Which chair?

The painters are done, and once the trash collection service gets back to work and the bulky trash is gone, it’ll be time for the final step. I can set up a little sewing room. I’m really excited, but now I’m faced with the chair dilemma. Should I get one with or without casters? The floor is laminate, and in my office I have a chair with casters, but it really does slide around quite a bit. Wouldn’t that be a bit of a hassle when sewing because of the foot pedal? So maybe better without casters? The room is very small, so I don’t have to constantly move from A to B—I can reach almost everything from the sewing table.

Veronika, I also sit on an office chair with casters—okay, I have carpet in my room—but it has the advantage that you don’t have to get up; you can just roll away and do something else :-)))

Hugs, Inge

Yes, that was the argument for the office chair, but it doesn’t really apply in the sewing room—it’s smaller than the office. I’m just worried that it would keep rolling away when I use the sewing machine pedal.

No, it’s not a problem at all if you put a rug where the chair is, but even on the smooth floor, my chair didn’t roll away—it stayed right where it was supposed to be.

Hugs, Inge

Hi Veronika,
it’s great that you’re setting up a little sewing room. I can understand your excitement. It’s really nice when everything has its place and you can just leave your sewing supplies lying around.

I actually featured my sewing room, which is our converted attic, in a blog post once. There you can see that I use a swivel chair (office chair). Before my renovation, I also had exactly this small space in front of my desk. Even though I couldn’t roll the chair very far to the right or left, I could still swivel it and get up more easily. The chair didn’t roll away while I was sewing—simply because my weight kept it anchored in place. And my other leg also helped keep it steady.


When you have one foot on the pedal of your sewing machine, the other is on the floor. So you tend to sit with your legs apart and sit stably on your swivel chair.

Now, I have carpet in my sewing room, not laminate flooring. But I find it hard to believe that all five casters would rotate on their own into a position that allows the chair to move by itself. If necessary, you could place an “anti-slip mat” underneath.

As you can tell, I’m “Team Swivel Chair.” Regular chairs would be too rigid for me. Just having to push the chair back every time I stand up would bother me. That’s easier with a swivel chair.

I hope you continue to enjoy setting up your sewing room.

Best regards, Ina

Yeah, definitely a swivel chair—that’s a given. I was just wondering whether to get one with or without casters because of the smooth floor. I’d rather not put down carpet—I’m allergic to house dust, so it’s easier to just wipe the floor down quickly.

Are there swivel chairs without casters?

But there are also swivel chairs where the casters have locking brakes. You can then choose whether the casters should be able to turn in all directions, or whether you just stand on the five swivel legs and the seat moves. That would give you all the options in case the laminate floor turns out to be too slippery.

There are some really great swivel chairs without casters out there! I’d prefer one of those.

Maybe Veronika should just go to a furniture store and try some out. They usually have smooth floors there, too. Nothing beats a hands-on test. 

I also have an office swivel chair. There are different types of casters—some are designed for carpet, others for smooth surfaces. If you’re careful, there’s nothing better! You can easily stand up and sit down without having to drag the chair across the floor!