Ikea Langfjall chair review: the best seating option for your WFH office

If working from home has become more painful than productive, our home writer's tried-and-tested Ikea Langfjall chair review will make you want to invest in a new office chair to save you from aches and pains.

After scouring the stores for the very best desk chairs, the Langfjall model grabbed our attention, not only for its attractive appearance and amazing price point but also for the range of functional features geared towards making the working day that much more comfortable. 

Lumbar support and a tilt mechanism so you can adjust the back are the main points that stood out, as you don’t often get those features with a more affordable design. You can also adjust the height, which puts it up there with some of the more pricey chairs on offer.   

Interested? Here's why we feel the Ikea Langfjall chair is a purchase well worth making and worthy of a spot in your home office...

Langfjall chair review: everything you need to know

1. Price of the Ikea Langfjall chair

At $239 (£150) without armrests and $269 (£179) with, the Langfjall chair isn’t the cheapest option out there, but neither is it going to put too much of a strain on the purse strings. You may want to invest in a more expensive ergonomic desk chair that’s focused purely on comfort, but if you’re looking for a design that is as stylish as it is comfortable, then we suggest giving this model a whirl for yourself. 

2. Design of the Ikea Langfjall chair

Design-wise, curves are in—from pill-box shape mirrors to round dining tables and softly sculpted sofas, we’ve seen this trend hit the interiors market in a big way recently. The undulating curves of the Langfjall chair pay tribute to that, with a rounded back and seat, and tapered arms that work beautifully to create a unique and stylish piece of furniture.

“The clean, slightly curved lines of LÅNGFJÄLL swivel chair are inspired by the human body, and accentuated by sewn details," says Ikea designer Eva Lilja Löwenhielm. "Our goal was to design a work chair that would fit into both office and living room— maybe even around the dining table. An ergonomic chair that’s as good to sit on as it is to look at, whether you’re working long hours or savoring a delicious dinner. We also made it easy to adjust and hid the mechanisms underneath the seat, all in the name of design.”

And don’t worry if you’re not falling for the Gunnared Beige color either, as this chair comes in a choice of three colorways—including dark grey and a sweet brown pink. We particularly like that the frame of the chair is in a powder-coated white, rather than the more traditional chrome, which gives it a fresh, modern look that’s likely to coordinate with a wide range of interior schemes. It will make it a lot easier to figure out how to decorate your home office.

On the practical side, the chair is a swivel design and has castors, as you’d expect from a good desk chair, meaning you can roll from desk to filing cabinet quickly and easily. There’s no chance of rolling off when you don’t want to though, due to the pressure-sensitive brake which keeps it in place when you stand up and sit down.

3. Comfort of the Ikea Langfjall chair

It can be said that you get what you pay for, but in this case, the comfort factor certainly outweighs the price. We like that you can tilt the back of the chair to adjust the position for your posture, albeit with an Allen key, which is stored neatly in a zipped compartment on the underside of the seat. You can also adjust the height of the chair pretty easily using a small hidden mechanism—so you can make sure your feet are flat on the floor when you’re seated, as is recommended. 

The cold-foam seat is a generous size, which is a bonus as some of the more compact chairs can be slightly on the narrow side, and it’s covered in a cotton mix fabric, so it’s a softer seat than some hardwood chair designs. Is it the absolute softest seat out there? No, but it’s also not going to have you itching to get up after an hour or two. 

4. Specifications of the Ikea Langfjall chair

Tested for: 110kg / 242lbs

Width: 68cm

Depth: 68cm

Max height: 92cm

Seat width: 53cm

Seat depth: 41cm

Min seat height: 43cm

Max seat height: 53cm

So, is the Ikea Langfjall chair worth the money?

So, do we recommend the Ikea Langfjall chair? Would we buy it ourselves? The answer is yes. It’s sleek, it’s stylish, it has built-in lumbar support and a tilt mechanism that many of the more standard chairs don’t have, and it’s affordable. Plus, you'll be happy to know you’ll get a 10-year guarantee from Ikea with this chair.

If you’re looking for more of an investment chair, and don’t mind splurging, you may prefer a more heavy-duty ergonomic desk chair with all the frills and science behind it. We found the Langfjall chair to be a great all-rounder for anyone wanting a little bit of everything: functionality, practicality and aesthetics.