avoid every intervention and still have things work out.
So, if you're outcomes-oriented you modify your environment and behaviour to match the outcomes you want based on what you know to be capable. Getting vertical mice, split keyboards, expensive chairs are all interventions that shift your distribution to better outcomes. Lifting well and frequently, having better posture, taking breaks to move are also interventions that shift your distribution to better outcomes. Each intervention moves you to a better state of being.
Some interventions require you to apply techniques of willpower and motivation. Others require you to place yourself in an environment where those things aren't tested. Yet others are just tools. I think I would go out on a limb to say that most people younger than their early 30s who aim to spend themselves into good health are making moves that are rational.
Credentials here at bottom to prove I'm not some fat guy trying to justify not working out. My lift PRs indicate I'm not a novice (though not particularly exceptional). My weight at PRs (unless otherwise stated) was 165 lbs (75 kg). My height is 6' (184 cm).
Deadlift: 375 lbs at 180 lbs body weight, 3x315 lbs at 165 lbs
Squat: 275 lbs
Front Squat: 225 lbs
Clean and Jerk: 135 lbs
5k time: 23:53 (within 3 mos of the PRs)
¹ A quick test for your intuition for these events is to imagine in your head what you think the incidence of lung cancer in heavy lifetime smokers is and then look it up. 95%? 75%? 50%? 25%? 12%? 5%?
Are there any proven benefits to lifting heavy weight (compared to let say having a regular physical activity such as swimming, hiking, cycling, bodyweight exercises?)
So, if you're wondering about whether lifting is good for your health, you should first identify what outcomes you're aiming for and then look for yourself what interventions increase the likelihood of those outcomes. I cannot provide specifically the information you desire in an economical way¹.
But it's unfair to just leave you with nothing, so here's a starting point in your research (apart from the Wikipedia article on Weight Training²): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2453303/
¹ For instance, maybe you don't care to be able to run some arbitrary distance. Maybe it isn't important to you to be able to cliff dive. Maybe it isn't important to you to live to 80. Maybe you consider being muscular to be of negative utility on its own. The state space is too large for me to capture here.
² https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weight_training#Health_benefit...
https://time.com/4803697/bodybuilding-strength-training/
It also increases your baseline strength, which is in turn one of the strongest correlates to maintaining health at any age.
We're not talking about crazy hypertrophy type lifting - bench 135, squat 185, deadlift 225 and you will not have rsi problems.
Ironically my RSI began within a few months of starting weight training.
Is that ok with you?
If exercise and hard work were that easy everyone would just do it and we would have far fewer problems.
I had lower back pain while sitting at a desk when I was younger.
Once I started lifting weights, and specifically doing heavy deadlifts, I've never had back pain again.
Interestingly, a lot of people are afraid deadlifts will cause back pain, but in my case at least, it cured back pain.
I used to have back and wrist pain. Now I do mild exercise like a brisk daily walk and 100 burpees. Basically the bare minimum to check off my exercise box. I read Sarnos book and took to heart the idea that a lot of aches and pains are not injuries but are in your head.
Now I have no aches and pains ever.
I have been most happy (backwise) while running and doing a light version of cross fit (where correct lifting was a part of) couple of times every day.
There is no amount of exercise that will let any human hold a squat position for 8 hours day-in, day-out.
As OP indicates, "universal" design is the problem.
I've done that for decades. I'd periodically suffer from debilitating back pain, where I couldn't even tie my shoes. I finally went to the doc, who said my problem was "weak back muscles". I pointed out the running, and the doc said "running does nothing for your back."
He gave me an illustrated guide to back exercises, aka core strength exercises. I do them 3x per week, and added some more I derived from yootoob back excercise.
Does it work? Hell yes. I wouldn't say my back never bothers me, but the pain has faded enough that it doesn't bother me anymore, and no more debilitating episodes.
It's been well over 10 years now. I don't enjoy the exercises, but I enjoy being free of the pain.
