Dining Chairs – Beautifying Your Dining Room

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Dining room is perhaps the most commonly used area of your house. And of course, dining table is the focus of this important room that makes the chairs its centre field. Therefore to enjoy a real meal experience, you must have a well-furnished dining area with properly arranged table, chairs and a striking crockery/ cutlery set make every meal and novel experience.

Selecting the right Dining Chairs

Dining chairs that are made to provide proper placement to the dining table are the best selection. The reason behind this is that these chairs are especially designed to accommodate the table itself. If you are reluctant to purchase the chairs with a dinner set table, you have the choice to select special chairs in accordance with the table. You need to be extra vigilant while purchasing chairs because an ill-fitting collection of chairs destroys the attractiveness and décor of a dining room.

While comfortable and relaxing dining chairs can make dining a luxurious and make you spend more time with your family, uncomfortable chairs can make even lead to backache or pain in the arms making you dread the mealtimes.

Refurnishing your Dining Chairs

Dining chairs are always more likely to break as compared to dining tables. After more than a year of handling and use, the chairs naturally suffer abrasions, scratches and material outwear. Even if you do not have the budget to buy new dining chairs every time; refurnishing old dining chairs with applicable stuff and hardware is a good idea. New seat covers, fabric and other accessories for refurbishing dining chairs are readily available in the market.

Using Dining Chair Slip Covers

To avoid wear and tear, scratches and nicks on your dining chairs, try using slip covers. They are a great way to protect your chairs against climatic conditions, food spills or dirty hands and scratching. You can give your existing chairs a facelift with beautiful and attractive slip covers. Slip covers are usually available in a variety of designs, materials, colors and styles to match your dining table as well as your room décor. With the help of matching slip covers, you can wonderfully give a new look to your chairs in a very low budget.

No matter what décor theme your dining room has, dining chairs make an important contribution to the overall interior. While beautifully adding a functional touch to the room, dining chairs even decide your best wished-for decorative exertions.

Morechairs.net offers information and tips on buying Chairs for home, office, restaurant, dining room, living room and kitchen. Buy folding chairs, rocking chairs, lawn chairs, living room chairs with help of our suggestions and articles.

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Source by Lois J. Wright

Why Drafting Stools and Anti-Fatigue Mats Compliment Sit Stand Desks

Sit stand desks are slowly beginning to make their way into businesses across the world as more people become educated on the benefits of standing at work as opposed to sitting. The first and perhaps most obvious benefit that comes from standing as opposed to sitting is movement. When you are standing you are able to move about freely and not confined within the constraints of an office chair, allowing you to burn more calories and stretch easier. The second, and perhaps not as obvious but equally as important benefit that is achieved from a sit stand desk is better overall health. Those who sit for 8-10 hours a day are at twice the risk of suffering from health related issues such as back pain, repetitive stress disorder, carpal tunnel, and even more serious ailments such as heart disease and certain forms of cancer. With more businesses making the switch over to sit stand desks, there comes a need to find furniture that will compliment these desks.

Two key pieces of furniture that are recommended to accompany a sit stand desk are drafting chairs and anti-fatigue mats. Most individuals require a break from standing the majority of the day, which is why it is advisable to have a chair to sit in when a seating break is needed. However, not just any regular office chair will do.

Drafting Stools

Most office chairs are only suitable for desks that are up to 29-30″ tall with their limited range of height adjustment. Chairs that can extend taller than this can cause safety concerns which is why manufacturers try to steer clear of extended height cylinders when manufacturing their office chairs. The problem with this is that sit stand desks are designed to be high enough for individuals to work comfortably while in a standing position, greater than the average 29-30″ high desk. The perfect office chair solution for this is a drafting stool, which is essentially an extended height office chair. These taller office chairs feature a foot ring or some sort of platform for users to comfortably rest their feet on while seated. In the past, they mainly served as a solution for extended height work stations such as in labs, pharmacies, doctor’s offices, drafting tables, and other places that require individuals to work at higher counter tops. They also work well for use at sit stand work stations with their ability to be adjusted to the right height for a taller work station.

