Standing all day isn’t good for you either

Our philosophy is that sitting is a luxury, so you should be sitting well. You need to feel comfortable when sitting…

We did a market research to find the best stools that work well with height-adjustable standing desks, and are happy to share what we’ve learned. Unfortunately we were only able to test half of them (nicely given to us) but as we want to be fair in our judgment, we won’t tell you which ones. So not all of them have been tested on comfort.

The way we did our evaluation:

Step 1: Binge Google: find every possible stool

Step 2: Remove the most hideous ones

Step 3: Learn more about criteria important to us

Materials used

Manufacturing location

Corporate social responsibility

Customer service

Price

Step 4: Send out e-mails to top 10 to test their customer service

Step 5: Choose top 5

Overall, we found lots of funky, crappy, and threatening stools. Luckily, some of them actually seemed to fit our philosophy of “luxury product”. In general it was very hard to find out where the stools were manufactured and the material specs were not easily accessible. Our e-mails asking more info about materials and manufacturing wasn’t ignored: 8 out of 10 companies responded within 4 days, with Aeris as a winner who responded the next day.

Move by Varier

This beautiful looking stool has a very comfortable seat and allows for a range of motions. It is manufactured in Poland using environmentally friendly materials, which are sourced locally and meet sustainable standards – read more. Varier, headquartered in Norway, has high ethical and environmental practices and has a culture to turn profits into value for future generations. Interesting to know, Varier has been formed out of the “Movement by Stokke” (best known for their Tripp Trapp chair) explaining the simplicity and user-friendliness of the design and its great price-quality.

Different models:

3 heights, each with a set height range

Base (lacquered Ash): Natural / Black / White / Grey

Fabric & Color:

100% Trevira CS: Red / Black / Light grey

95% Wool + 5% Polyamide: Grey

88% Wools + 12% Polyamide: Light blue

Semi aniline leather: Black

Price: From €399 up to €629

Focal Upright seating series: Mogo – Pivot – Mobis – Locus

Focal Upright positions itself in ergonomic office furniture, making their studies available online. Their seats indeed score very high on ergonomics, but this goes with a bit of compromise in the details of design. According to them, the perfect posture for your body is a 135° leaning posture, which is supported with their seats. Their most affordable model, the Mogo seat, is the most simple of all the stools we’ve seen, and its very mobile. Their most expensive version, the locus seat, includes a nicely integrated anti-fatigue mat.

The seat parts are sourced in Germany and China, and assembled in Rhode Island. Material spec lists are available for each product on their website. The seats come with different color options and prices range from $99 to $715.

A nice comparison list to find your perfect fit is available on their website.

The Muvman sit-stand stool by Aeris

On first sight the Muvman seems similar to Focal’s Mobis seat, with the price difference of $200 more. However, the Muvman has some important features that make it even more ergonomic: it has a handle bar to carry it around, and it has a unique seat technology and cushioning which gives way to body pressure and thus ensures free blood circulation and a pleasant seat climate. The Muvman also makes a clear statement in design: stylish, elegant, and distinctive.

The seats are manufactured in Horgau, Germany, and the product specs are available here (more material details). Translated from their website: ”Aeris products are durable, reparable, practically 100% recyclable and of natural ergonomic excellence.”

The base (Glass-fibre reinforced polyamide, coated) comes in black and grey, and the seat (88 % Polyester, 12 % Polyurethane) colors are black, grey, blue and green.

Thread stool family by Coordination

This one is for design lovers! Having these stools in your office is a clear fashion statement. Surprisingly, they also score very high on the ecofriendly scale, and can be proud about their Green Product Award 2014‘.The steel frames are hard-soldered by one of the last remaining European bicycle manufacturers. All woodwork is done by a third-generation family enterprise in the south of Germany established in 1946. Finally, the stools are assembled in Berlin. Unfortunately great design comes with a price; starts from €545.

The stand-up by Wilkhahn



Actually, these colorful, cheerful and eye-catching objects are even more a fashion statement. However, they score better on ergonomics, as they support a leaning posture thanks to their 50° angle, rather than a normal sitting position. The hollow body is made from expanded polypropylene and the base from black, anti-slip plastic. The fabrics comes in 5 colors: black, red, orange, green, and blue. They come with a strap, so you can easily carry them around for a more flexible way of working. The standups are 67 cm/26.4 inch, and cost €251.

The HiLo by Knoll

This cool looking pogo stick is the newest and creates a refreshing addition to our favorite stools list. The first prototypes debuted at NeoCon on June 14th in Chicago, with the expectation of having the product available in the fall of this year. The seat is a perfect interplay between fun and functional. Keep an eye out to be the first one to get the HiLo into your (home) office!

Although we believe sitting shouldn’t be the standard, we do believe that stools need to perform above our current standards! Hopefully this list helps you find your perfect seat, so you can enjoy working optimally at your standing desk.

We’d love to hear from you if you have been using one of these listed here, or if we missed one that you are particularly happy with.

Happy stand-sitting!