Doing this for hours on end trains the body tries to use its hip flexors for everything. Standing, lifting things, walking, even slow running. The hip flexors aren't meant to do this, and they are connected of course to your back muscles.
But the back muscles activated in concert with the hip flexors are not the "right" ones. They contort your back and cause imbalances and eventually back pain.
Running CAN help undo this.
But at certain paces of running (very slow ones that aren't much more than walking), the butt still is not used well, and you're not working to undo the 8+ hours of training you've given your hip flexors.
The more vigorous the running, the more your "prime path" evolutionary pathways of hamstrings, gluteus maximi, and lower back will be activated and trained.
Of course the older you are, the harder it is to do these paces, either sustained or speedwork.
Straight leg deadlifts can also help, but still isn't as good training for undoing the sitting position.
It's entirely possible this is useless for preventing back pain, or may even be bad for my back, but I wanted to share.
The hardest one for me is lying face down, arms extended forward. Lift your chest and legs off the ground. Oww! These are called "Supermans" because you look like Superman flying through the air.
It'll give you a vast new appreciation for when a dancer lifts his partner overhead by the waist and she gracefully lies prone only supported by his hands on her waist.
I double-dare you to even get your hands an inch off the ground!
One of the best things about the Bay Area is that HM chairs are always easy to find used on Craigslist for ~$250 and they'll last 10+ years. That's not expensive at all.
Tip: replace the wheels with "roller blade" chair wheels. They're quiet!
That said, I probably only work in my office half the day and work in other spots around the house (including the dining room table) the rest of the time. (And get up and walk around quite frequently.)
So far, my body has been happy spending extended amounts of time in any chair I set under it. Including the staple dining chair, or uncushioned outdoor wooden chair.
However, I rarely sit still for long periods of time. I'm constantly shifting my position and doing all sorts of seated acrobatics to relieve tension and get variation. (I do this also in fancy ergonomic chairs.) Maybe this is what makes it work? I have no idea.
Check out how these guys suggest to adjust their chair -- you can follow this with any adjustable chair and you will be 100% good to go IMO: https://www.hermanmiller.com/content/dam/hermanmiller/docume... (PDF)
Then again, you are lucky because all manner of injuries, genetic weakness, and former life conditions have not all occurred, thus gotten you to this healthy spot. For instance, car or sporting accidents or falls, these could all lead to chronic weakness in the body, and luck determines their occurence.
No RSI/other issues to me also (knock on wood) and I am over 50 but I am starting to sense more and more that recliner (even if 4 hours) is not good and consciously try to reduce an hour or 2, but was quite hard to do that with the recent bay area heat and fires.
Chairs? I am trying to move my office chair home, but that is so that I can cut down the recliner usage, but if I had a better dining arrangement (or my old dining arrangement) I probably would not bother.
I don't use a wooden chair, though, because I like the wheels and ability to rotate. But I much prefer very-very basic office chairs to all these gaming super-ergonomic overpriced whatever. I mean, they felt cool when I sat on them for the first time, but then it turns out to be fucked up in ways I admit I'll never be able to predict when buying one.
I feel a major change in comfort and that I need to “offset” the discomfort prolonged hours in the dining chair gives through standing and exercising.
Basically, if I am more conscious about standing and exercising I too have no problems with the dining chair - but it does require more exercise than the office chair for the same level of comfort I feel by the end of the working day.
It sounds like your routine is already good enough to offset it.
Regardless of what I just said, I still have a nagging feeling about long term consequences.
Here's where it gets weirder though. I used to have padding on my chair. And it was the the kind of shitty strap on padding that would slide around, and after it did, my leg would reliably fall asleep. One day I got tired of it sliding around and just removed it. My leg never falls asleep anymore.
Only complaint is that leg reinforcement has an II shape instead of H, so there is a little bit of sideways instability.
Before purchasing a chair, I went to an office furniture and tested several chairs and had the employee point out why people preferred different chairs. In the end, I got an Aeron. Also, it comes in 3 sizes and I made sure to get the correct size for me.