Anti-Fatigue Mats

Another advisable piece of office furniture to purchase with a sit stand desk is an anti-fatigue mat. With the goal of standing more than sitting throughout the work day at your sit stand station, your employees will need a comfortable surface to stand on in order to avoid fatigue and loss of productivity. Standing in the same spot on a hard surface such as concrete or carpet will create pressure points and will reduce circulation throughout the lower part of the body. Anti-fatigue mats have fatigue fighting properties that allow for a more comfortable standing experience with their thick cushion designed to promote proper circulation. They also are beneficial in that they reduce back pain and stress, reduce slipping and falling injuries, and provide comfort. These mats can be used in conjunction with a drafting stool, however the drafting stool should not be used on top of the anti-fatigue mat. A smaller size anti-fatigue mat such as a 2′ x 3′ mat will suffice and can be easily moved out of the way with its lightweight design when a sitting break is needed.

Anti-fatigue mats and drafting stools paired together make a complete office solution for a sit stand environment. Neglect one piece of the sit stand set up and you may experience the same work aches and pains experienced from staying seated all day. If you combine all three and you will have the ideal ergonomic office set up.

Source by Chelsea Alves

Banned Until Further Notice: All Boring Business Presentations

Wow!! Wouldn’t it be great if we, business people, could give better presentations…guaranteed to be more interesting, informative and easier to attend and more successful?

Business Presentations, Today.

You arrive in the hotel conference room or auditorium; the chairs and tables are neatly lined up in audience format. The lectern is set-up on stage and there’s this huge screen with a projected greeting, welcoming you to the event. On the tables in front of each chair is a stapled package containing the presentation slides you are about to see during the presentation..

Over my career, I have personally sat through many boring slide presentations at conferences and after the room is darkened, the speaker aims his pen laser at the screen. I start to leaf through the slides in the package. In fact, I usually count the slides in the handout and estimate the time it will take to go through all those busy graphs and information soaked visuals. After some time, I have to fight valiantly against dozing off.

I have also listened to ‘kitchen table’ sales presentations which made me yearn to watch the most boring re-run on TV. No matter the forum, presentations have become all, too common in style.

What Has Happened to Our Presenters?

Over the past thirty years or so, we have discovered ‘overhead slide’ projectors and subsequently graduated to the ‘PowerPoint’ computer slide shows. Our love affair with color slides grew and graphic representations; even video went into high gear. Not one presentation exists without an exhausting and painful display of graphics, numbers, words and colors, complete with special effects and chase scenes.

Audience members are now treated like toddlers whose parents need a break and get it by sitting them in front of the TV to baby-sit for a while. The whole presentation process has become an exercise in visual aids. The audience is left somewhat unattended.

The True Reason for Presentations

As a presenter, your job is to “entertain” your audience with the intent of informing, persuading or selling them on your point of view, your product or service or to convince them to follow you in some endeavor…or to invest their time or money in you. They came to listen to you not to read “your presentation” off a bunch of slides.

The Real Presenter

The Real Presenter should be “Conversing” with her audience. That’s right, she should be speaking to an audience just like she would speak to a group of her closest friends. A presenter, who shares information in a direct and friendly way, with audience interaction,

invites interest and discussion.

True Stories

“Jim, a retired airline pilot, told his audience about an episode in which he was giving flying lessons to a new pilot when the engine on the aircraft quit at two thousand feet over an interstate highway. He struggled for some time to restart the engine, but finally had to land the plane in a farmer’s field. The small aircraft wound up leaning on its nose but both he and his student walked away without injury.”

Wouldn’t you want Jim as your instructor? Wouldn’t you feel safe flying on an airliner with Jim at the controls? In one short story, Jim convinced his audience that he knew his business.

“Marty was introducing herself to the group and happened to mention how she backpacked across Europe in her college days, then she stowed away on a “tramp steamer” from southern France to Africa. Her tone and demeanor was relaxed and conversational. Her audience was mesmerized; she had obviously captured their attention. They believed her because she was telling a true story”

Marty probably could have sold some travel tours after her talk, if she were a Travel Agent, right?

