Today, you wouldn’t exactly consider these wooden chairs with scrolls and contoured backs as modern, but when they first appeared they were light years ahead of their time. In fact, it was in the mid 1800s when German cabinetmaker-turned-chair-revolutionary, Michael Thonet, unveiled the silhouettes we’re so familiar with today – the bentwood chairs. It was the first time such a production method was used – heating wood to bend it into improbable chairs. The result was graceful, sculptural and surprisingly comfortable seating.
Every year, thousands of Australians receive compensation for injuries they’ve sustained while on the job. That can be very costly for the business, not just in terms of paying out large amounts of money for compensation, but manpower and productivity can also be affected. For this reason, every business should try to minimise the risks of injury as much as possible, and in the case of office workers, that means utilising the correct working desk environment, especially the chair.
When in doubt how to furnish or redecorate your living room, a good start is to turn to the masters. And who can boast with a long history of home design and improvements if not the Scandinavians? Perhaps the fact that the Northern climate keeps these people locked inside is the reason why their homes are the pinnacles of interior design. And since us Aussies are fans of the outdoors, we’d certainly benefit to learn how to achieve the Scandinavian balance indoors and freshen up our living room.
You think your success is defined by the amount of hours you put in at work? All your days start early and end late. You begin your day with checking your email and end it by sending one from bed right before you set the alarm clock. You work overtime just because you’re left with one more task to finish and well, because it conveys an impression of a rather hard-working person. Then you go home and start a brainstorming session at 9:00 PM for the tasks you have the following day. Sleep? What’s that?
Recently, I had to deliver a hundred leaflets across my neighbourhood, inviting people to discuss the matter of the local government cutting down some of the trees on our street. The sad thing I learned was that generally, people were not interested in this problem. Another thing that I learned was that some of them have really gone a long way in styling and decorating their outdoor spaces. I was quite impressed. What mainly caught my attention and made me think a bit about the different kinds of people in my neighbourhood? Their letterboxes. From old, plain ones, to futuristic and stylish ones, I came across a variety of letterboxes in all colours and materials. I got to confess, this inspired me to replace my old, boring letterbox with a new one that speaks to my personality.
As a little girl, I spent hours observing my parents carefully tending our plants and trees. They taught me that every form of life is precious and that having an outdoor living space is a true blessing. Their devotion and passion for gardening and landscaping inspired me to create a dreamy little oasis of my own when I bought my house. Read on to find out how I painted a tiny part of my world green.
