SAYL Chair

Is it possible to be in love with an inanimate object?  I am certainly in love with the newest (non-living) member of our family, the SAYL Chair by Yves Behar for Herman Miller.  Very rarely do I spend a lot of money on myself, and when I do it’s usually associated with guilt, but with this latest splurge, I hesitated for merely a second.  The desk chair that we bought 6 years ago at Bed Bath and Beyond for what couldn’t have been more than $40 has finally reached the end of its life.  Over the years, the screws underneath the seat holding it all together have fallen out and gradually we have lost some of these critical components, making the seat loose and creaky.  The final straw came when I sat in the chair and one of the arms immediately went crashing to the floor.  It was time to say goodbye to our cheapo desk chair.

From this....

To this.

I decided it was time to purchase a chair that’s comfortable and meant to last.  Being a lover of all things design-related, my first stop on the office chair search was Herman Miller.  At two of the architecture firms I have worked, I had the Aeron Chair at my desk, which is also from Herman Miller.  The Aeron Chair is quite possibly the most comfortable chair I have ever sat in.  Quickly seeing that this was out of our price range, I set my sights on SAYL.  Marketed as an “affordable” option, I decided to go for it, to splurge on myself like I hardly ever do.  After making sure the reviews were favorable, I purchased the SAYL Chair (only with the default options, no extras) and waited 4 weeks for it to arrive.  The wait time was well worth it!

Everything about this chair is ideal.  The seat cushion and back are firm enough to be supportive, but have enough give to be comfortable as well.  Not to mention it looks great!  “Inspired by the principles of suspension bridges, the frameless back of the SAYL work chair encourages a full range of movement while the suspension back material keeps you cool—all with an extremely small environmental impact” [Herman Miller].  I plan on using this chair for a very long time.