How to Protect Your Wall from an Office Chair

Everyone wants their homes to be pleasing to the eyes. Paint scratches courtesy of an office chair on your wall can be a total nightmare.

Wall abrasions from your typical office chair are more common than you think. You push back your chair a little stronger than usual, and bam, it leaves a scruff on your wall.

The good news is, there are proven hacks to prevent your wall from being damaged by your office chair. You can use straightforward methods like putting protective buffers to avoid those dings and nicks.

Having preventive measures in place is a more budget-friendly and practical solution than having to repaint the walls every time.

You are in the right place if you want to learn ways on how to protect the wall from the office chair. Read on to learn more.

Problems with Your Wall Caused by An Office Chair

If you are one of the million people currently working from home, you want your home office to look professional. You don’t want to be taking in your client calls with visible scuff marks behind you.

You might think that your office chair is just damaging your hard floor. It certainly does, but it can also cause damage to your walls.

The main problems that your office chair can cause to your walls are smudges and scuff marks. These blemishes can look unpleasant over time, and they can cause you an expensive paint job.

You have to understand that these smears have one main culprit: friction, especially from rubber materials.

As much as you want to be careful when getting in and out of your home office chair, there are instances where you rush, and as a result, you end up banging your chair against the wall. Or you are idly using your office chair with wheels, you miscalculated the distance, and hit the wall.

There are many untoward circumstances, usually unintentional, why you end up with blemishes on your wall caused by your office chair.

How to Protect Your Wall from Your Office Chair?

There are plenty of creative solutions on how you can protect your wall from your office chair.

Here are ways to help you maintain a spotless wall, even if you have your office chair skidding here and there in your office home. Let’s find out.

Look Into Using Wall Coverings

If your “home office” is not really part of your house’s original structure and you just converted one of the areas into one, then you might have likely painted the walls of this space to make it more suitable for work.

Although that is an option, you can also look into using wall coverings or borders. These provide you more versatility when protecting your home office walls against the friction damage that your chair can cause.

Most of the available wall coverings in today’s market are made of palladium or vinyl. Some mimic the appearance and texture of wood or aluminum.

With so many design options, your wall covering not only provides a layer of protection over your walls, but it can also set the mood of your work area. That, in turn, can keep you motivated and productive throughout the day.

If you don’t want to cover your walls with wallpaper entirely, you can opt for a wallpaper border instead and place it at a height equal to your chair rail. You can look for a design that complements the color of your existing wall.

Use Chair Cover-Ups

Another easy solution to keep your office chair from scratching your wall is to dress them with a slipcover.

This is a good idea, especially if your current office chair is just a make-shift one, not the standard rotatable mesh computer chair.

The idea here is for the chair cover-up to soften the contact if your office chair hits the walls.

The possibility of leaving marks or buffs on your wall will be significantly reduced because of the cloth barrier. To make sure that this is achieved, opt for a clothing material with a thread count of 300 or more.

For your office chair, it is recommended that you go for a minimalistic design or a pattern that complements your current fixtures and overall interiors. You can also choose a chair cover-up with a color that shares the same palette as your curtains.

Add a Chair Rail

Although a chair rail is more common in other parts of the house like the dining room, living room, and foyers, you can adapt and apply it to your working area.

Aside from adding some decorative features to your home office, chair rails can also serve as a barrier between your walls and fixtures like your office chair.

Incorporate Non-Slip Furniture Mats

You can also protect your wall from getting damaged accidentally by your office chair by positioning non-slip furniture mats under your chair. These mats will minimize the risk of shifting.

You can have your entire work area covered in non-slip rubber carpets or just a portion of the space you are occupying.  This is highly recommended , especially if you have tile floorings or hardwood floorings.

Invest in Durable Wall Paint

Instead of preventive measures, you can also shift your approach to protecting your walls by using a different kind of paint.

There are paints specifically intended to take the damage and bear the constant wear and tear.

An example of this would be glossier paints. These are more durable and easier to maintain than those paints with a flatter finish.

You can also consider eggshell or satin finishes if the polished output is a little too much for your liking.

What to Put on Office Chairs to Protect Walls?

One of the other ways to protect your wall from your office chair is to work on the chair itself and integrate protective covers on it.

What you can use for this would be felt or plastic bumpers. You can add light-colored or clear felt bumpers or rubber at the back of your office chair to prevent it from scratching your walls.

The good thing about these felt bumpers is that you can quickly get them from most hardware stores. There are plenty of options to choose from.

You can get them in different sizes, colors, and types. So you can make these bumpers as unnoticeable as possible when you set it up at the back of your chair.

The trick to making this work effectively is to locate the spots at the back of the chair that usually hit the wall. These are the areas where you will place the stickers.

After Thoughts

Not all the blemishes and scruff on your walls can be 100% avoided.

And although there are ways on how you can prevent your office chair from adding marks on the wall, needing a touch-up is inevitable. Once your wall is smooth again, make sure to keep it that way by being extra careful with how you move your chair about and having preventive measures in place.