The Generation Chair Has Arrived

The new ergonomic office chair by Knoll- the Generation Chair- is now available at Smart Furniture. This ultra-flexible chair features a groundbreaking Flex Back and Flex Front seat edge that permits a mobility while seated unheard of in the realm of office seating. The lightweight elastomer material that makes up the back of the chair flexes and gives with the user and offers extreme durability so it won't sag over time. Manufactured by Knoll- it seems that this chair is truly deserving of its name as something like this doesn't come out every day.

Steelcase's future, collaboration-friendly chairs

Today I spoke with Jim Keane, president of the Steelcase group, about two new chairs (see them later in this post) designed for better office collaborations. “Collaboration is a hot topic. Nearly all of our customers put it high on their list as they modify and create new spaces,” Keane says. “Companies are seeing collaboration as key to innovation and global business.”

What struck me as most interesting about our conversation today was the topic of building a better workplace that is designed for more informal and face-to-face, physical contact among employees. After all, in the age of IMs and teleconferencing, the main advantage of having an office is to maintain those in-person brainstorming sessions, to pick up on spontaneous spoken nuances and hand gestures.

Keane says that Steelcase has been researching how to help companies create these types of environments—to rethink the office, the cubicle, the conference room, and even the open-plan space. Buying new chairs might even make sense—as oposed to remodeling an office—when budgets are tight.

The furniture maker will release these two chairs in early 2009, but they were on view at NeoCon World’s Trade Fair, the furnishings industry’s biggest convention, earlier this week. One chair, the cobi (see above), looks a lot like a familiar desk chair.

That's intentional, says Keane. It's meant to work well at table settings, and not seem intimidating in any way. But what's new is that it intuitively adjusts as a person moves in it to turn and talk to her neighbor, beside or behind her, thanks to its design. The top of the back of the chair is made from a plastic that slightly bends with the pressure of an arm, making such a movement more comfortable.

And the entire seat is soft, as opposed to only the center of the seat, as most desk chairs are. This is to allow a sitter to occupy any part of the seat--even if moving more toward the right or left, to move closer to a collaborator during a conversation.

For more on this article.

Matt's Leap Week

Last Day

It’s Wednesday around lunch time, which means the week is about halfway over for me. The Leap Week, however, draws to a close. As I sit here, reflecting on my time sitting in the Leap Chair by Steelcase, I’m pounding coffee because I watched the Harry Potter opening at midnight last night and didn’t get to sleep until three o’clock in the morning. The movie was beyond awesome- many magnitudes better than any previous Harry Potter movie, and this sentiment was shared by many other Potter fans in the packed theater in downtown Chattanooga (this is relevant to the Leap Chair, I promise).

It was a lot of fun seeing an eagerly anticipated movie with one or two hundred other folks, except for the fact that all those bodies generated loads of body heat. So much so in fact, that the seat I paid many dollars for felt like it had a heating vent under it. I found myself squirming more and more as the film progressed, and my thoughts managed to find their way to the ever-so-comfortable Leap Chair, which is equipped with a breathable polyester-blend fabric that makes your sweat glands go into a coma. I hate sweating when I work, which is one reason I chose a Bungie Chair when I started working at Smart Furniture. Sitting on rows of spaced bungie cords gives me plenty of ventilation from my shoulders to my knees, so it’s great in that respect.

When I switched to the Leap Chair, one concern I had was that the fabric wouldn’t breathe like the Bungie Chair; fortunately, Leap proved up to the task. The texture of the back and seat feels slightly soft yet rough; not rough in a bad way, simply not smooth like leather (I haven’t sat in the leather version). Anyway, something about this texture breathes very well and has made the temperature between me and the chair a non-factor. I wish I could have somehow had the Leap Chair to enjoy Harry Potter in. That would have made it even better.

So that does it for my Leap Chair review. I hope the critique was insightful and informative. As for me, I’m going to behave as if my review week continues indefinitely and keep the chair right where it is. Until next time…

Matt's Leap Week

Day Four

It’s Tuesday- not yet hump day for the working world, but hump day for me in that I’m on day three of five of my Leap Chair review. It’s the penultimate day of my review; after tomorrow the powers that be will strip me of my Steelcase chair and I’ll go back to sitting in the ol’ bungie chair. Don’t get me wrong- the bungie chair is great, but it doesn’t provide the overall comfort level or have all the nifty features that the Leap Chair has. For instance- the arms…

The Leap’s arms don’t just go up and down, they move in a bunch of different directions, and they do it without requiring any exertion on the part of the user. To move up and down, just press a button below the arms, and then release it to lock the arms at the desired height. They also go forward and backward, and this requires no button at all. Not only that- they swivel left and right too! You can move the arms north, south, east, and west with just a slight push, and then use those optimally positioned arms to rest your..arms..I use a keyboard and monitor at my desk (as opposed to a laptop), and I like to move around depending on what I need to be closer to- my phone or my giant pile of mess on the other side of my desk. The point is that I constantly reposition my keyboard, which requires me to constantly reposition my arms; being able to move the Leap Chair’s arms in three dimensions keeps me comfortable, and probably does good things for my shoulders and spine too.

