If you're hybrid working or working from home, you'll know by now that you're going to need more than just that spare dining chair to sit on. There's a reason, after all, that conventional offices aren't full of random superfluous seating, but rather with ergonomically correct pieces. A bad back is going to cost you - or your employer - time and money spent on the neighbourhood chiropractor. More than that, your stylish home needs stylish work-related pieces too, chairs that have benefitted from proper design input to make sure that the hours behind your home desk are surrounded by elegance and support. We'd argue a swivel is essential, not least for turning to yell at the cat, or other household inhabitant. Now, will it be Starck, Jacobsen or Saarinen? Take your pick from the 10 best swivel chairs on the market now...
10 best swivel chairs in 2024
Hem Kendo Swivel Chair 5-Star Castors by LucidiPevere
Ergonomically designed to protect and cosset as you work, Hem's collection of Kendo swivel chairs also epitomise high style. Design, by Milan studio LucidiPevere, allows plenty of room to find your perfect sitting position while the five-star base has a return function. Frame is powder-coated aluminium, upholstery is 98% virgin wool, result is 100% desirable.
Engelbrechts Kevi 2533 by Jørgen Rasmussen
A minimalist Danish classic from 1958. Architect Jørgen Rasmussen came up with the Kevi 2533 when asked to provide furniture for a villa he and his brother had designed for Kevi's CEO. Millions of chairs later, the 2533 lives on in form-follows-function perfection. There's nothing superfluous here. Seat is height-adjustable, while the double casters, now ubiquitous, were invented for this chair.
Hermann Miller Sayl Office Chair by Yves Béhar
Take a look at the distinctive ventilated elastomer back of this highly contemporary piece. It reflects the suspension system of San Francisco's Golden Gate bridge, while simultaneously supporting your spine in its natural s-shape. Designer Yves Béhar says "design’s purpose is not only to show us the future, but to bring us the future." The Sayl chair does that, and then some.
Menu Harbour Dining Chair by Norm Architects
Ultra-minimalist and all the better for that, the Harbour Dining Chair is so embracing and supportive that beyond work, you'll want to use it for breakfast, lunch and quite possibly dinner too. Design for Copenhagen-based Menu is by Egyptian architects Norm and reflects their ethos of creating functional art. Construction is of lightweight aluminium with a choice of swivel or swivel-and-return.
HÅG Capisco Puls 8020 by Peter Opsvik
Looks like something off the Starship Enterprise, created by Norwegian designer Peter Opsvik to circumvent ordinary, possibly harmful, sitting habits. There's a saddle style seat allowing you to find your ideal sitting position, or even to half stand as you work. Varying positions allows for reduced fatigue and better posture. Construction includes 95% recycled plastic, and the Capisco Puls 8020 has won a leading environmental award.
Fritz Hansen Series 7 by Arne Jacobsen
If you're looking for a swivel chair by a true design great for your home office, look no further. Denmark's Arne Jacobsen, designer of everything from remarkable buildings to signature cutlery, came up with the Series 7 in 1955. Today it's regarded as an unimprovable icon. Chair is formed of seven layers of moulded veneer, while the apparently delicate base is in chrome. Wow.
Vitra HAL Studio Chair by Jasper Morrison
Designer Jasper Morrison has been called one of the most influential product designers of our time. The apparent simplicity of his HAL Studio Chair drives that point home in an efficient, subtle, form-follows-function fashion. Seat shell is dyed-through polypropylene, while the five-star base is in die-cast powder-coated aluminium.
Kartell Q/Wood by Philippe Starck
Winner of a prestigious Red Dot award, the Kartell Q/Wood foregrounds the latest advances in materials and ergonomics. Exactly what you'd expect, in other words, from superstar French designer Philippe Starck. Fabric, for instance, is environmentally-friendly Aquaclean, requiring nothing more than water to clean it. Shell is in tactile 3D wood, frame in chrome-plated steel, style irresistible.
Knoll Tulip Armless Chair Swivel Base by Eero Saarinen
Bow down before the perfect beauty of this undisputed classic by architect and designer Eero Saarinen, dating from 1957. Here the swivel base - in aluminium - forms an elegant integral part of the chair, the Tulip's stem. Organic design is not only aesthetically pleasing, but supportive as you work, too. Foam-filled cushion is removable and has a wool cover. A home office sculpture.
Muuto Fiber Conference Armchair by Iskos-Berlin
Sculptural lines mark out the newly released Fiber Conference Chair which, as its designers put it, "refuses to compromise on comfort and invites the user to be seated for hours on end". Copenhagen-based Iskos-Berlin produce museum quality work, selected among others for the Museum of Modern Art in New York. "We see design as the art of story-telling," this design duo says. This one is a tale of comfort and style.
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