Can you Use Dining Chair as an Office Chair?

When working comfortably, you need an office chair that supports your weight, posture, and prolonged working habit.

In simple terms, you need an ergonomic chair.

Dining chairs are great for short periods of sitting, but they do not accommodate the longer hours required by an ideal office chair. In addition, using one as an office chair can harm your health.

Moreover, it promotes bad body posture and will significantly affect your overall productivity.

However, you can enhance your dining chair’s seating, length, lumbar support, and armrest to convert it into a functional office chair.

Read on to learn about appropriate office chairs and how to turn your uncomfortable dining chair into a functional working chair.

Difference Between Office Chair and Dining Chair

Dining chairs do not fare well compared to office chairs because they are built entirely for different purposes.

Sitting on a dining chair is only suitable for short activities like eating and cutting groceries. In contrast, an office chair serves a multitude of purposes.

Here, we have pointed out a few primary differences between the office chair and the dining chair.

Factors	Office Chair	Dining Chair
TIME SPENT	A person spends an average of 4-6 hours sitting on an office chair every day.	A dining chair is rarely used for over an hour a day. An average breakfast may last 10-15 minutes, while lunch and dinner may last 15-30 minutes.
ERGONOMICS	An office chair is designed for ergonomics; efficiency, and comfort.	A dining chair is designed for comfort while eating and to enhance the décor.
HEIGHT	An office chair may have a customizable seat height to accommodate the desk’s varying sizes.	A dining chair usually has a height of 17-20 inches to accommodate quickly picking and eating food.
COMFORT	Office chair is solely designed for the convenience of the worker.	A dining chair may only be comfortable to sit for a short time.
HEALTH BENEFITS	Office chair promotes good health by correcting your posture while working.	A dining chair may or may not correct posture because it lacks lumbar support and an adequately angled backrest.
ADJUSTABLE	Most office chairs are adaptable to your need, such as reclining the back, lowering or raising the height, and wheel casters to move around.	A dining chair is not adjustable and may come in prefixed sizes with immobile legs.

Moreover, using an appropriate office chair has some tell-tale benefits that a dining chair may not offer.

• Prevention of fatal diseases like Diabetes, Cardiovascular diseases, and joint issues.
• Lower the chances of body pain from bad postures.
• Promotes better mood and energy by beating the stress

Is it Good to Work Sitting on Dining Chair?

The first thing you should consider when turning your dining chair into an office chair is, “How am I going to use my office chair.”

Suppose you see yourself sitting for a significant time of the day. In that case, a dining chair may not encourage a good body posture or comfort.

According to ChaireOffice.co.uk’s article, Dining room chairs do not promote prolonged use. They lack any adjustable features and offer not much in support of your back, neck, and arms.

A wrongly designed chair may encourage a wrong body posture, such as hunching forward, slouching your back, or overbending your neck to take a good look at the screen.

Moreover, a dining chair with an improper height will prevent keeping your feet flat on the ground and directly under your knees.

Sitting in the wrong position for an extended period will invite health problems.

However, if you frequently get up, walk around, or spend significantly less time sitting, choosing a dining chair would not be the wrong choice either.

Do you want to skip the office chair altogether, check out a list of chair alternatives for your lower back pain.

Things to Consider Before Using a Dining Chair as Office Chair

Investing in a good home office chair becomes SUPER important, with everyone spending more time working at home.

A plain dining chair may not be an ergonomic choice for an office chair, but you can still use your dining chair as a functional office chair.

Take a look at a few factors before deciding otherwise.

1. Consider Ergonomics

An ergonomic chair promotes a healthy sitting posture by evenly supporting your shoulders, buttocks, hips, and spine.

Research showed that employees are 17.7 % more productive when working in an ergonomic setting. Therefore, your first consideration should be the chair’s ergonomics.

Determine if your dining chair fulfills the ergonomic chair’s qualities, such as a well-cushioned seat, appropriate chair height, armrest, lumbar support, and reclined backrest.

The prolonged use of a plain dining chair may encourage abnormal body position, leaving you tired and clumsy throughout the day.

Hence, consider making your dining chair a makeover before converting it into an office chair.

2. Purpose of your Office Chair

Decide the length of time spent sitting on a chair every day.

Not everyone sits for hours on an office chair. Some may spend at least 8 hours on their chair while others may spend hardly 3-4 hours.

When you spend less time sitting, buying an expensive task chair (ergonomic chair) may not be worthwhile, and choosing a dining chair may not be such a bad idea after all.

However, if you should spend significant time sitting on a chair, such as working on the computer, writing, or assembling small parts, you need a good task chair.

Using a dining chair as a task chair may not prove beneficial to your health and productivity.

3. Health Issues

Using a dining chair for an office chair may not be appropriate for people with severe health conditions such as joint issues, arthritis, and back pain.

Sitting for an extended period, that too, in the wrong chair, will only worsen your health conditions.

In addition, it may encourage bad body posture leading to chances of body pain.

According to a study, if you live a sedentary (inactive) lifestyle, you may have a higher chance of being obese, developing Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and experiencing anxiety.

If you are facing severe health ailments, avoid using your dining chair for an office chair altogether.

As per ScientificAmerican.com, sitting for more than half the day approximately doubles the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular problems.

Even if you do, consider upgrading your dining chair with ergonomic features.

Using an ergonomic chair comes with many benefits. It supports your body posture for good health and provides functional benefits.

What is an Appropriate Office Chair?

A chair should boast a 95-105 degree angle between the seat and the back to sit comfortably for an extended duration.

The seating should be 2-10 degrees off horizontal with an optimum seat height from the floor.

