With rising rent costs and office space at a premium, maximizing your offices’ square footage is more important than ever. Finding the right size furniture for your waiting room can provide a huge impact on how cramped a space feels. We recently reviewed the best reception desks for a small office and I am now going to look at the best small waiting chairs. Avoiding bulky lounge furniture will help create additional seating and can even make your space feel larger. Let’s take a look at the best waiting room chairs for a small office.
Full Disclaimer: We are an office furniture dealer and sell some of the waiting room furniture we review. To learn more about the products we sell, our review process and why you can trust us, please visit: Why we’re different. Who is BTOD.com and The Breakroom Blog?
4 Best Waiting Chairs for Small Office Links
- Lesro Lenox L1101G5
- BTOD S 2052A
- Lesro Ravenna Q1402G8
- Wooden Mallet Dakota DM3-1
- Three Things to Consider
1. Lesro Lenox L1101G5
2024 Price: $345.99 Where to buy: BTOD.com
The Lenox series by Lesro is our best-selling reception seating line. The L1101G5 also happens to be one of our smallest reception chairs we offer. At only 22.5” wide it is a good option for most small spaces. Lesro offers hundreds of upholstery options, including healthcare grade vinyl for medical facilities. They also offer six different wood finish options and have the capability of matching your existing wood finish for an additional cost. The Lenox series is available in connected chairs that will help save additional space.
LS-L1101G5 Dimensions:
Overall: 22.5”W x 26”D x 31.5”H
Inside Dimensions: 19.5”W x 18”D x 16.75”H
Seat Height: 19″
Arm Height: 26″
Rated for 275 lbs.
Features:
- Open back design for easy cleaning
- Solid hardwood construction
- Matrix seat support system that prevents sagging found on inexpensive seating
- Interlocking wedge system for quick assembly
- Most configurations ship within 10 business days
- Made in the USA
Lenox Series Warranty
All Lesro frames and assemblies are warranted against defects in materials and workmanship for the life of the product. Fabric, vinyl, and Crypton covering are warranted for two years from the date of shipment.
2. BTOD S 2052A
2024 Price: $194.00 Where to buy: Amazon
The BTOD 2052A chair is one of the smallest wood frame waiting chairs I have found. At only 21” wide, it will fit into most spaces. This chair offers very basic upholstery with only a black fabric available with three wood finishes. There are no ganging options available for it, so they will be easier to move around the office. This is one of the least expensive options available with a wood frame but may not hold up as well as some of the more expensive options.
BTOD-2052A Dimensions:
Overall Size: 21”W x 23”D x 32.75”H
Seat Size: 18”W x 19”D x 18.5”H
Back Size: 19”W x 15”H
Rated for 250 lbs.
Features:
- Standard black fabric upholstery ships within one business day
- Open back design for easy cleaning
- Waterfall front seat design helps reduce leg strain
- Solid hardwood frame available in walnut, mahogany and beech
- Made in China
BTOD Chair Warranty
All BTOD frames are warranted for a period of two years. The foam and fabric are also warranted for two years.
3. Lesro Ravenna Q1402G8
2024 Price: $646.99 Where to buy: BTOD.com
The Lesro Ravenna Q1402G8 is a fully upholstered option that is available without arms. The armless version is only 21.5” wide. While armless might not be an option for some spaces, it will maximize the seat width while keeping the overall chair size down. The Lesro Ravenna series is available with arms, but it will make the chair 5.5” wider. Similar to the Lenox series, it is available in hundreds of upholstery options, including the healthcare grade vinyl and Crypton materials. Because the Ravenna series is fully upholstered, the price jumps up quite a bit compared to the other wood and metal frame options.
LS-Q1402G8 Dimensions:
Overall Size: 21.5″W x 29.5″D x 32.5″H
Seat Height: 18″H
Rated For 350 lbs.
Features:
- Matrix seat support system that prevents sagging found on inexpensive seating
- The modular system allows for layout flexibility
- Available in brushed steel or solid wood leg options
- Available with casters for added mobility
- Most configurations ship within 10 business days
- Made in the USA
Lesro Ravenna Warranty
All Lesro frames and assemblies are warranted against defects in materials and workmanship for the life of the product. Fabric, vinyl, and Crypton covering are warranted for two years from the date of shipment.
4. Wooden Mallet Dakota DM3-1
2024 Price: $189.59 Where to buy: Amazon
The Dakota Waves series by Wooden Mallet is a direct competitor of the Lesro Lenox series. Also offered in solid hardwood, their chairs are slightly smaller than the Lenox at only 21.5”. It is available in a ganged version and without arms, providing nice flexibility for different sized spaces. The Dakota Series upholstery selection is limited but does have some standard fabric and healthcare grade vinyl options. It is also available in light oak and medium oak wood finish.
Dimensions:
Overall Dimensions: 21.5″W x 26″D x 37″H
Seat Dimensions: 19.5″W x 16.5″D x 19″H
Rated for 400 lbs.
Features:
- Built with one-inch thick solid oak
- Interlocking wedge system for quick assembly
- Heavy-duty 400 lbs weight capacity
- Clean out gap in the backrest
- Made in the USA
Dakota Series Warranty
All Wooden Mallet products are covered under one year warranty from the original shipment period. This includes the wood frames, frame assemblies, foam padding and upholstery.
5. Three Things to Consider
When designing a small waiting room it’s always important to first consider the flow of traffic. How will your customers be moving through space? Consider where the door is in comparison to the receptionist desk. If privacy is a concern, it’s important to not have your waiting room chairs too close to the receptionist.
The second thing to consider is if you want to gang (link) chairs together. The only downside is that the chairs will be sharing an arm, but it will help save on space. A secondary benefit of ganging chairs together is that it will help maintain the look of the space. Many single chairs are easily moved and can quickly make a waiting area look disorganized.
Lastly, consider not only placing chairs around outside of the room but inside the middle of the room as well. If you have enough space in the middle of the room you can put chairs back to back. This can create a lot of extra seating that would otherwise be wasted space. This will also form natural aisles, so it’s important to allow enough space for customers to walk through the aisles while others are seated.
Comparison
Depending on your needs, each of the four best small waiting room chairs we have listed has advantages. Many medical practices oftentimes require products that have healthcare grade vinyl; something that Lesro and Wood Mallet both offer. The weight capacities vary significantly from 250 lbs on the BTOD chair, up to 400 lbs on the Dakota series. This is typically a sign of a product’s strength; however, the size of seats on these smaller chairs will likely be too small for large customers. Both Lesro and Wooden Mallet products are manufactured in the USA and have a much high-quality standard than our BTOD chair. If you are on a tight budget the BTOD chair is a nice, small wood-framed reception chair at a price point that is tough to beat.
Final Thoughts
Before you make a decision on your new waiting room seating it’s always a good idea to measure again. Many of the items that we featured are custom made and will not be available for return. Even if our list of the best waiting chairs didn’t offer something to fit your needs, I hope it made you think differently about your office space. Utilizing the right size seating will allow you to maximize your square footage without feeling cramped.
More Waiting Room Chairs Resources
- 5 Best Waiting Room Chairs For a Medical Office
- 8 Best Office Guest Chairs For 2024
- Top 5 Problems and Solutions Buying Waiting Room Chairs Online
- How-To: Picking The Right Upholstery For Your Waiting Room Chairs
- How-To Layout and Design The Perfect Waiting Room
- 5 Best Cheap Waiting Room Chairs For Your Office
