No. 1: My desk and extra living room chair
This is the generic version of the famous “DSW” Eames Chair, but much cheaper and from my local World Market. I liked the design so much that I have two of the same chair, originally bought for the living room to provide extra seats for friends. When I moved to my current apartment, I didn’t have a proper desk chair and borrowed the second from the other room. Besides the material being quite hard and cold, the plastic is actually molded well to a human form. Although it doesn’t have armrests, it is comfortable enough to sit in for an hour or so (to watch a movie or play board games on the coffee table). The height of the seat is perfect for me to rest my feet flat on the ground (being five feet tall), but I suppose it would be different for taller people. Aesthetically it is pleasing, and it gets the job done.
No. 2: The worst counter-height stool
I posted about this chair as the “object I hate” because I avoid sitting at the dining table because of it. It is a stool and provides a curved top for a more comfortable experience, but it’s other features prove otherwise. The foot rests are too high to rest on, as my knees are constantly in a weird, disjointed position. It also has no back rest, and promotes bad posture and pain if I sit here for over thirty minutes. The only time I find this stool of use is when I have to climb up high to reach something. I bought these in college because they were $12 each, but feel like I haven’t gotten my money’s worth because they are not ergonomically comfortable.
No. 3: The drum throne used to play the keyboard
My boyfriend’s roommate is a drummer, so we use this chair to play his keyboard. It is an ergonomically cushioned seat, and is the most comfortable “stool” I have ever sat on. The cushion is lined with leather, and the top is a nice, black velvet fabric that provides a pleasant smoothness. The height can be adjusted by the metal knob on the main stand, and the feet are made of rubber to help absorb shock when a drummer is going hard. So far on the list, this is my favorite chair. Although it doesn’t have a back rest, this probably gives a drummer the ability to move around better. I should also mention that it swivels to accommodate where the person has to pivot. It is a superb stool.
No. 4: The office chair
My boyfriend’s desk has an IKEA office chair. While he says it was fairly cheap, it is quite ergonomically fitting and comfortable. The fabric is made of vinyl which absorbs most of my body heat, the arm rests allow for me to be rested at the desk, and there is a lever below to adjust the height. I’ve noticed that changes in height make a big difference in terms of fitting a number of people, and this could market easily to a mass majority. Although it doesn’t have an extreme amount of cushion, it keeps the user from falling asleep to be more productive. It’s a mediocre chair that works better than a standard four-legged chair for someone sitting at a desk.
No. 5: The big, huge lawn chair (my mother and I for size reference)
Okay, I know this looks ridiculous… but it’s more of a placemaking technique for Lake Las Vegas. It is a white, wooden oversized picnic/lawn chair that isn’t really for function, but mostly fun and looks. Because of the size, it acted as more of a lounge chair because my feet were barely reaching the edge of the seat. The seat was slanted downwards, making it quite comfortable to rest against the backing, but that made it difficult to get up and out of it. The armrests served as a nice surface to put our coffee, and if it were normal-sized, it would probably be a properly functioning picnic chair. Overall, this felt like more of an art piece to experience something larger than life and provided a fun novelty.
No. 6: The Netherlandish bench
This is a picture I took of a bus bench in Amsterdam back in May. While I thought it was cute and aesthetically interesting because of the illustration on it, it was a decent bench. Made of wooden planks bolted to a metal frame, the form contoured to my body. This bench was intended for people waiting around for little amounts of time, and didn’t serve much past it’s function. The form also affords for people to lie down if needed!
No. 7: My cardboard chair
I made this chair out of one piece of cardboard for a Principles of Design class back in undergrad. I was aiming for a more unique formed chair, and didn’t pay much attention to comfort (and passing the assignment by having an 150-pound person sit on it without having it collapse). If I’m being honest, the back didn’t serve much of a function because it wasn’t secured during construction, so the comfort of the chair wasn’t prevalent. I enjoyed the process of making it, but probably should have focused more attention on the comfort and human ergonomics.