Maybe sitting in less comfortable chair is better than a comfortable one over long periods because you adjust your posture more. I personally haven't noticed this but maybe I do it unconsciously.
Like you, I exercise.
It is mentioned in the article briefly, and I feel it is a missed opportunity to discuss it.
I currently use a series of exercises that I designed specifically for combatting the ails of sitting, and it has been a big improvement. The chair i use matters less now.
It could be you have better sitting discipline (I tend to slouch when I sit), might be that you are more active (I didn't notice any issues last summer, when I was sailing every weekend, but then, I was not sitting at my dinner table for that long either), might be your regular chair is not that regular :)
There's a steady stream of small-to-medium offices in our area closing, and they're all liquidating office furniture. We picked up 2 for $500.
They're a massive improvement over my $80 chair that was fine for a few hours a week pre-WFH, and my back is feeling much better.
I ask because the lockdown has me fantasizing about distracting myself with replacement stuff for the home.
But this chair is freakin $5000. Is it that good to be worth it? Or are any of those $1000 knockoffs acceptable quality?
[1] https://www.hermanmiller.com/products/seating/lounge-seating...
It is a very good chair. The build quality is fantastic and stylistically it still holds up.
It is truly a "lounge chair" though - almost a semi-recliner. I rarely use it if it's a social situation because it sits back so far. It's amazing for relaxing and watching TV or a movie though.
I'm assuming the quality has held up. I've never tried a knock off.
You will probably be able to tell the difference in the feel of the materials and the design details between the HM and replica. I've sat in a few different versions of replicas and the original and they are all very comfortable. The replicas are lower quality, you might not have them for 50 years, they might die earlier, they are after all a 'skin-job'.
If you're really thinking about it, do consider the resale value as part of investment, nice used examples fetch $3500-4000. If the classic Black and Walnut is your style that will probably be the easiest to recoup if you decide it's not for you.
Watch DWR or Hive they some times have 10% off sales that will at least save you the taxes or shipping depending where you live.
I like the design and it fits me, but it's worth pointing out the lack of adjustment. Unless you want a purely decorative chair, I recommend finding someone with one you can test drive.
The seller I bought the knockoff from has since evaporated, so that's another potential concern if it ever needs repairs.
But I need to have a table or some other surface nearby to place a drink and a notebook.
I bought a used aeron for home ~ $250 and I noticed it had some play in the column and sunk a bit.. $50 to amazon and I replaced it. Now it's a year or so later and I'm suspecting that the web mesh could use a refresh (the pan assembly is ~ $220)
How low?
I've had a terrible pain in my tailbone going on a few months now. I finally relented and got one of those donut shaped memory foam pillows. 40€ for a block of foam with a hole in it is criminal, but after using it for a week now, I must admit it does help a lot.
Not sure if that’s already been excluded, but my life has been a lot happier since they removed it :P
This always happened to me on those Aeron chairs and pre-covid I was using those doughnut pillows for a few years, they worked great.
I bought an Aeron a few years ago, but also considered the Sayl. I went to a Herman Miller dealer and tried all the chairs. A salesperson talked me through the different adjustments for each chair and explained why people preferred each of the chairs. When someone can sit in them side-by-side, they will pick the one that they like the most, which might be the Sayl. But many people only know the name Aeron.
https://www.schooloutlet.com/v/vspfiles/assets/images/Screen...
The people making and buying these place are committing crimes against humanity.
If they would simply sit down by pushing their butt and lower back into the chair instead of lazily flopping down, there would be plenty of space.
(Not directed at those people with long legs, who do have genuine legroom issues even when sitting up straight)
Imagine sitting there for 50 minutes, having 10 minutes to get to the next lecture, and repeating that three times in a short span. It’s awful.
The only real crime of those chairs is enforcing right handedness on left handed students. This discomfort could be enough to create a slightly lower academic performance for left handed students on average compared to right handed.
