At the office, a desk chair usually has just one purpose: to keep you comfortably upright in front of a computer.

But at home, “it should be able to do a few things,” said Christine Gachot, a founder of the New York interior design studio Gachot. “Often it’s not just for yourself.”

In addition to serving as a place to sit and write a letter or compose a quick email, for instance, a desk chair ought to be able to function as extra seating at the dining table, or in the living room.

And because a desk chair becomes part of the domestic landscape at home, yet is typically used for shorter periods of time than a chair at the office, “aesthetics are a little bit more important,” Ms. Gachot said, although “you should be comfortable, always.”