Project for Public Spaces suggests a seat height of 18 inches is ideal for a comfortable posture. At the same time, a slight curve at the lumbar support provides a balanced upper body posture.

According to the Smithsonian Institution Accessibility Guidelines, seating that is too narrow, too high, or too short inhibits the usability of space and runs counter to the goal of providing an enjoyable and comfortable space for a variety of users.

They must typically be at least 18 inches deep and between 16 and 20 inches in height.

An office chair should have lumbar adjustment, so the user can get the proper fit to support your spine’s natural inward curve.

It keeps your back muscles from getting tired too soon. Chair material is another consideration for an office chair.

Choose well-cushioned material for the seating, and backrest and sturdy plastic or wood structure for stability.

Choosing vinyl and ultra-leather for seat cushions and backrests proves to be durable.

Although slightly expensive, it makes cleaning and maintenance easy.

If your current dining chair does not have these basic dimensions, drop the idea of turning it into an office chair altogether.

Otherwise, consider making some improvements to your dining chair.

How to Make Your Dining Chair More Comfortable?

Start with making your dining chair ergonomic and functional for everyday use.

Adjusting the dining chair for an appropriate dimension may seem impossible; therefore, consider upgrading them with a few add-ons.

Here are five actionable tips to turn your simple dining chair into a functional office chair.

1. Adjust the Chair Seat’s Height

When sitting, your feet should touch the floor flat with your knees bent at a 90-degree angle.

Dining chair heights range from 17 to 19 inches (43-49 cm), while office chairs may come in 16-21 inches.

Therefore, your home office chair should adjust according to height and leg length.

It may be hard to tell just by looking at the chair; hence consider using this chart to find an appropriate chair seat height.

Height	Ideal Chair Seat Height
5-feet (151.5 cm)	16.2” (40.9 cm)
5’ 5” (164 cm)	17.2” (44.2 cm)
5’ 10” (176.5)	18.9” (48.3 cm)
6’ 2” (186.5 cm)	19.9 inches (49.6 cm)

Here are a few ways to raise your average chair’s height.

• Consider using a chair raiser, an artificial base added to the bottom of the chair’s legs. It usually comes in sizes 1-inch to 5-inches and individual or interconnected designs.
• Add casters to raise the chair’s height and make it movable naturally. Caster is detachable wheels that raise or lower your chair’s height.
• Use a chair cushion to raise the height of the chair’s base.
• Hire a carpenter to cut the chair’s legs to lower its height.

Related Article: What should be the ideal height of your office chair?

2. Add a Lumbar Pillow

Most lower-end office chairs lack lumbar support altogether, and your dining chair will likely lack one too.

A study revealed that an office chair equipped with an external lumbar pillow effectively increases comfort for lower back pain.

The chair with a lumbar pillow maximizes support of the spine and improves your posture to solve musculoskeletal conditions.

Fortunately, you can add a custom lumbar pillow to your dining chair by making a simple modification.

Place a lumbar support pillow vertically across any regular dining chair to rest against the lower part of the back.

Here are a few recommendations for a lumbar pillow.

Alternatively, you can momentarily roll a towel or small pillow and use them as lumbar support.

3. Upgrade Seat Cushion

The poorly designed chair seat makes prolonged sitting on a dining chair so uncomfortable.

Dining chairs often boast seats that are too firm, too thin, or lack proper contours to spread your body weight evenly.

Luckily, you can upgrade your dining chair seat by adding a custom seat cushion designed for prolonged sitting.

Get an external seat cushion from Everlasting or ComfiLife specifically designed with features to stabilize your pelvis.

Note: Seat cushions that evenly distribute your weight eliminate exerting pressure in the coccyx area to prevent sciatica problems, hip pain, and herniated discs.

4. Add Armrest Pads

Try making your plain dining chair armrest a makeover by adding well-cushioned pads.

For chairs with armrests made of plastic or wood, adding an external armrest can help support your upper body weight.

A report suggests that our arms (including hands) comprise roughly 10% of our body’s weight.

Having that weight unsupported can impact the level of comfort.

Hence, consider adding an external armrest with plush material to your dining chair to improve its functionality.

Consider adding an external armrest if your dining chair does not have an armchair.

Check out EZ-Sit’s Foldable Armrest for your dining chair.

Related Article: What should be the ideal armrest position?

5. Add Headrest

The headrest on a chair significantly reduces tension in the shoulders, arms, and torso by supporting the back of the skull and upper neck.

Moreover, it provides better posture and overall comfortability.

You can add an external headrest to your dining chair, and if you love working longer hours, you should consider adding an external one.

Check out some of the best choices for external headrests for an existing office chair.

6. Add Footrest

A footrest comes in handy to rest your feet when perching or leaning on the chair.

Moreover, it supports your legs when the chair seat’s height is unusually higher, such as taller dining chairs.

While a few dining chairs may come built-in with a footrest, especially for people with short legs, it may not be standard with every home chair.

Therefore, consider adding one by yourself by installing a custom footrest to your wooden or metal dining chair.

Adding a footrest may depend on the chairs and makers, so check with the seller before buying a new dining chair.

Alternatively, you can consider using a foot cushion as a footrest.

Read more: Should you use dining table as work desk?

Final Verdict

Using a dining chair for a home office for a short period is not a bad idea, but avoid using them for prolonged usage.

Most people will invest in suitable clothing, food, bed, and other accessories, so why not invest in a good office chair?

Sitting on the wrong chair has far-reaching effects on your mood and productivity. Lousy posture affects the whole body.

Therefore, invest in good ergonomic office chairs, or enhance your dining chair into a functional office chair with a few external improvements.

Related Article: How to make wooden chair comfortable for working?