Three dimensions- that’s as good as it gets, plain and simple. It’ll be years before they have a chair whose arms move in more dimensions than that. Only then it won’t be called a chair- it’ll be called a time machine. Ok I’m getting back to whatever it is I was doing before the muse took hold…

Matt's Leap Week

Day 3

It’s the third day of sitting in the Leap Chair, and I seem to have reached the point where I want one. I visit our studio (ie store) often and always spend a few minutes sitting in as many things as possible (since I can choose from premium quality office chairs) before doing whatever it is I’ve gone over there to do, and I pretty much always want whatever it is I’m sitting in at the moment.

But now I really, really, want the Leap Chair. For real. I figured out that the one thing I thought was lacking can be adjusted. When I reclined as far as I could my lower back felt unsupported, which seemed kind of odd as the lower back needs lots of support in order for the chair to be comfortable. Leap has a support band that spans the width of the back, but it didn’t go down as far as I wanted it to. Until now. It turns out that I’m a weakling and just needed to use more effort to move the lumbar support as far down the chair as possible, so now my entire back is covered and feels really comfortable. And that makes me happy.

Another bragging point for Steelcase is the number of places that the Leap Chair’s pivots. The back reclines smoothly, and the level of resistance is ultra-adjustable- ranging from “Effortless Recline” to “He-Man Couldn’t Budge It.” Once you’re reclined, however, you can keep moving; the back itself pivots against the chair’s frame, making it easy to take a nice long stretch, or stare right up at the ceiling, if that’s what you want to do. For me, this is advantageous because when I listen to my iPod at my desk I like to bob my head up and down, and the flexibility of Leap’s upper half lets me extend this pleasant bobbing motion down my back, so I can kind of pretend that I’m dancing while seated. I’m sure the image that comes to mind is not as cool as I make it sound, but I guarantee it looks cooler than me dancing fully upright. That would belong on Fail blog or an equally disgraceful website.

Matt's Leap Week

Day Two

…of sitting in the Leap Chair was a far greater test than day one - a solid nine hours and change of chair time was in the works. Now that time is closer to two hours and I have to say that Leap has performed very well. I picked up on a couple of subtleties that I missed yesterday, and they do make a difference when spending an entire day in the chair.

The first is the cushioning effect you feel when you sit down in the chair with all your weight. The cylinder (the part that attaches the chair to the base) has some shock-absorbing mechanism so you never really feel the impact of your backside hitting the seat. It reminds me of when you’re driving your car and you stop at a red light. When you see the light turn red you can do one of two things - you can really hit the brakes until your car comes to a complete stop, which causes your torso to lean forward for a second before your back returns to the car seat in a jarring fashion, or you can gently hit the breaks and lightly release them the moment before your car stops, which accomplishes the goal of the complete stop without any jarring movement of your person.

The former technique is favored by most seventeen-year olds, taxi-drivers, and many, many Europeans. The latter technique is favored by, well, sensible people who enjoy a comfortable halt in their automobile. I know sitting down in a chair is a different movement than leaning forward in your automobile, but the sensation is similar. So if you fall into the latter category of sensible drivers you might like the Steelcase Leap Chair. It really does reduce the amount of force your back and butt experience when you sit down. No lie - if it didn’t I wouldn’t have gone through the trouble of the red light analogy. It looks like I’ve written sufficiently about this one benefit of Leap for today. Until tomorrow …

Matt's Leap Week

Day One

So it's Thursday at Smart Furniture and I've been rocking spreadsheets like it's my job. Rocking spreadsheets *is* my job (or part of it), so no surprises there. What was a surprise was the opportunity to test one of our new office chairs from Steelcase - the Leap Chair. Not only does this give me the chance to sit in what I can already tell is a pretty sweet office chair for at least a week, it also gives me the opportunity to show off my creative writing skills! That doesn't mean I have any experience writing commentary of this sort or imply that my creative writing skills are above average, nor does it ensure that I have the capability to deliver to you, the reader, an unbiased review of a chair that I would love for you to buy. But it does mean that I get the chance to share my thoughts in a candid forum as honestly as I can and hopefully assist some shoppers in their chair-purchasing decisions. It also means that when I’m writing I’m not looking at any spreadsheets! Already, the Leap Chair makes a difference.

