After more research, including reading a few in-depth articles about upscale chairs from thewirecutter.com and lifehacker.com, I decided that chairs, no matter what the cost, should suit one's individual needs. When I thought about the ideal chair build in which to park my butt for hours at a time, I decided I needed one that would work for:
- Vertically-challenged folks - with adjustable lumbar support
- A habitual sloucher - with adjustable tilt to move the chair slightly forward
- "Lazy Elbows" - with flip up armrests so as not to use them as a crutch
Since I'm currently not made of money, I needed to keep it under $250. I've been saving up for this for awhile and I'm really tired of having a sore butt and back from painting in this chair, though I added a cushion (don't laugh!)...
IKEA.com
Thinking it must be easy to find a chair better than my $25 IKEA chair, I searched for "ergonomic armless chair" and came up with some strange results, including these:
from Officemax.com
from IKEA.com
from Overstock.com
After practically a full day's worth of research and not wanting to drive around in the pouring rain on my day off looking for a chair (and probably dropping too much money on one because, frankly, I crack under the pressure of an aggressive salesperson), I found this: Office Star's Professional Light Air Grid Back Chair with Eco Leather Seat. It has the adjustable lumbar support, flip up arm rests, and adjustable seat. It looks pretty sleek too. I also kept my budget goal. I saw this chair in places for quite a bit more, but you couldn't beat Amazon.com's price of $207 with free shipping.
It should arrive right around the Fourth of July where I'm taking a 4 day weekend. I'll be painting diligently that weekend and will no longer be subject to the $25 IKEA Chair of Shame.