I work from home. I have worked from home for six years, which means I spend the majority of my waking hours in the same building where I sleep, eat, and try to relax. The boundaries between working and not working have always been blurry, and for the past two years they had become almost non-existent. I would finish a project, close my laptop, and immediately feel the pull of the next one. I had no physical space that was associated with rest rather than work.
I needed somewhere that was not my desk, not my sofa, and not my bed. Somewhere that was specifically and only for doing nothing.
The Chihee Hammock Chair is that somewhere.
What I Was Looking For
My garden is small — a Bristol terrace garden, about six metres by four. I had been thinking about a hammock for years but had always assumed I did not have the space or the right trees. A hanging chair rather than a full hammock was the solution I had not considered: it requires a single hanging point rather than two, takes up a fraction of the floor space, and can be installed from a pergola beam, a ceiling joist, or a sturdy branch.
My requirements were straightforward. Comfortable enough to actually relax in rather than just sit in. Durable enough for outdoor use in Bristol weather. Portable enough to bring inside in winter or take to my parents' garden in the summer. And a weight capacity that was genuinely robust rather than optimistic.
Why the Chihee Hammock Chair
The Chihee Hammock Chair met every requirement. The cotton blend fabric is soft and breathable — it moulds to the body rather than holding a fixed shape, which is the quality that makes a hammock chair genuinely comfortable rather than merely functional. The reinforced stitching supports up to 500lbs, which is a weight capacity that inspires genuine confidence rather than cautious use. The collapsible spreader bar and included drawstring bag mean the chair packs down for storage or transport. And the strong strap and iron carabiner are included, so installation requires no additional hardware.
I found it through ALTOE's Swing Chairs collection, which is the obvious starting point for anyone comparing hanging chair options. It also sits within the Outdoor Chairs, Outdoor Seating, Outdoor Furniture, and Furniture collections if you want to browse the wider range.
I installed it from a pergola beam in my garden using the included strap and carabiner. The installation took about ten minutes. I did it alone without any assistance or specialist tools.
The First Afternoon: An Immediate Shift
I sat in it for the first time on a Saturday afternoon in May. I had a book. I had no intention of doing anything else. The cotton fabric settled around me within a few minutes, the gentle movement of the chair doing something that I can only describe as physically persuading my nervous system to slow down. I read for two hours. I did not check my phone. I did not think about work. I came inside feeling genuinely rested in a way I had not felt on a weekend afternoon in longer than I could accurately remember.
The gentle swinging motion is the thing that makes a hammock chair different from any other garden seat. It is not dramatic — it is a subtle, continuous movement that occupies just enough of the brain's background processing to prevent the mind from wandering back to work. It is, in effect, a physical mechanism for rest.
A Summer of Afternoon Use
I used the Chihee Hammock Chair every afternoon that the weather allowed from May through September. It became the specific place where I went when I had finished working for the day — the physical transition from the chair to the hammock chair was the signal to my brain that work was done. That boundary, which I had been unable to establish through willpower alone for two years, was established by a piece of furniture in about a week.
The chair has been rained on, dried out, rained on again, and has shown no signs of deterioration. The cotton blend has retained its softness and the reinforced stitching has held without any loosening or fraying. In October I brought it inside and hung it from a ceiling joist in my studio, where it has been in use through the winter as a reading chair. The portability is genuine — the collapsible spreader bar and drawstring bag make moving it a five-minute task.
My partner, who was initially sceptical about whether a hammock chair would actually change anything, now has to be asked to vacate it when I want to use it. He has described it as "the only place in the house where I genuinely switch off." I consider that the most accurate and complete review of the product.
If you work from home and you have been unable to establish a boundary between work and rest, or if you simply want somewhere in your garden or home that is specifically and only for doing nothing, the Chihee Hammock Chair is the one I would recommend. Browse the Swing Chairs collection at ALTOE. Install it somewhere you can see the garden. Sit in it with a book. Give it one afternoon. The rest will follow.
Zoe Fairweather is a freelance illustrator and surface pattern designer based in Bristol. She writes about working from home, the spaces and objects that have helped her find balance, and the small changes that have made her daily life more sustainable and enjoyable.
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