WFH in style: the best office furniture to buy now
Tired of your back giving you grief thanks to a shoddy home-office set-up? Work and homeschool in comfort with Muddy's list of Insta-worthy desks and chairs.
Trying to file your Q3 budget hunched over the kitchen table (and remnants of last night’s bolognese) while creaking wildly on that old, rickety chair? I hear you (ooh, and apologies to anyone distracted by the sound of my back cracking). Enough is enough, I say: it looks like we’re going to be stuck with this home-working malarkey for a while yet, so let’s buy ourselves something proper. They’re real jobs so we deserve real office spaces – or at least, as good as we can get with domestic limitations. Handily for you, Muddy has done quite a lot of research in this area (see above as to why) so without further ado, here are the best office chairs and desks to buy this year.
Hashtag Home Floating Desk
This quirky option is a great, affordable choice for those with limited space. It looks cool and doesn’t take up very much room, although you do need to assemble it yourself, and ensure you screw it to the wall. No one wants squashed children.
£97
Junior Whittington Desk
This sweet design is the perfect children’s desk. With a cork board panel for pinning to-do lists or keepsakes, a central drawer, inbuilt storage shelves, and an opening for cables if using a laptop, it covers every base. Best of all? You can buy a spare set of legs for £25 that will, when the time comes, increase this desk from suiting ages 3-8 to suiting ages 5-12.
£220
Mirra 2 Butterfly Office Chair
This chair is said to be “as responsive as your shadow”, automatically adjusting itself to the way you’re sitting. If you rock around or lean to one side, the chair accommodates. It’s designed to balance immediate comfort with long-term posture benefits, so that it’s comfy without wreaking havoc on your spine.
£883
Cherner Desk Chair
Yes, it’s not cheap but it is the company that created the 1958 iconic moulded plywood design. This chair is a serious celebrity. And with height adjustment and full swivel, it’s a lightweight and graceful home office choice. Available with and without arm-rests in a range of colours, this design classic will last a life time.
£1143
Nubo Desk
This remind anyone else pleasingly of Polly Pocket? Like a mid-century suitcase attached to the wall, the Nubo Desk will neatly fold up once you’re done for the day and leave you with plenty of room for a fitness class (snort) or roomy telly binge. Don’t worry about those deadlines — out of sight, out of mind.
£1384
Camilla Swivel Desk Chair
His and Hers plush velvet swivel chairs? Even if both working in the same house just means knocked-elbows and bickering, at least you’ll look great. In a matching set or not, these dusky chairs are beautiful and plump enough to please the most discerning of bottoms.
£598
Nazanin Kamali for Case Celine Desk
A delicate-looking, attractive desk with unfussy storage. The tapered legs and simple design are chic, while the laptop space and drawer provide function on top of the form.
£424
Electric Sit/Stand Rising Workstation
The science has been peer-reviewed and, in summary, it says: want to avoid looking like Quasimodo? Get a standing desk. But if you don’t want to commit to the, uh, ‘look’ of standing desks, a rising workstation is a good solution. It sits on top of your (nice to look at) existing desk, and will raise itself at the push of a button to standing height. Not too bulky when compressed, it could be stashed under the table, and when extended it just looks like sleek black shelves.
£160
IKEA Markus chair
A good choice for those who just want a decent chair without splashing loadsa cash. The IKEA Markus has limited adjustments beyond height and recline but it’s comfy and has a mesh back for breathability.
£179
Bronx Modular Desk
Now this is what mixing form with function is all about. We just love that modern, warehouse-chic design, and the storage space of the extra shelves is a God-send. It’s a fiendishly clever choice for a small but chic home. Got a green-thumb (or well of misguided optimism)? Imagine how cute it’d look covered in trailing plants.
£299
Novani Desk with 3 Drawers
What’s glorious about this number is that once the offices reopen, you’ll still be pleased to have this in the house. It could work just as well as a hallway console as it does a desk. Those drawers are just perfect for hiding away the rubber bands and pizza menus that plague every house across the land.
£399
ERCOL BALLATTA Desk
Don’t you just feel like an architect at this desk? Can’t you already feel the fabulous designs flowing forth from your pencil? Maybe not, but it’s a very stylish place to sit with your camera off during Zoom meetings and resolutely ignore what’s being said. Elegant tapered legs? Check. Handy drawer for storage? Check. Compact enough to fit in your boxy home? Check. Wow, what a multi-faceted gem.
£559
ILOA Saddle Chair
This chair will kill two birds with one stone. Designed in all kinds of science-y ways to work with natural human posture, it should do wonders for that dodgy back. But best of all? It’s small enough that, come cocktail hour (4pm, anyone?) it’ll slot neatly under your desk so that you never have to think about work again. Er, at least until tomorrow.
£370
Oak Furnitureland Parquet Brushed and Glazed Solid Oak
Isn’t this lovely? Super robust thanks to being made of 100% oak and with ample storage, it would work well in an office or bedroom. It also looks rather fetching adorned with books and houseplants, should you want to Insta your workplace rather than, you know, work in it.
£400
IKEA ÖRFJÄLL Children’s desk chair
A great choice for kids. It’s a classic design that comes in blue, pink, or black. The density foam makes the seat extra-comfortable, for long hours of home-schooling (ha, as if!) or gaming alike.
£35