I usually sit in the Bungie Chair, which seems to be the default at the Smart Furniture office. It's a great chair; but it's definitely lacking in some areas. Most notably, there's no pivoting mechanism between the seat and the back, so when you lean back your legs go up in the air, which means that your legs aren't supported, and your knees start to feel weird. I love to
lean back, and I have bad knees, so that's a problem.

As you may have guessed, this is not an issue with the Leap Chair. When I first sat down in it, I noticed that the back flexes while your legs stay parallel to the ground. Of course I had to make some adjustments; as I mentioned earlier, I love to lean back, so I adjusted the lower back
firmness to a very relaxed setting. This let me tilt as far back as I wanted, but my butt started to slip over the edge of the seat when I was fully reclined. Fortunately, this was quickly remedied when I adjusted the seat depth. Most office chairs that have this option rely on a rolling
mechanism at the front of the seat that actually increases how long the seat is, but not with Steelcase. The Leap Chair’s seat actually slides forward and backward, and you can make adjustments even when sitting down in it (with one hand, no less). The only downside is that when you’re sliding backwards, you have to grip the casters with your feet to prevent the entire chair from moving. With the seat depth adjusted to fit yours truly, the Leap Chair felt great in a reclined position. So I stayed that way for a good chunk of the afternoon. My back feels good as the day is drawing to a close, and I’m looking forward to spending the entire workday with Leap
tomorrow.

Geneva, meet Amia. Amia, Geneva.

Final Day

I will be parting with Amia as my week is over, and I am very, very sad. It's back to flimsy, unsupportive, sticky leather, generic office chairs for me. My experience with this amazing chair has opened my eyes to the possibilities of office chairs being comfortable and adjustable. It also makes me acutely aware of just how regretful of having to give it up I will be next week when I stand up and grab my back, hobble a few steps, then stand upright.
Yes, it is possible to miss a chair. I know, because I miss my green, cushy, sturdy, flexible Amia already. Good bye Amia. You have a special place in my heart.

Day Five

The strain of moving office equipment with my colleague yesterday took more of a toll on my back than I had thought, because I could not walk properly after I got home. I felt as if I had an eighty year-old's body. In light of that, I spent most of the evening seated. When I tried to stand up it took me (I kid you not) three minutes to get vertical. It hurt. A lot. On the ride to work this morning, I had some lingering pain issues and riding took a lot longer than usual. I was heavily anticipating being able to sit in Amia, having previously experienced its helpful qualities.
Now that I have been sitting in it for a while, I feel worlds better. I can get out of my chair with a spring in my step, instead of meandering along at a granny's pace ... which is decidedly unbecoming for an eighteen year-old.

Day Four
I missed my Amia last night! I was sitting in this terrifically uncomfortable chair while I was working at home and that chair had barely any cush, no arms, back was rail straight and diamond hard - needless to say, I am spoiled in the Amia. My standards are higher now. On a one-to-ten scale (judging office chairs, home office included), I give it a nine. Most other office chairs tag in at a measly three. Ponder that; better yet, find out what I mean.
Today I had the opportunity to sit in a Leap Chair, another fine member of the Steelcase family, and I think at this point that I prefer the Amia. Amia is a weightier chair and I like that - it is a good, sturdy, comfortable chair.

A little later in the day I helped one of my co-workers change offices and I strained my back in a rather bad way and have been sitting down ever since. There is such a difference even after about half an hour; I can twist, sit back all the way, lean forward - really, it makes a difference.

Geneva, meet Amia. Amia, Geneva.

Day Three
The Amia is Amia-zing. Pardon the stretch for a pun, but we all know by now what a sucker I am for cheesiness. I can hardly find anything I do not like about the chair. So far, the only negative thing I can think of is the fact that I can easily pull the arm rests forwards when I do not want to. Not a bad thing at all, especially if you like armrests that move easily!
Also, I am discovering that the Amia will lean very far back. It's not one of those tippy sorts of leans, either; you put pressure on the back and lean, and then you are stretching. It's a good feeling.
Strangely enough, and to my relief, my back pain is lessening. Imagine that! A chair can affect the way your body feels in three days. I am notably less discomfited when I stand up than I was when I was using my old chair. The Amia is not a miracle cure-all, but it's helping. I am so grateful!