There’s No Difference

The above are examples of how a presenter can instill interest in her audience. Just reading the material from the slide while it is up on the screen doesn’t require a presentation. She should tell the audience what she thinks of the material and how it has affected her or someone close to her or a former client or customer.

Her demeanor and attitude, about the subject matter, will do more to display her personal thoughts, satisfaction and aspirations about her topic than her visuals. She will better elicit a response from her audience: a more positive response….an enthusiasm to hear more about her experiences and those experiences of others who have followed her in the past.

Fewer Visuals and More Visualization

As a “true” presenter she will use only several slides, less than 6, for the whole presentation which will last 1-2 hours. Her slides will contain only 5-6 “bullet points” each. These bullet cues are meant simply to steer her conversation, her stories and customer experiences with the audience because there is a story behind or underneath each point and also a series of audience questions and more audience participation.

This will keep their attention and help her embellish her stories of positive responses and increase audience interest in her reasons for presenting in the first place, her goal.

Persuade with Personality

Remember your goal; you are trying to persuade them or sell them. They want to know how convinced YOU are about the subject matter and how it affects you or your present clientele, personally. The slides and/or brochures become incidental. The truth is that your customers are really buying you, then, your information or product or service or idea.

Rely on Your Inherent Skills

In my experience, I have met hundreds of people who lean heavily on the sales materials to make a sale. They feel they need something more powerful than their own personality and passion.

Not so….. you are your best sales tool. The sooner you find that I’m right; the more successful you will be. So get in a groove, a comfortable and non-threatening groove, share your true emotions by having a conversation with your audience, state your opinion, get their responses, voice your solutions and help them trust that you can truly help them.

Ban the Boring Presentations.

Wow!! It would be great if we, business people, could give better presentations, guaranteed to be more interesting, informative and easier to attend.

I have helped many people who present for a living. My advice to them is the same as I have stated above. Put “YOU” back in your presentation and watch the “boring” fade and your success arrive.

Source by Robert J. Sivori

History of the Recliner Chair

While much of the written history of the recliner starts in the early Twentieth Century, the recliner chair dates back much further. The earliest recliner chairs actually appeared in the late Eighteenth Century, and were functionally similar to today’s recliners. The goal was always to allow the user to sit upright or recline back with the legs and feet off the floor.

What has been dubbed by many designers as motion furniture, the recliner has been with us in one form or another for over two hundred years. Modeled after the chaise lounge, the long history of the recliner has seen this popular piece of furniture go from simple to fully motorized. Thought to be an American invention, the recliner has its roots as far back as Napoleon.

In the period around eighteen fifty, the French introduced a reclining camp bed one of which reportedly belonged Napoleon III. This camp cot was quite functional for its time serving multiple purposes. Thought to be modeled after the daybed lounge, the camp cot served as a chair, a bed and chaise lounger. Well upholstered for the times, the reclining camp bed was portable and featured padded arm rests and a steel frame. While the Napoleon camp cot lacked a complex mechanism it no less functional than today’s recliner designs. The user could sit in an upright, recline with the feet elevated or the cot could be folded out for sleeping.

In the late eighteen hundreds, a number of designs emerged for motion chairs. Typically made of wood, with a padded seat and back, these early recliners may have been more conversation piece than a furniture staple like a chair or sofa. Designs from France and America often featured what was referred to as document or a book holder.

Two American cousins, Knabush and Shoemaker, are credited with gaining the patent on a wooden recliner. There was nothing remarkable about the design as it resembled a wooden beach recliner. The difference between this and other recliners was the patent. Issued in nineteen twenty eight, the patent led to the founding of LayZBoy. It would not be until nineteen thirty one that the cousins would patent an upholstered model with a mechanical movement. It would not be until nineteen forty seven that a competing company would add a built in foot rest. The addition of a foot rest would become a standard part of recliner design.