Martin: Mrs. Krabappel, I’m having back spasms!
Mrs. Krabappel: I know they seem a little uncomfortable right now, but eventually your bones will change shape.
Then again, I rarely had issues with sitting in them. Working space though, that was an issue. (Work on an in-class problem while referring to the text book? Ha!)
How do left handed people write in those chairs?
Recently my father sat on a chair that collapsed underneath him. It was a seemingly okay teak garden chair that had been recently in service and offered up to important guests. So in that way it was good that it was him rather than his brother in law or elderly neighbour that received a bruised elbow.
This got me thinking about the safety of chairs. This chair - a folding chair - really should have included a wire around the seat so that it had a failsafe mode in order to prevent complete failure once the wood of the seat eventually gave up.
There should be proper testing of seats to see if they are fit for purpose. Car seats for babies can't be passed on because there could be some crack in the polystyrene, yet regular chairs have no standards for safety. It is not a big deal until such time as you see a valued relative come a cropper.
Design is how it works and chairs are not designed to have a failsafe aspect to the design.
Just buy not the cheapest chair, and you will be safe.
Your argument is the same for airbags, seatbelts and wearing hard hats. We live in a Health and Safety world where liability exists. Except for chairs.
Same situation for sitting cross legged. My solution for posture has been a standing desk. I never really made any progress on my posture until I started standing.
No idea if they are available internationally.
I got one last year and I’d say the architecture definitely forces you to sit straight and relax less than you do with most chairs.
But not necessarily in an uncomfortable way. It’s just not a chair for relaxed gaming or movie watching. That’s what makes it so great when working
Then I transitioned to working from home and built my own standing desk (sadly before the very affordable mechanical Ikea standing desk was first released... But which I have now happily used for years).
The first few weeks were challenging, but within three months I could stand for 12+ hours a day, and my hip problems went away. Also my overall energy seemed higher, and afternoon energy dips became less noticeable.
For 13 years now I stand for virtually all of my day, and I have no back or hip problems. I do have slight spider veins on my ankles and knees, and that may be due in part to the standing. But it is cosmetic and barely visible, and totally worth the trade.
Like anything, sitting, standing, jumping - it's worth doing everything within reason. Possibly just switching between positions throughout the day.
Of course, these things can be gene dependant as well, but if you already have some spider veins showing, hopefully you can be a bit more aware of the problems that can come about later.
She really suffers badly from all those years and it's not something that's easy to fix.
I also don't stand like I'm a statue, however. I'm often shifting around a bit, and usually I stand on a nice firm thick padded mat. If nobody is around and I have some good music on, I might even be dancing a bit.
My arms are resting comfortably at my sides, so the motions my hands make for typing/mousing are comfortable. I'm thinking of an Ergodox to alleviate some wrist rotation issues, but that's nothing to do with the desk.
Do note that for some reason, in standing mode it is necessary to have the monitor higher so the head isn't looking way down and hurting the neck. When sitting, this isn't as much of a problem. However, I spend most of my time standing, so I have the primary monitor height such that I'm only looking very slightly down. My eyes are even with the upper third of the monitor. Also, it's important whether sitting or standing to not push the monitor too far away. That can lead to hunching forward or craning the neck.
There was a good reason I was in PT and was told this ;)
With a sit/stand desk you can start by standing up for meetings, phone calls, etc, that don't really require typing at all and then see what else you can do standing.
It is well designed, sturdy, and meets both my sitting and standing needs. It does take about 70 cranks to move from one position to the other, but honestly that takes just one minute or so (and I rarely move it anyway).
I bought Steelcase Think six month ago to replace my $50 chair, and while it is good chair with good price and comfy-but-firm seat cushion, it cannot solve my chronic "sore butt" problem. Half and hour in the chair and my butt soreness begin to appear. Doesn't help that I'm the type that sit in front of monitor all day. I know I need to move more frequently, or did some light exercise or stretching, but when you need to work, you need to sit anyway.