Geneva, meet Amia. Amia, Geneva.

Day Two

Let's talk fabric. My old chairs were leather, or something like it. You know, the kind that sticks to your skin until the last possible second when you are standing up? Yeah, that kind. Not the Amia though. It's a very nice comfy fabric. I wasn't sure at first, because when I first touched it, I thought it was a bit rough. Once I sat down I was reassured by the fact that I felt swathed. Comfortable. Snug. Not one ounce of an itch or annoying cling in this fabric.

Over the course of the day I move around in my chair a lot, even going so far as to sit cross-legged. The Amia copes with it! I can adjust the lumbar support to my back no matter how I am sitting, leaving me always supported, provided I remember to change it. So far, this chair rocks it! And by "it," I mean my comfort. This green, comfortable, mobile chair ... rocks my comfortability.

Geneva, meet Amia. Amia, Geneva.

Contrary to popular belief, Geneva is not twelve. No, her winning personality has had eighteen years - and counting - to develop. Don't let the fact that she has recently graduated from high school fool you, she is a Class A go-getter and is very determined to give her best for what she wants ... which is currently to sit at a desk beside the Creative Director at Smart Furniture from ten to six every weekday. Not many eighteen-year-olds can claim to have an office; this one can.



Day One

The Amia is insta-ergonomic technology that has my back. I can honestly say that I have never been happier about a chair switch in my Smart Furniture career -- now, I have only had three switches so far, but I'm trying to magnify the fact that this is by far my favorite.
I did a little pre-switch research and discovered that the design for the Amia has roots in the old version of the Volkswagen Bug and a nearly-empty glass of cognac. Don't drink and drive is what comes to mind next after hearing that, but fortunately I'm at no risk there. I find those ideas very off-the-wall for a chair, but at the same time, I am happy to sit on an idea like that. It reminds me to think outside the boundary or the expected norm.
Earlier today I was complaining about how my back was bothering me, and believe me, it was. I ride my bicycle to and from work, plus most everywhere else I want to go, every day. That leaves me with aches and pains that are hard to deal with and an uncomfortable chair does nothing except perpetuate them. Sitting down in my new Amia after adjusting it to the nuances of my body is sublime. I feel no pressure on my back besides support. As I said, sublime. And, ironically, my Amia is green. Ha! Get it? Sub-lime, green? Ah, I never get over cheesy jokes.

Steelcase Creates Life

To demonstrate their commitment to going green, during the career exchange the recruiters from Steelcase gave out only one thing: a card made of biodegradable fibers with wildflower seeds embedded in it. So it doesn't just biodegrade, it creates life! And we all know how good plants are for the environment. Well done, Steelcase.

more here.

Personal Workspace Workout from Steelcase

Who says you have to leave the office to go to the Gym? Or leave the gym to go to the office. Well, with the Steelcase Sit-to-Walkstation, maybe you won’t have the entire gym at your disposal, but at least you’ll have a treadmill. That’s because the Steelcase Sit-to-Walkstation is a workstation and a treadmill in one. So the question becomes, what will give you a heart-attack first? Your impending deadline or all that running at your desk?

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle while being an office worker isn’t easy, but now you will have an edge. The Sit-to-Walkstation from Steelcase is a 2-in-1 workstation that allows users to walk, stand or sit while on the job. Instead of just sit.

This workstation comes with a built-in electrical height adjuster and display to show how many calories you’ve burned on the job. The price? $4,899.00. Ouch. I feel the burn already. Install this LCD arm for several screens and you’ve got yourself an awesome little gym.


more on article here.

Steelcase Racks Up on Awards at Neocon

Steelcase Receives Five Best NeoCon Awards and Best Overall Showroom for Nurture- Awards Recognize Outstanding Design Innovation in Casegoods, Seating, Tables and Fabrics -

CHICAGO, June 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Steelcase Inc. (NYSE: SCS), a global office environments manufacturer, today announced that the Steelcase family of companies won five Best of NeoCon awards, including two Gold awards, and two showroom awards. Nurture(R), a Steelcase company and a leading manufacturer of furniture for healthcare environments, won the Best Large and Best Overall showroom awards. Products recognized with a Best of NeoCon award include casegoods, seating, tables and a rug collection, all of which are on display at this year's NeoCon 2009 World's Trade Fair for Interior Design and Facilities Management in Chicago.

