Looking for a comfortable position? The Animi Causa Feel moves with you as you search for the perfect seat. It's made from 120 soft balls which are able to be arranged in an infinite number of ways. This ingenious design does away with rigid wood and metal, allowing your furniture to move with you, making it almost an organic life form.
View the Animi Causa website
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Animi Causa Fee - Sofa made from 120 soft balls
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Sofa Beds
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Shopping for a sofa bed can be a tricky game and with so many to choose from, where do you start? The futon was a popular choice in the past but due to their instability and problems of loosing shape over time, sofa beds are now a popular choice as they look and feel more like standard sofas whilst offering comfort and convenience.
As the name suggests, a sofa bed, or sleeper-sofa, typically is a couch which has underneath its seating cushions a metal frame and thin mattress that can be unfolded or opened up to make a bed. So a sofa bed is a piece of furniture that can be used both as a sofa, and as a bed. When the bed is required, simply pull the bed out from under the sofa and like magic, a bed is ready for sleeping. Many people buy a sofa bed to use for visitors coming to stay.
Unlike a standard futon couch which is made up of three separate components such as a mattress, cover and wood frame, the sofa bed is a single unit with an innerspring mattress built in.
Many sofa beds offer the added convenience of storage space where blankets, sheets, and pillows can be kept. Unique color schemes, contemporary styles and extreme functionality make sofa beds an excellent choice for homes that require an extra bed, perhaps for visiting guests.
When shopping for a sofa bed, there are a number of things to look out for or to consider. Firstly, it is highly recommended to consider the size of the sofa bed that will best suit you requirements. In other words, what is the purpose of the sofa bed? Is if it is a couple or an individual? This will determine the size of sofa bed you will buy i.e. king, queen, double or single. Room shape and size is also another important factor to take into consideration so measure your room and have the measurements to hand when shopping for a sofa bed to make sure it fits the room.
Comfort is going to be a very important selling point. You want the sofa to be both comfortable to sit and sleep on. Make sure to ask the furniture store to demonstrate the bed whilst you are there and test it out for comfort sitting and sleeping positions. Many cheap sofa beds have thin mattresses offering little support whilst sleeping causing back pain and discomfort so aim to get the thickest mattress you can to make sure your guest will be comfortable whilst sleeping on it. You will of course need pillows and sheets to fit the bed so bear this in mind.
Another important feature of the sofa bed is convenience so make sure you can pull the bed out smoothly. There is no point in buying a cheap sofa bed that you find a struggle to use.
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The Unrecognizable Home of the Future
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How the home of the future differs to where we live today is a thought that has been considered more and more over the last few years. Advancements in technology, as well as the means to power our houses by generating our own green energy, have meant that the architecture and design of future housing will also need to be adapted. Paradoxically, despite the increasing social awareness of being more energy conscious and self-sufficient, the home of the future is also destined to be a hive of technological dependency and alive with electricity. So will the future home be a hut of efficient simplicity, or a home insurance nightmare?
Of course, energy saving will no doubt be of utmost importance as the climate continues to change, and resources continue to run out. Companies existing today, such as Earthship, highlight that the key to an efficient home of the future is making sure that the design makes the most of the energy from the sun and the ground. At just four feet underground, the insulating temperature of the earth is significant enough to heat a home most of the year round. If extra heat is needed, sunlight is allowed in through large south facing roof-light windows in order to top-up. This could mean that the design of the home of the future will be mostly underground.
With the risk of growing populations driving up water costs, water conservation will also be of significant importance in the future. In a BBC interview in 2005, Christopher Sanderson of The Future Technology posits the idea that instead of using water to clean our homes (and selves) we will instead use sound waves. The technology is relatively simple: by concentrating low-frequency, high-energy sound waves on areas that are dirty can actually dislodge dust and grime by fluidizing it. Such equipment is already in use for contact lens cleaners, and is being tested in dishwashers and washing machines.
Over the past few years, Microsoft has frequently boasted what it thinks the home of the future will be like; and more specifically, how dependent on computer technology it might be. Advancements in GPS usage, similar to what has recently been incorporated in Google Maps, might be able to tell us where our postman is on the round to give us an estimate of when he will arrive. Of course, they also suggest that our homes will consist of a sort of technological brain, with mirrors that can inform us of whether clothes that match with a specific garment are in the wash, as well as pin boards that absorb the information that is attached to them, such as phone numbers and addresses.
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Interesting coffee facts
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Drinking coffee is a pastime of millions of people all over the world. Coffee machines make it possible to meet the demand of all these people. Without coffee machines, it would not be possible for millions of people around the world to enjoy a good cup of coffee. The first coffee machine was invented in 1818 by Mr. Laurens. The machine was continually modified over the years. New versions of the coffee machine continued to emerge until 1960. This is when the first paper filters for coffee machines were put into place. This simple change created an unbelievable increase in coffee machine sales. People had always wanted the product, but didn’t like the time it took to clean up and prepare with the cloth filters. The paper filter saves people time and hassle which makes the coffee machine more appealing.