Then I read that the soreness is the result of lack of blood circulation, so I decide to give thing that improve it a try: a beads car seat. You know, the vintage-looking one taxi driver use.
THE SORENESS IS GONE. It's been several months since. Now I can sit all day long without feeling a thing.
Note that the version I use is the 'beads mat' with rubber texture on the bottom(This is important because it help prevent the beads seat from slipping)
Everything you describe is what I experience. I have good time sitting on my old wooden chair, and yes, the butt is free of pain (but my back hurt instead, because its backrest is in upright 90 degree angle) also there is not armrest whatsoever so I can't work for long....
well, maybe that's the point, I need to move more.
Chairs with backs are nice, but it seems like they will always just lead to terrible posture.
I suppose Japanese should have something fitting but that might be a stereotype.
Interesting reading, thanks.
Would you be so kind as to share a picture of your setup ? To have a rough idea of heights, space arrangements, elbow positioning, etc. ?
I think the biggest benefits are it forces you to move and adjust a little bit more than in a chair, and forces you to use your muscles to sit properly much more. Would highly recommend to anyone. https://ibb.co/XYN3HFx
The coffee table is https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/lisabo-coffee-table-ash-veneer-... The sheepskin is from sheepskin town, but any cushioning that softens the floor for your ankles/knees is good.
I was browsing though the different pillow/cushion and was a bit worried at first by the $150 zafu/zabuton but it looks like there are ~$50 ones so I can give it a try.
The Poång is an absolute steal at 1/10 the price
1. A large lap desk. This is a powerful tool for adding flexibility as you'll see. It lets you keep all the peripherals near you. I currently use it with a USB hub, a 65% mechanical keyboard, a keypad with macro functions, and a trackball mouse.
2. A floor chair with reclining functions. The one I have is one of the cheapest on Amazon, basically a folding backrest with a bit of cushion.
3. A laptop/monitor arm and a shelf to hang it off of.
With a laptop angled at 90 degrees so that the screen is overhead, I have a fully supinated setup on the floor, with the floor chair folded most of the way back for support.
But it gets better. With a low folding table or breakfast tray I can switch the laptop and chair over to floor seating. Here the lap desk serves as a way to let me move around more. This is a great way to add variety of posture and stretch as I work, and I find that I use different positions for different levels of intensity during the day. Supination is better for passive viewing, while upright with no support is focused, intense. Seated with the chair reclined is the medium for "Tired but still want to work".
And then I still have more traditional feet-dangling seats I can use too. Again, just haul over the lap desk and plug in.
The best part is, none of these items need to cost more than $100. Most are closer to $50. So you can solve everything with an investment of perhaps $200-300.
Any chance you could provide some pictures?
It's pretty nice when it works well. I use one of those adjustable (3 joints per side) laptop desks and a mouse or trackball at my side. The laptop desk has a large lip on one end that prevents it from falling off when tilted.
The great thing about this is that laying down seems to reduce strain on the nervous system so much that it's a more sustainable working position in a lot of ways. I find that my overall working mood is much more stable, especially compared to 1h+ sitting upright. I sometimes go back to a sitting position at work in the late afternoon (WFH) and my energy seems sapped by sitting within about 30-45 minutes (not completely sapped; just compared to the laying position). Laying down, on the other hand, is much more sustainable.
I usually experiment with what I have on hand first (I used storage tubs and cardboard boxes to build my first standing desk), and I haven't yet tried any special chairs that allow laying down, except for a reclining couch.
I think my next experiment in this area will be a lumbar pillow to be used when laying flat. I've been surprised at how much lumbar support can make a big difference in chairs, couches, etc. A friend told me he believes lack of lumbar support in his chairs at home caused his nerve damage, and I can see why he would say that.
Some aspects that I don't like:
- It has a social stigma. Either "hospital bed" (are you sick?) or "lazy" (you've been in bed for how long today?)
- I can't (yet) put two 24+ inch monitors to use in this position :)
- Same with my favorite keyboard...laptops are what allow this to work.