IIDA/Contract Magazine Showroom and Design Competition at NeoCon 2009

Sponsored by the International Interior Design Association (IIDA) and Contract magazine, the 14th annual IIDA/Contract magazine Showroom and Booth Design Competition honors originality of design, visual impact, effective use of materials and the outstanding use of space, color, texture, lighting and graphics in showrooms and booths at NeoCon 2009.

Nurture won Best Large and Best Overall Showroom, picking up two of the five available awards in the showroom design competition. Over 3,000 square feet in size, the Nurture showroom is a testament to the company's bold vision to shape and improve the future of healthcare delivery by making healthcare environments more comfortable, efficient and conducive to the healing process. Nurture's showroom was commended for authentically recreating a healthcare environment within The Mart and successfully showcasing the integrity of the product and what it does.

Best of NeoCon 2009

Sponsored by Contract magazine and celebrating its 20th year, the Best of NeoCon awards recognize the top new products introduced at the show. Steelcase Inc. received a total of five Best of NeoCon Awards, taking home two Gold awards, one Silver award, the Innovation Award and Editors' Choice Award.

The first of two Gold awards went to Denzien by Coalesse, Steelcase's premium life/work furnishings division, in the Case Goods: Desks & Credenzas category. Denzien is a new collection of casegoods that fit as easily at home as they do in the modern private office. This collection offers a more socially inviting space and bridges the gap of work and life by infusing insightful work process solutions. The elements of the multi-modal Denizen collection -- storage units, tables and desking -- offer unmatched functionality for seamless transitions and offer smart features that include self-closing doors and drawers and integrated, clutter-free technology access points.

More on article

What We Think About THINK

Last Day with Mark


When I look at the Think, what I see is a minimalist, inside-outside design that I appreciate aesthetically. The LiveBack system is visible but doesn’t look like it’s functional as much as it looks like a design element, and the two frame bars that hold up the back look unyielding in their curve.

What I’ve found after sitting in the chair for a week (yes, it’s been a week – I only wrote on 4 days, but have been in the chair that long) is that the frame bars, since they’re independent and not connected at the top, flex quite a bit. The result is that when I turn in the chair and move around, the back is not stiff from side to side, but twists with me quite comfortably.

I’ve also found that the LiveBack isn’t just pretty trappings for a modern chair. The metal cords have a huge degree of give and have worked together to shape the back far beyond what I would have expected. I tend to sit sort of angled, which I know is not the most healthy or ergonomically correct position, but that’s just how it works best with the desk I’ve got. What the LiveBack has done – along with the frame’s give at the top – is it has helped the chair support me where I am, rather than try to conform my posture to its shape by putting undue stress on one part of my back.

The seat is comfortably soft, but not soft enough to let me slump down into it; it is not comfort on the level of an Eames Softpad Lounge Chair, but it beats most every other office chair I’ve sat on. Part of the reason I like the design so much is that it allows for a pad in the seat, rather than ruling it out by having such a slim profile my Grandma wouldn’t be able to see it.

Finally, the armrests: after a week of use, I’ve come up with a few preferred configurations. Right now I’m in the typing configuration (remember, I sit crooked). The left armrest is front-in, back-out. The right armrest is front-out, back-in. The SketchUp (Google’s 3D software program) configuration calls for both armrests to have the front in and the back out because I put my right arm wider to use the mouse for that program.

Now that you know more than you need to about my sitting habits, the simplest thing is to understand that these armrests offer great flexibility with ease. To move them from one configuration to the next, all I do is drag them with my elbow (!!!). They are my favorite feature on the Think because of the ease and flexibility. At Smart Furniture, none of us is a single-function employee, so it’s super useful to have equipment that assists us with whatever it is we’re doing. I’m sure you can relate.

We really need a grading system for these chairs we’re reviewing, but maybe we’ll do that when we’re done with all the reviews. In any case, I’m comfortable in the Think and that sounds like a pretty good grade to me.

What We Think About THINK

Day Six with Cyndi

I really look forward to sitting in the Think Chair again today. It makes me sad to realize that today is my last day to “test drive” the Think Chair. After today I must go back to sitting in my very un-cushioned, uncomfortable chair, the one at home and the one at work. You know, I think I need to convince my husband that we need a new desk and chair at home because I do work several hours from home each week. ;) I have really enjoyed the “test drive”. I highly recommend the Think Chair by Steelcase.