Coffee machines have changed in design as well over the years. The early ones were just created to do the job; no one really cared what they looked like. Today’s coffee makers come in all colors and sizes to accessorize nicely in any kitchen or living room. There are also many different brands of coffee machines, as each has their own unique looks and design to attract consumers.
Mr. Coffee has been the leading coffee machine in the United States for centuries. This is because the company continually changes or adds new products to meet the needs of the consumer. Bunn coffee makers lead the industry in commercial coffee maker sales.
But if you are looking for an office coffee machine, you should check out Klix machines, the kings (and queens) of coffee vending. They offer a variety of vending machines, with 35+ drinks to select from including coffee & tea. Simply the widest range of any drinks vending solution.
Find more interesting articles on coffee at ezinearticles.com
Best Office Pranks
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Office fun and prank pictures from around the world. A lot of fun can be had with some creative thinking and some post it notes, Jelly, Cheetos or foil!
Video of Mari's Aluminium Desk 
Easy Office Prank Ideas
- At the end of the day, everyday, empty someone's stapler leaving only 2 or 3 staples. They will have to refill it everyday, and go crazy.
- Advertise a colleague's job as available. Leave their number with extension for contact. Be sure it is well paying and with low qualifications.
- Each day move a co-workers desk an inch.
- Drop a lemon slice or maraschino cherry into someone's water bottle.
- Spray glitter
- Move everything off someone's desk and into the office fridge.
- Play "Eye of the Tiger" everytime your boss walks in.
- Replace photos of friends and family with that of say Scott Baio, Eugene Levy, Drew Carey, William Shatner, or The New Kids on the Block. Also set their screen saver to a slideshow of these photos.
- Drop a rubber duckie into the watercooler when you are changing the bottle.
- Remove the ink from every one of their pens.
- Open a container of lice powder, and leave it in the bathroom. Say nothing to anyone. Panic will slowly rise.
- Put a brown paper bag in the office fridge labeled "squirrel"
- Before an important meeting, replace everything on a co-workers desk with the Hello-Kitty version (pens with feather tops, pink pads, ...)
- Tape a really long memo or calendar to the inside door of the elevator.
- Install the clapper on something (anything)
Red Bull Office Pictures
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There are some seriously cool workplaces around the world and Red Bull Office in London is one of our favourites. Why is this office cool? Well, it’s easier to be productive, creative and happy at work in a colourful, organic, playful environment than in a grey, linear, boring one. It is the interior of offices that make the difference, not what it looks like from the outside. Many companies have office that are sleek, modern, architectural masterpieces from the outside - and cubicle wastelands on the inside. These companies need to remember that most employees tend to work inside the building. With that in mind, here are pictures from the Red Bull Office in London.
Time Traveling Furniture
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Looking around the house, I realise that my furniture is far more than functional. It actually tells a story, the story of my life to date.
Unlike other things I've purchased, each chair, table or bookcase marks a specific time or event. Why? Well, perhaps because buying furniture tells the story of growing up. It's something that we don't even need to consider buying until we leave home.
I remember when 'moving house' meant fitting everything into my Mum's car. Last time I moved I needed a Luton van. With every move, the vehicle required has got bigger - one day I'll have one of those huge trucks and enough cash to actually pay people to do my packing.
The milestone comes, I guess, when we stop renting furnished accommodation. Nowadays, I shudder at the thought of sleeping in a bed that has been dreamt on by who knows how many strangers. Names of previous occupants might still flutter through the letterbox on junk mail, but at least I've not 'shared' a bed with them.
Like most people, my first unfurnished flat was filled with an eclectic range of hand-me-downs from relatives and car boot purchases. And, like most people, my first 'big' new purchase was a bed. There's something that makes you feel so grown up when you buy your first bed. Looking around the house now, I can see evidence of each new job or pay rise over the years. There are still things that were there in my first flat, but since none of my donated furniture was an heirloom antique, I know it's inevitable that at some point, I'll need, or want to replace those things too.
For some time I kept the catalogue of a well-known Scandinavian furniture shop in the bathroom. I'd spend hours planning fantasy shopping trips to deck out the house. Then came the day that I realised how many people's houses looked almost identikit, because they'd done that very same thing. Or, rather they'd actually gone out and purchased everything rather than thinking about it in the bathroom. These days, living too far away from one of those big Scandinavian shops makes buying furniture there nearly impossible. It's actually done me the world of good as I've found far bigger treasures online or in local shops.
Some things that we buy - shoes, clothes, even books and music - might reflect a moment in our lives. They're like a photo album of specific days: a CD bought on a sunny day, or shoes purchased to cheer yourself up. But furniture's more like a long running video; it's on show, it's there everyday.
When we part with a significant amount of cash for something, we've got to be pretty certain that we'll still love that 'something' a few years down the line.
So, as well as telling the story of my life to date, buying furniture is also like playing a guessing game about whom I'll be in the years to come. It's fair to say, that the new sofa I need will also become a time-travel machine.
By Sarah Maple