Why do all gaming chairs look like the alien abdomens from Men in Black II?
Here’s our theory: “Successful” office furniture, as both a genre and buyer’s practice, is about what least offends. Which is rough. But in the world of office furniture, especially that which is both good for your back and in tune with your carousel of personal aesthetics, the options out there feel lightyears behind the other areas of home decor. So as we slide into day two of Wayfair’s annual jumbo sale (affectionately known as Way Day), we made it our personal biz to find you the most bananas deals, deals, deals on the most aesthetically tolerable—and possibly even appealing— office chairs, desks, and bookshelves.
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In any other year, we might not have given two sharts about finding better chairs for our backs and stuff like that. But we’ve been doing the WFH thing for a while, will probably continue doing the WFH thing for a while, and have reached the age where our bones can no longer forgive us for doing the perpetual, awkward slouch in a stupid chair [turns to dust].
We wanted to find desks and chairs for small spaces, and entire home office situations that can just fold up into the wall by EOD. We wanted to see just how on-sale some of those super pricey “executive” chairs are, to see if there are actually wheely chairs that won’t kill our vibe (should we need to pull them up to the vaccinated dinner party) and what kind of psycho ass den-throne we could conjur. Pull up a chair, and stay a while.
This fancy chair is literally 94% off
Sweet Jesus. The swivel and tilt mechanism. The smoooooth as a baby’s bottom finish. Normally, this chair costs a few months rent. But now it’s the price of a three-person lobster dinner. We would absolutely trust you to do our taxes, if we saw this in your home.
Modelo High Back Executive Chair, $3,504.99 $209.99 at Wayfair
Optimize that corner, baby
There’s more to this L-shaped desk than meets the eye. It also comes with skid protectors, and has a “360° free rotating [ability] which can provide your desk [with] flexible configuration options to adjust to meet different needs and locations.”
Abbeville L-Shape Desk, $179.99 $139.99 at Wayfair
A cozy mid-century roller
You know that one mid-century accent chair you have in the corner, by the fiddle leaf fig? Well, this is it on wheels. The only office-like thing about it is in the roller bottom, but otherwise you get another plushy, 1960s silhouette.
Wade Logan Carvey Task Chair, $97.99 $81.99 at Wayfair
The old ladder trick
Is it a bookshelf? A plant shelf? A ghostly stairway in the Winchester Mystery House tradition? Keep ‘em guessing. We could write a thesis on the powers of the humble ladder shelf. Mainly: It does not lose your breathable wall space in the same way a reggo bookshelf does. It keeps things light and airy, while adding a little more dimension to your work space. And it’s more than 50 percent off!
Highland Dunes Cherry Wabansia Ladder Bookcase, $99.99 $47.99 at Wayfair
You have a Frank Lloyd Wright art book
This Arts and Crafts movement-looking desk is over 50 percent off, and a great way for us to say “I really loved Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin period.” God, would it look nice with some William Morris wallpaper, or an errant pack of Lucky Strike cigs.
Red Barrel Studio Wenger Writing Desk, $338 $149.99 at Wayfair
Use this as an extra dinner chair
…and have it blend with the upper echelon dining chairs pretty darn well. Also: The look of leather goes with pretty much anything; it’s a forever neutral in the mix-n-match decor game.
Mercury Row Tobias Scratch Resistant Task Chair, $219.99 $159.99 at Wayfair
For the tiny studio apartment
Where the hell was this thing when quarantine started? We sigh at how much easier it would’ve made our lives to have an office you can fold right up into the wall every day, and to keep that healthy work and home separation/boundary going. This hutch is also designed for an easy mount, which our string bean arms appreciate.
Zipcode Design Mahogany Rossville Floating Desk with Hutch, $166.99 $141.99 at Wayfair
It’s a staple for a reason
This chair just cradles your bum so well. It’s the closest we’ll get to crawling back inside the reptilian egg we sprung out of just to write this office furniture deals article for you, and will look just as inoffensive away from the desk as it will tucked under it.
Hashtag Home Wrenshell Plastic Side Chair, $77.99 $61.99 at Wayfair
You’re on a cream color palette
This feels like the kind of desk one would use to come up with paint-by-numbers exercises for children by day, and hold a trendy sculptural candle by night. It also reminds us of vintage IKEA (swoooon) and would easily go for a few hundred bucks at some Memphis Design-y, 1990s Brooklyn boutique. Aaaaand it’s 76 percent off!
Ebern Designs Beige Feltus Desk, $469.99 $114.99 at Wayfair
You also need shelving
But don’t want to install shelves? Same. This desk overcompensates for all of that, and the sale price alone is normally what a basic ass desk or noice wooden chair would cost you.
Inbox Zero Desk with Hutch, $339.99 $179.99 at Wayfair
Welllllll here we are
Go full Matrix. Plug in, or get out, my guy. If you need a gaming hub, ball out on a desk that will actually (comfortably) fit your screens, and have the aesthetic of the bad guy car from Cars. Don’t forget the (very Nascar) chair, of course.
Inbox Zero Gaming Desk, $249.99 $179.99 at Wayfair
Where they come to kiss your ring
YOU! You absolutely unhinged angel. This throne looks like it was stolen from an office space in The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, smelling vaguely of Bumble & Bumble products and Tory Burch leather. That, or the parlor of an Atlantic City casino. Swooooon.
Mercer Wide Tufted Leather Match Armchair, $1,650 $1,289.99 at Wayfair
See you at the water cooler.
The Rec Room staff independently selected all of the stuff featured in this story. VICE may receive a small commission if you buy through the links on our site.