What We Think About THINK

Day Five with Mark

Today I pretty well settled into the chair and found that I like the 3rd setting on the tilt limiter – not quite all the way laid back, but supportive – and it allows me to push back slightly against it and rock a little bit. My grandfather would say that I’m keeping my joints lubricated. He’d also say that I need to shave, and that if I’m not careful, my face will stick like this. Well, at least he’s right about moving while I work; I’ve found that it helps me at the end of the day to have spent it in movement, no matter how slight.
When I lean back, the seat stays level, so there’s no edge cutting into the backs of my knees (in fact, there’s no edge at all, as much as that sounds contrary to physics). My circulation has not been cut off at any part of any of the days I’ve tried Think.
At the same time, the arms – wonder of wonders – stay in place. They don’t tilt back with the chair, like every other chair out there, or at least most of them. The effect is that my hands don’t feel like they’re being pulled away from the keyboard as I rock,and I can actually place the armrests at a usable height without fear that they’ll scrape the bottom edge of my desk if I lean back. Ergonomics nerds like me will love this chair.

What We Think About THINK

Day Four with Cyndi

I work part time (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to be exact), as well as some hours from home. So I was really glad when it was Wednesday and I could sit in the Think Chair again. However, I was disappointed when I arrived at my office and Mark Rico had “borrowed” the chair on Tuesday. He brought it back right away though. The Think Chair was just as comfortable the second day as it was the first. I really enjoy the adjustable recline and arm rests. The arm rests adjust closer to your body or farther away as well as angling from left to right. This makes the Think Chair very conforming to your preferences. As I was sitting in the chair I was really wishing I had a comfortable chair at home to sit in while I work. The chair and desk I have at home are very uncomfortable and as a result I sit on my bed and work on my laptop when I work at home. When I work for an hour or two at a time sitting on my bed, it becomes very uncomfortable too. I seriously need a new desk and chair at home.

What We Think About THINK

Day Three with Mark

The back of the chair’s got this system of independent cables that Steelcase calls the “Liveback” system. What that means to me is that while I’ve been sitting here, sort of rocking in the chair, the back has been moving to accommodate me as I move. It’s not a padded back, except for the cloth covering the cables, but it somehow gives the impression that it’s solidly cushioned. That, combined with the cushy seat, makes the overall sitting experience a pretty luxurious one. I spent a lot of time at my desk today, and at no point did I get uncomfortable. I just had an urge to get up and move around every so often, as is normal for me.
The thing that sets this chair apart is its slim, modern profile.Yes, it’s cushy. Yes, it’s modern. No, it’s not clumsy and overstuffed. No, it’s not overbearing. It’s more like my favorite thing about my office, rather than just office furniture. The one I’m using is white back/white seat and it’s super crisp and attractive.

Entrepreneurs Pack Up and Go Home

In February, after 12 years in a downtown La Jolla, Calif., storefront, Brett and Kimberly Buffington packed up their children's clothing boutique, Eurochild LLC, and moved it into their home.

"Business just stopped on a dime" 18 months ago, Mr. Buffington says, and he and his wife were unable to renegotiate their $7,000-a-month rent.

Working at home allows the couple to save $12,000 a month in rent and other overhead costs and focus on revamping EuroChild's Web site to attract new customers. "You don't have overhead, you don't have to manage employees, you don't have to keep the store clean -- all the stuff that comes along with running a retail business," Mr. Buffington says.

But as more small businesses around the country ditch their storefronts and offices to cut expenses during the recession, they're encountering new hurdles. Many of them have to deal with home-business zoning ordinances and take on new insurance and marketing costs. The Buffingtons, for example, faced $1,200 a year for home-based-business commercial insurance, as well as an expanded online marketing budget.

Business owners also confront the challenge of making it appear to loyal customers that nothing significant has changed. "Clearly, the biggest mistake is having a huge drop in customer base," says Larry Cox, associate professor of entrepreneurship at the Graziadio School of Business at Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif.

"You have to have a sense by talking to customers of how attached they are to the locations," he says. "Will they continue to do business with you with a different model?"

Read on >> Wall Street Journal

Home office migration for entrepreneurs is increasing, take advantage of your Home Office Workspace with Smart Furniture.

What We Think About THINK

Day Two with Cyndi

I was very excited when I was asked to “test drive” the Think Chair by Steelcase.I am not a woman of many words so I was concerned that maybe I was not the best choice for this “test drive” and analysis, but nonetheless I agreed.