Though the cousins were not the first to develop a piece of reclining motion furniture, they were the first to create a branding strategy for their product. Many other furniture companies began to produce and sell recliners using very similar designs for mechanisms. It was not long before other companies sprang up to produce a variety of recliner mechanisms. From relatively simple designs to more complex motorized and power actuated models, today’s recliners offer specialized solutions to user needs.

Most recliners require the user to sit in the chair and actuate the mechanism by pushing backwards, lifting a lever or pulling on a cable. Power lift recliners have the ability to literally rise up to meet the user. The development of the power lift chair proved to be a boon to folks with limited mobility. Power recliners generally feature some type of remote control that allows the user to operate the chairs movements with the push of a button.

Behind the fabric, the color and the style, the idea of the recliner predates the era of mass production. After a lull in popularity during the nineteen seventies, the recliner has once again become an essential piece of living room furniture.

Source by Mitch Endick

How to Choose a Desk Chair For Your Office

There are a large variety of desk chairs out there in all different colors, sizes, upholstery options, and adjustments; but how do you know which one will work best for your office space? A good desk chair, whether it is for your desk at your work office or home office, will provide you with enough support to keep you comfortable throughout your sitting duration. With good support comes less back, neck, and muscle pain that can occur from poorly designed office chairs. While some desk chairs are specifically designed to eliminate pre-existing health issues such as lower back pain, other desk chairs are made to match other office furniture. For example if you have a desk in a mahogany finish, some may want to find a wooden desk chair with a mahogany finished frame to match their desk. Whether you spend much of your day sitting in your desk chair or if your desk chair is more for show, there are certain guidelines that should be followed when choosing a desk chair.

First and foremost, you will need to determine the type of desk chair you need. There are numerous office chairs out there ranging from high back, ergonomic, mid back, wood, and more; making it important for you to know how much time you will be spending in your chair. If you will be spending the majority of the day sitting in your office chair, a high back desk chair might be a good choice for you since higher backrests support the spine which in turn reduces neck and upper back strain. If you have pre-existing health problems such as lower back pain, it might be best for you to choose an ergonomic desk chair that will allow you to make the necessary adjustments to meet your needs. If you do not spend most of your day sitting in your chair and do not experience pain from standard task chairs, a mid back chair would suite you just fine. If your new chair is really more for show and you will be spending minimal time sitting in it, perhaps look for a wooden desk chair to match your furniture in your office or try looking for a modern chair. There are many modern office chairs that look great and fit in nicely to almost any office space, however, be aware that most modern chairs lack the support some people need.

Once you have determined the type of desk chair you need, you will then want to look at the features you will want included in your chair, including the option of casters or glides. Most office chairs come standard with rolling casters which allow you to move quickly and efficiently from one spot to another. Chairs that have glides are stationary, meaning they do not move unless you pick the chair up yourself. A desk chair with glides would be ideal for extended height applications where your work station is higher than a typical desk and you need a steady chair to work on your projects. Many architects, artists, painters, and lab personnel opt for this style of seating as their work requires them to sit still. Some chairs also come with the option of having pressure breaking casters, which lock to prevent movement while you work whenever pressure is exerted on the wheels.

Another important option that must be taken into account when choosing a desk chair is making sure to select a chair that will fit properly underneath your desk. This will require knowing the dimensions of the chair you are interested in which is typically displayed under the product descriptions on most office chair retailer’s websites. You should also know the height of your desk and how much clearance is needed for you to be sitting comfortably underneath your desk. You should be able to sit comfortably with your feet firmly planted on the floor with knees bent at a 90 degree angle. If you need an extended height desk chair, choose a desk chair that has a foot ring. If you are of shorter stature, search for a petite chair that will allow you to have your feet firmly planted on the floor otherwise you may find that you are not able to place your feet on the floor. The same goes for taller users; be sure to look for a big and tall chair that are specifically constructed for people over 6 feet tall and generally have higher weight ratings as well.

