My Article on BEANBAGS for Leisure section of a Daily

BEANBAGS

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

When Julia Roberts said "Reading a book in a beanbag chair in front of my fireplace is a great luxury - to sit down with a whole day free and barrel through a book" she did really give importance to the piece of her relaxing furniture beanbags. With the fast growing and fast culture, our bodies need to rest some times and Beanbags are the best according to most of us.

An official dictionary definition of beanbag chairs: a chair like a large beanbag covered with vinyl, fabric, etc. and filled with foam pellets, as of polystyrene, that shift about to fit one's body.

In 1960's during the pop revolution hitting the world, there was a small invention in the furniture industry and they named it "Sacco". With a leather cover and pear-shaped with expanded polystyrene (Styrofoam) beads the bags rolled into the world market.

Its popular belief that the discovery was accidental when polystyrene (Styrofoam) off-cuts were thrown into a bag at the end of the Styrofoam production line and used accidentally by a foreman for relaxing in his break. But it was in 1969, the first beanbag chair was created by Italian designers Gatti, Paolini and Teodora for the furniture firm Zanotta.

Rajesh Bidappa MD of ADS and a huge fan of Beanbags says that "it's the best invention of our time, it could be your couch, bed, pillow and many other things and its affordable compared to other relaxing furniture". But the bean bag culture never fades Ashok of Ozone India says that "they are so good that they accommodate you by taking your shape and also are not as delicate as other furniture". Mattel, the world's largest toy maker, has a 2000 square foot think tank for employees that include desks with wheels, chalkboard walls, and beanbag chairs to encourage spontaneous collaboration.

Beanbags have many uses starting from Feng Shui to therapies. Few other popular uses of bean bags have been pet ramp and nest, child comfort zone, extra back support, high fashion home decorating, occasional seating, bed rests and lounger (putting two or more beanbag chairs together to create a cosy seating space).

But, Arundathi, a final year student of physiotherapy from Bangalore Medical College suggested "using the bag for more than four hours can cause postural abnormalities hampering the neck and back areas. This bag is not advised for patients with spondylosis and disc collapse". Adding to her comments Ramaa Rao a Technical Writer in Novell Software says "those are the worst possible inventions which will turn any users active evening into a lazy, messy and soggy disaster. They not just pamper you but indirectly take you away from the activities which you used to engage in otherwise. We can recall some years back when after few deaths of small children suffocating themselves inside zippered beanbags, there was a movement to call back the same by the manufacturers in USA.

There has been a steady increase of bean bag users in Bangalore at least, Sumanth and Ratna a Software couple said "we are planning our house soon and there would be a room with the theme of beanbags where in all furniture starting from couch till beds would be bean bags, this is one element of luxury which we would not miss in our new house". Adding to this Ramya, Sales In charge of Lifestyle Store who sells two bags a day says, "its mostly taken by our foreign customers and it really relaxes anybody who uses it, including me!".

Latha Girish, Forti Fori Classic Pvt. Ltd., one of the leading manufacturers of beanbags says, "it's easy to manufacture with vinyl leather and thermacoal beads, we send out 20 - 25 bags a month. Our filling is famous for its good quality and cheap cost. But, who ever invented it hats off to him and all of us in our house freak out on these bean bags"

Anitha Chris Evert another beanbag fan who has named her company Beanbag Studio had an emotional quote "Amazing how so many little beans can add up to form a unit that's so comfortable! Such a simple idea, yet so innovative and so special. Always shifting, moving, changing within its space and doing all the hard work while you sit back comfortable and relaxed" well now its left to you to decide to go for it or to stick on with the current furniture.

BOX ITEM

When shopping for beanbag chairs furniture, make sure to ask these questions.
~ How long is the beanbag chair warranty and what does it cover?
~ Is there a machine-washable beanbag chair cover?
~ Is there a separate liner that holds the beanbag filling?
~ What is the beanbag liner made of? (Water-repellent is best)
~ What do the seams look like? Are they easy to see or hidden?
~ Are the beanbag chairs seams double stitched?
~ Does the beanbag liner have a child resistant zipper?
~ How long does it take to ship and receive the beanbag chairs?
~ Can you buy more beanbag filling?
~ Can you get swatches free to see the beanbag chair fabrics?

Did you know that using real beans would make beanbag chairs too heavy to be practical?