When I first sat down in the Think Chair I immediately noticed the very cushioned and comfortable seat. I also noticed how comfortable it was when I leaned back. You see, I ruptured a disk in my back a few years ago so there aren’t too many chairs that are truly comfortable. So I need a chair that has great lumbar support and helps my back relax while sitting. The Think chair does have a great lumbar support which really helps my posture while sitting, not one of my strong points. I also noticed the dial on the right side that allows the chair to recline more or less, depending on my preference. The chair I normally sit in has a lever to allow the chair to recline slightly or not recline at all. So the dial on the Think Chair gives me more options depending on the way I feel for the day. I am a woman and yes I change my mind often. I am looking forward to my second day in the Think...

Steelcase Think(R) Chair Achieves Highest Level(TM) Certification to New BIFMA e3 Standard

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., June 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Te Steelcase Think(R) chair has received level(TM) 3 certification to the new Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturer's Association (BIFMA) e3 sustainability standard. Think was independently certified by Scientific Certification Systems (SCS). Level(TM) 3 certification is the highest level of achievement possible in this BIFMA certification program. Manufacturers can only achieve level(TM) certification from a participating third party, such as SCS, which meets rigorous level(TM) criteria for certification bodies and assesses products against the specified BIFMA standard. The e3 standard represents BIFMA's first multi-attribute sustainability standard specifically for furniture. BIFMA gathered a diverse group of stakeholders to help develop the sustainability standard to distinguish environmentally preferable business and institutional furniture. The standard has multiple conformance levels, i.e. levels 1, 2, or 3 with level(TM) 3 being the highest. Products are certified using a point system that encompasses both product and facility characteristics and environmentally-friendly corporate policies. "This is an outstanding achievement that honors the strong sustainability design aspects of Think and is a reflection of Steelcase's commitment to designing for the environment," said Jim Keane, president, Steelcase North America. "No other chair has been so carefully considered with regard to its impact on the environment in all stages of product lifecycle. The steps taken during the development of Think have led the way for other products." "Steelcase's ability to achieve level(TM) 3 certification is a testament to their longstanding commitment to sustainability and sustainable product design," Tom Reardon, executive director, BIFMA noted. "It is no simple achievement." "It's gratifying to see how all of our work in materials chemistry, life cycle assessment and end of life strategies for our products contributed to this level(TM) 3 certification," Keane noted. "All of our future level(TM) product certifications will build on our longstanding sustainable product development and business practices." The Think chair is a high performance chair that was designed for people and the environment. During its development, Steelcase documented the lifecycle impacts of Think from its raw material state through manufacturing processes to end of life. Weighing only 32 pounds, Think uses less material than comparable chairs. It disassembles in five minutes with common hand tools, is comprised of up to 37 percent recycled content, and is up to 98 percent recyclable at end of life. In addition to Think, Steelcase also announced level(TM) certification for its Leap(R), Move(R), Amia(R), and Siento(R) seating, Answer(R) system, and Universal storage products. About Steelcase Inc. Steelcase provides furniture, services and insights to help people have a better work experience, and to help companies and organizations create inspiring spaces with a maximum impact on performance and a minimum impact on the environment. A Michigan-based company that has been serving customers for nearly a century, Steelcase leads the global office furniture industry with $3.2 billion in annual revenue (FY09). Learn more at www.steelcase.com.

SOURCE Steelcase Inc.

Customize your own Think Chair here, and follow the What We Think About THINK to hear the inside story from our two employees.

What We Think About THINK

Because of our continuing curiosity about what it’s like to use the great chairs we sell, we here at Smart Furniture have prevailed upon two of our fine employees to test the Steelcase Think chair. Mark Rico (our resident rendering specialist) and Cyndi Brackett (our accountant extraordinaire), have graciously accepted the opportunity to share the Think for one week and write about their experience.

Mark, in addition to his superb SketchUp and facial-hair-growing skills, is glad to spend life with his wife and two daughters. He hopes to one day hike the Appalachian Trail with his family and is currently reading about insects and spiders because they’re amazing.

Cyndi works out of our office three days a week and is at home the remaining four. She is very blessed to have a wonderful husband and two amazing kids. Her son is entering middle school next year and her daughter will be entering Kindergarten next year. Yes, she drives a minivan and hauls kids around all day but loves every minute of it. She hopes to go to Europe on vacation at some point in the future. On those days when she doesn’t have a minute to herself she looks forward to being an empty nester!

Day One with Mark

Today I started a week-long test of the Steelcase Think chair. Steelcase isn’t really the first brand many people think of when they’re considering modern furniture, or even seating for their home offices. However, the Think pretty well demonstrates that Steelcase doesn’t just make conventional office furniture; it’s beautiful to look at (especially the one I’m sitting in – white seat, white mesh back – stunning) and super comfortable. The real question at this point is how it performs every day.

