When you’re looking for a new phone, laptop or TV, it’s really easy to head to a store to check them out in person and many times, you can even go hands-on with a product before making your final decision. Unfortunately, the same can rarely be said for home office furniture.
Sure, if you’re in the U.S., you can go to Office Depot, Staples or even Ikea if you’re looking for a new office chair or desk. However, all three of these retailers either sell private label chairs under their own brand name or in the case of IKEA, it sells chairs it designs and makes on its own.
I’ve been reviewing the best office chairs as well as the best standing desks for years now and during that time, I’ve tried out some fantastic chairs from Branch, Vari, X-Chair, Steelcase and many other popular brands. However, I haven’t gotten a chance to try out any chairs from Herman Miller yet.
Fortunately for me though, Herman Miller is one of the only home office furniture makers that has its own retail stores. When I found there was one 30 minutes from my house, I jumped in the car and headed there for a chance to see the company’s iconic Aeron and Embody chairs in person along with the rest of its lineup. While I thought the Aeron would surely be my favorite, after trying them all out, I found another Herman Miller office chair that I actually like even more.
Here’s how my trip to the Herman Miller store went and why I absolutely recommend heading there yourself if you’re setting up your own home office or just looking for your next office chair upgrade.
Even better in person
The Herman Miller store closest to me is located in The Woodlands but there are actually two locations in Houston. However, there’s a pretty good chance there’s one near you too, as the company has 64 stores throughout the U.S along with several in Canada, the U.K. and in Europe.
Even though you can just walk right in and start testing out chairs, I called ahead of time as I wanted to take big pictures and have someone walk me through the ins and outs of all of Herman Miller’s chairs. To that end, the store’s manager Chase gave me the okay and told me that their performance specialist Fernando would give me the rundown on each of the chairs and all of their adjustment points.
When I arrived, we started at the front of the store and made our way to the back with Fernando explaining all of the different models and what set them apart from one another. I also got to look at a few of the best gaming chairs from Herman Miller which was nice as they’ve become quite popular after the company started making them after partnering with Logitech.
What I really liked about the Herman Miller store was the fact that they have all of their most popular models lined up when you walk in. In the picture above, you can see the Lino, Setu, Sayl, Cosm, Mirra 2, Embody and of course the Aeron chair all the way on the left.
If you’re unsure about which type of office chair is right for you, a setup like this gives you a chance to try out several different types of office chairs to help narrow down what works for you. Once Fernando’s walkthrough was done, I went and tested out each one from the right to the left. Once I got to the end, it was time to try out the Aeron in person and while it was easy to see why this particular chair has the cult following that it does thanks to its iconic design and bevy of adjustment points and customization options, I actually walked away the most impressed with one of the chairs in the middle.
Not the Aeron nor the Embody
The Aeron and the Embody next to it are two of Herman Miller’s most well-known chairs and they’ve both been around for quite some time. The Aeron was first released 30 years ago while the Embody is almost 20 years old. However, it was the more recent Herman Miller Cosm chair that impressed me the most.
The Cosm is an all-mesh office chair that’s built a bit differently than the Aeron or the Embody. Instead of having multiple adjustments you can make to its seat, armrests and backrest to get the right fit for you, the Cosm only has one. While you can raise or lower the chair’s height, you don’t really have to adjust anything else thanks to its Auto-Harmonic Tilt.
Designed by Studio 7.5 in Berlin, this feature actually took years to get right. In a blog post detailing the Cosm’s design process, designer Roland Zwick explained that the team wanted to create “a chair that allows you to change postures as easily as possible” but that only works when the chair is adjusted correctly. To that end, Studio 7.5 made a chair that automatically adjusts to your body as you move throughout the day.
I don’t know if it’s because I’m a sucker for minimalistic, mesh office chairs or perhaps it reminded me of the Steelcase Karman I reviewed last year, but when I sat in the Cosm, it was immediately my favorite out of all the chairs in the store.
Low, mid or high-back
Another thing that impressed me with the Herman Miller Store I visited is that they have several versions of their most popular chairs in the back. While they had all three size configurations for the Aeron on the other side of the desk pictured above, I was interested in checking out the three different backrest options for the Cosm.
The chair is available with a low, mid or high-back depending on your preference and you can also choose between three armrest styles and whether you want casters (wheels) for carpets or dual mode ones that work on both carpets and hardwood floors
The low-back Cosm chair with Herman Miller’s Canyon finish immediately caught my eye as its color scheme and reversed armrests reminded me a lot of the Branch Verve chair I reviewed last year. It’s worth noting that if you opt for the dual-mode casters, their inner section matches the chair’s frame.
Of the three versions of the Cosm chair they had at the store, the high-back one really stood out as well thanks to its unique armrests. These are what Herman Miller calls Leaf Arms and like the rest of the chair, they’re also made of mesh. You’ll notice that they’re angled downward and there’s a reason behind this. When you lean back in the Cosm chair, these armrests don’t go all the way back with you like the ones on other chairs do. Instead, they end up being parallel with your desk so that you can still use your keyboard even while reclined. It’s a nice touch and the first pair of mesh armrests I’ve seen yet.
Worth a visit
While you probably don’t live and breathe home office furniture like I do, I still highly recommend taking a trip to check out your own Herman Miller store. Not only did I have a great time seeing all of the company’s most popular chairs in person but I also learned a lot about their design and the history behind them. Plus, Herman Miller doesn’t just do office furniture, so you might get a few ideas on how to give the rest of your home an upgrade as well.
Likewise, if you’re moving from working in an office to working from home, being able to see all of these different chairs in person will help give you a better idea of what will work for you. Trust me, there’s nothing worse than doing all your research on a chair, ordering it, assembling it and then finding out that it doesn’t work for your body type or workflow.
I really enjoyed my time at my local Herman Miller store and I plan on going back the next time the company updates one of their office chairs or adds a new model to its growing line of gaming chairs.