- Some other minor things, but I believe paying attention to little adjustments can help here.
I don’t think any design with better chairs, stand up desks or whatever will make it healthy to stay in the same place the whole day. If I had to choose a career now I would definitely think about something that allows for more walking or other activity.
Also buy a 28" 4k monitor, proper keyboard and mouse device of choice (I got an apple magic pad).
All for ~ £500. It's worth the investment.
https://www.hermanmiller.com/en_gb/products/seating/office-c...
You are free from developing injuries caused by long use of ordinary chair.
It's cheap and portable too.
I do not have any hard numbers, but the fact that I move around, make small jumps , must keep balance etc. seems to be a good thing.
I was sitting on an office chair at home during lock down and I think my back hurted more
weird then not finding mention of the Varier Balans chairs.
I had one growing up, and bought another one after a month of lockdown as my home office setup wasn't meant for extended usage.
that one and a standing desk seems working well so far.
I briefly went through a phase where I thought I'd enjoy the no-furniture lifestyle, but it wasn't for me. It also wasn't for my partner, nor my parents when they come to visit, nor anyone else whom I might want to invite into the home.
I don't want to Marie Kondo the shit out of my space—I want to surround myself with beautiful, practical pieces of furniture that I enjoy using.
I don't think most people go and try out furniture before they bring it home. I'm talking multiple trips to a furniture store, where you go and sit and explore the same few pieces over and over and until you're sure you've found something you love.
You've got to stay seated for a bit to figure out where the pressure points are, whether or not the angle or depth of a seat makes your legs go numb, or hurts your back, etc. Do you like a firm seat? Do you like to sit "on" the cushions, or "down in to" the cushions? You want something with a high seat, or a low seat? There's a lot of furniture out there. It pays to take time to do the research, learn about how it's built, learn about different fabric types and how they affect the way a cushion holds it shape, then spend a good deal of money on a quality product.
Furthermore, there's a huge difference in quality between buying a chair from West Elm and buying a chair from Knoll. For instance, I think this is one of the most comfortable and practical chairs on the planet: https://www.knoll.com/product/saarinen-executive-arm-chair
We use it as a dining chair, and as a reading chair with an ottoman, and as a standard desk task chair. It's truly wonderful. Is it expensive? Yes it is. But it looks great, it's built well, it has a firm and comfortable seat, and it'll last a lifetime.
But hey, comfort is subjective, you like what you like!
Edit for those who are furniture shopping:
- Saarinen chair linked above also comes with casters and hydraulic lift: https://www.knoll.com/product/saarinen-executive-arm-chair-s...
- Don't knock it, it's surprisingly comfortable for long stretches: https://www.knoll.com/product/brno-chair-flat-bar
- Great reading chair (with ottoman) if you have the space: https://www.knoll.com/product/womb-chair
- Of course, the Eames lounge chair is a classic, though if you're taller than 5'8" go with the Tall version as you'll get a deeper seat and head support. For those with lumbar spine issues, probably not the most comfortable: https://www.hermanmiller.com/products/seating/lounge-seating...
- Wonderfully firm sofa, great for long meetings, reading with attention. If you like to lounge, not great for movie nights. Durable fabric options, along with custom leather: https://www.roomandboard.com/catalog/living/sofas-and-lovese...
Isn't that her point? "keep what brings you joy?" If you enjoy the furniture, I think her philosophy would have you keep it.
What I'm driving at is that the minimalism and tidying-up trend leaves a lot to be desired, and I've known a few people who have gone too far with it. But that's my opinion. If you want to live with two plates and two glasses and one pan and a single spatula, by all means.
If you want to donate four bookshelves worth of physical reading material and go Kindle-only, so be it. I think your space will be lesser without those books, but it ain't my space.
I like homes that look and feel lived in. I've walked in to homes that don't have a trace of humanity in them and I find it quite depressing. Modern architecture, interior design, and a good deal of modern furniture pieces strike me as bland and unremarkable.