Top Five Tips when Buying an Office Chair

I have done tips on buying a desk in the past. When this reader sent in his chair buying tips, I had to pass them along.

* Consider how much you want to spend on your office/comp chair. If you use your computer everyday, 24/7 like Chris, then you might want to buy a very comfy chair. Having your rear hurt while sitting doing work on your computer is a real pain.
* Do not go over you budget. Nowadays, office chairs tend to cost a lot. But never buy a chair just because it’s low cost.
* Make sure you know how much space you can use. I have a pretty small house. My computer is right next to my dad’s workspace and is exactly 2 foot in front the sofa so I have no space for a plastic mat on the floor for rolling wheels of a chair. So I use an uncomfortable chair that is 10 years old. (I am too lazy to go out and spend money to buy a smaller, more comfy chair, but don’t be like me =D)
* Go to the stores you trust to buy a chair. I mainly go to IKEA for all my house furniture. But there’s also Marlo. Those are the places I trust. Sometimes when you go to a random furniture store, they have raggedy chairs that will break fast. My sister had an office chair that lasted about 4 years until she pulled the handle for the chair to go lower broke. So the chair can’t go up and the chair is all the way down. She can’t even reach the computer with that chair! So she had to buy a new one. So the chair you buy must last a while (like till you die).
* Some people buy the plastic mat for their chair if it has wheels. (thats what I do) If you buy one, make sure to replace it every year or 2. After a lot of rolling, it starts to wore out and get cracks. The first mat I ever bought got cracked up, and A LOT of holes in it. One day, I’m walking to my desk, and my toe got stuff in one of those holes…man it hurts. So make sure after a lot of holes get on your mat, you replace it. You could get hurt.