At almost the moment it was introduced in 1994, the Herman Miller Aeron Chair became the “It” chair for the office. All the cool kids at the cool offices had them, and hotels began touting the Aeron’s presence in rooms as one of many luxury amenities. And for good reason: it really was luxurious. But not in a gilded object sort of luxurious, but a luxury for the body itself. Everything about the Aeron chair, from the way it conforms to different body shapes and evenly distributes weight, to its fully adjustable nature and PostureFit technology, made it the must-have office chair. It also looked totally cool.
They were also totally expensive for an office chair. Especially a home office chair. Occasionally we would have the “we should get Aeron chairs” conversation, which usually ended with, “Or we could pay off my car!” However, unbeknown to me, my husband had been researching more affordable avenues for Aeron chairs, and finally discovered what I’d like to refer to as The Mothership—the world of Home Office Solutions; specifically, one of its spin-off sites, preownedHMchairs.com. The Mothership is chock full of all sorts of goodness from Knoll, Kartell, Vitra, Steelcase, etc., and at great prices. The pre-owned HM site, however, offered refurbished Aeron chairs at even lower prices.
I was really skeptical of the refurbished thing, which could mean anything from simply being returned to maybe being a Frankenstein chair. But it turns out The Mothership is the largest authorized reseller of HM chairs (and therefore not shady), and when companies sell or trade in their older chairs, the pre-owned site replaces parts like the armrests and casters (and sends you an extra set), and tunes up anything that needs tuning up, selling them at a major discount, 12-year HM warranty, no tax, and free shipping.
So since the Tax Fairy came, we ordered them last week and they arrived on Friday. The chairs look and feel brand new, and there’s not a scratch or dent anywhere on them. They’re insanely comfortable, especially after years of really crappy chairs with no support, and that makes my sad back so happy. Plus we saved a lot of money. Kudos to the husband for his research, and for sticking to our vow to “never pay retail.”
More on chairs from Tchochkes here.
