Earnings Per Share (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 29, 2012	Oct. 01, 2011	Sep. 29, 2012	Oct. 01, 2011
Numerators:
Numerator for both basic and diluted EPS attributable to HNI Corporation net income	$ 24,490	$ 24,947	$ 31,374	$ 27,849
Denominators:
Denominator for basic EPS weighted-average common shares outstanding	45,224,059	44,787,437	45,265,050	44,795,155
Potentially dilutive shares from stock-based compensation plans	596,000	850,000	575,000	889,000
Denominator for diluted EPS	45,820,422	45,637,042	45,839,917	45,683,520
Earnings per share - basic	$ 0.54	$ 0.56	$ 0.69	$ 0.62
Earnings per share - diluted	$ 0.53	$ 0.55	$ 0.68	$ 0.61
Earnings Per Share, Diluted, Other Disclosures [Abstract]
Antidilutive securities excluded from computation of earnings per share	1,762,597	2,210,257	1,762,597	1,815,085