The last key option you will want to take into consideration when choosing your desk chair is the type of armrest you will want. If your desk height is lower than a standard desk and you are not going to have a lot of clearance from the desk to the top of your thighs, consider getting a chair without arms. Armrests are not always necessary features to have, especially if you spend most of your time typing. You may also opt for an armless chair if you have a keyboard tray installed underneath your desk which will add even less room to move around. If you have a standard height desk, it is always safe to get adjustable height armrests as an assurance that they will fit properly under your desk. If you use your armrests often, look for a chair that has upholstered or padded armrests, which are cushioned and more comfortable. If you only want to use your armrests from time to time, look for a chair that has swing away arms which allows you to essentially swing the arms away when not in use.

The last step to take in choosing a desk chair is determining the type of upholstery you would like to have. Personal preferences will vary between individuals, some opt for leather because it has more of a prestigious look to it while others may opt for mesh to keep cool all throughout the year. This decision is ultimately up to you and what you think will be most comfortable for your desk. Some chairs even come in a combination of different upholsteries if you find it difficult to select only one. If you want to match the desk chair to a certain room, choose a color that matches the room.

Source by Chelsea Alves

Valentine’s Gift For Guys That Love Baseball $25 and Under

Having a tough time figuring out what you guy would really want for Valentine’s Day? Does he like Baseball? Baseball fans are usually pretty devoted to their sport. They anxiously await that first pitch of the season and they devotedly pray for their team to make it to postseason playoffs.  They are easily excited by all things baseball, which make them easy people to shop for. Below are 10 gift ideas for baseball fans, all of which cost under $25.00.

1. Mlb.com offers many gifts for the baseball fan, including some great holiday options. A very affordable gift is a 3 pack of glass ornaments that feature the professional team of your choice. The 3 ornaments cost $19.99 and will look great on any Christmas tree.

2. Hopefully your favorite baseball fan also has a sense of humor. If so, purchase a Wild Cling Shatter Baseball for $9.99. This gag gift makes it look like a baseball has shattered the window of a vehicle and is available from Baseballexpress.com.

3. To increase the comfort of your fan while sitting on hard bleachers at local games, purchase a Bleacher Back Stadium Seat for $19.95. This bleacher seat can be found at Baseballsavings.com, has a convenient carrying strap, folds up easily and connects to the bleacher with one strong buckle.

4. The traveling fan needs a traveling mug. At Everythingbaseballcatalog.com you can find a stainless steel mug that looks like it has a baseball in the center of it. The mug holds 16 oz. of liquid and costs $11.99.

5. Find a minor league team near your fan and purchase tickets to the game. The great thing about minor league baseball is that it’s cheap! Tickets are generally less than $10.00, they serve hot dogs and beer, and there are always entertaining antics in between innings.

6. Baseball fans love to read all about their favorite sport.  The Sports Illustrated Baseball Book has loads of information for only $19.77. It’s available at Target.com, along with many other baseball history books.  

7. Visit art.com and find a baseball print your fan would be proud to hang on the wall. You can find prints of baseball stadiums and baseball players, as well as Norman Rockwell classic prints, among other pieces of art. Just type “baseball” into the site’s search engine and shop away.

8. Many clever and original gifts can be found at Uncommongoods.com. One gift in particular is a welcome mat for the fan’s home; it’s shaped like home plate and says ‘home’ in big bold letters. This unique conversation starter is $25.00.  

9. Another gift for the home is a Baseball Wall Clock. Quartz makes a clock that has baseballs on every hour and a stadium as the background. Find this clock for $24.99 at memawsgarden.com.

10. The baseball fan in your life might like a slogan t-shirt from baseballexp.com.  Slogan t-shirts are inexpensive, starting at only $12.99, and they are funny and clever as well. A few examples of the slogans include “Life begins when the season starts” and “Step into my office” with a picture of home plate emblazoned across the t-shirt.  Browse all the slogans and choose the one that fits your fan’s personality.

These gift ideas are sure to be a home run with the baseball fan in your life!

Source by Amber Contant