Review: Herman Miller Envelop Reclining Desk

The Herman Miller Embody chair is the best we've sat on, but its creators wanted a companion desk so your entire working experience comfortable. The desk wraps around your body like a blanket. A hard, wooden blanket.

The Price

$1000, but there are deals available

The Verdict

It's a fine desk, and it's even finer if you have bad posture. Think of it as a back brace—if you slouch, you're forced to stand upright, but if you're already fine, you'll notice no real difference.

The secret is that the top of the desk—the desk surface and the black arm-rest part—slides down toward your stomach to envelop you. This forces you to sit in the recommended position in your Embody, having your entire back being supported by the back of the chair. It eliminates hunching-over-your-keyboard syndrome, and brings the display and peripherals closer to you rather than you being closer to it.

I've used the desk for a couple months now and it's a very good desk, provided you're a regular person with at most a laptop and a monitor or two. What it can't support securely is a giant setup with a 27-inch iMac and a 30-inch Dell display, which is what I have. One, yes, but both, no. The desk is definitely not un-sturdy, but the combination of having the top be slidable and lots of equipment isn't a smart one.

My major issue with the desk—and the Embody chair, actually—is the price. The desk hovers somewhere around $1000. You can get a perfectly fine desk for half that much, one that can support, say, two people conducting themselves inappropriately in an office. But if you've already got an Embody chair, the Envelop desk really is a perfect companion for it. And if you have an Embody chair, you're most likely a person who works at home and needs their workstation to be as comfortable as possible, or work at a place where the person who approves office furniture purchases knows the worth of having something of quality. [Buy Online]

High quality build, sturdy construction

Conforms well to your work position and complements the Embody chair

Expensive