Earnings Per Share (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Oct. 03, 2015	Sep. 27, 2014	Oct. 03, 2015	Sep. 27, 2014
Numerators:
Numerator for both basic and diluted EPS attributable to HNI Corporation net income	$ 40,848	$ 33,588	$ 73,205	$ 54,389
Denominators:
Denominator for basic EPS weighted-average common shares outstanding	44,263,027	44,689,819	44,327,608	44,916,038
Potentially dilutive shares from stock-based compensation plans	1,140,000	921,000	1,189,000	843,000
Denominator for diluted EPS	45,402,537	45,611,099	45,516,521	45,758,502
Earnings per share - basic (in dollars per share)	$ 0.92	$ 0.75	$ 1.65	$ 1.21
Earnings per share - diluted (in dollars per share)	$ 0.90	$ 0.74	$ 1.61	$ 1.19
Earnings Per Share, Diluted, Other Disclosures [Abstract]
Antidilutive securities excluded from computation of earnings per share	536,814	634,757	383,600	987,251