The first thing I did was read the little how-to-adjust-the-chair tag that came with the Think. It’s only a one-page diagram that tells you what the knobs do, and it’s really all that’s necessary. Think is a very intuitive chair to adjust. The lever thing (there’s only one – simple) is for adjusting the height. The knob thing (there’s only one – again, very simple) is for setting the tilt limit, and there are 4 settings. Under the front of the seat, there’s a bar very similar to the bar you’d find under the front seat of your car, and you lift it and scoot the seat forwards or backwards to increase or decrease the seat depth. There are about 2 inches of adjustability for the depth which turns out to be enough for me, and I’m 6’1”.

The armrests are by far the most fun function. They move in/out in front and back, independently, so that you can find the best position without pressing buttons or being confined to a preset location. Throughout the day, as I’ve gotten used to sitting here, I’ve gotten comfortable enough to just move the armrests with my elbows as I change position.

More tomorrow, but my first impression is that I like the way it feels almost as much as I like the way it looks, and it looks incredible. This is the kind of chair that I want to have in my home office and just “happen” to leave the door open, hoping my guests will see it as I purposefully lead them past the doorway …

Creative Suite Custom Office Package featuring Steelcase

Creative Suite Custom Office Package

With a multitude of options and selections to choose from, you can easily customize any space with home office furniture by Steelcase. With stylish curves and workspace galore, this custom home office package flows with creativity and comfort. Designed and customized using some of my favorite items, this custom home office package includes:

• Uno Chair, designed by Charles Perry
  Become one with this great chair, featuring hammock-style support for your entire body. Other amenities include swivel mechanism, pneumatic height and standard carpet casters.
• Groupwork Desk with Screen Slatwall, by Turnstone from Steelcase
  
  
• Tour Pile File, by Turnstone from Steelcase
  Can't decide on piling up or filing in? Then the Tour Pile File is perfect for your changing needs.

Choose the colors and finishes that work best with your space, or contact me for a free custom home office design that's right for you!

Steelcase Think Chair

By Reena Jana for Business Week

Editor's Rating: 4 out of 5 star rating
The Good: Comfortable, beautiful, and easy to adjust
The Bad: So comfortable it's hard to get up; pricey
The Bottom Line: A functional and lovely chair, worth the price

During a recession, it's hard to justify purchasing new office furniture, especially of the sleek and stylish variety. Sure, it was one thing to shell out $1,000 for an Aeron Chair back in the dot-com bubble days. Or even during the more recent mid-2000s boom. But spending upwards of $729 on a chic seat like Steelcase's (SCS) Think chair now?

While it seems like an extreme expenditure, it could just be worth it.

This is the conclusion I come to after trying out a Think chair in "Coconut" (white vinyl) at work for four months—the whole first quarter of 2009. If white vinyl sounds impractical, think again: Its surface was as soft as real leather, and you can wipe away spilled coffee without guilt.

The chair design features two trade-marked mechanisms created by Steelcase after consulting health experts at institutions such as the University of Vermont's Back Research Center. Flexible metal bands in the seat back support and move with your back, while the reclining apparatus underneath the seat leverages body weight to provide a smooth transition from sitting upright to leaning backward. Gone are the jarring or jerky position switches that can occur with other office chairs. And you can adjust the arm rests, covered with a cushiony plastic, so they can slide closer to the body. Move them backward and forward by nudging them with your elbows—wonderful when typing and then abruptly moving toward the phone to answer a call. There aren't any complicated levers, though you can "program" your favorite chair positions via an analog, manual knob.

Troubles Vanish

In the months I tried the chair, I saw some writing-related injuries disappear. (Full disclosure: I usually sit in an Aeron Chair.) I'm not sure this is coincidence. A small cyst in my left wrist disappeared during this time. The wrist aches I used to have from typing too much went away—although I was in fact typing more than before.

Which brings me to a caveat: When I was using the Think chair, I took fewer breaks to get up and walk around. While I certainly was productive during the first quarter of 2009, I had to wonder about how healthy these hour-long spells of sitting really were.

Another "warning": The Think chair is good-looking. Colleagues who usually don't walk past my cubicle made detours because they had heard I had a cool new seat. Invariably, they commented on the chair's striking appearance. I don't think it's a coincidence that the features added to the latest version of the Think chair (the first version was launched nearly five years ago) are new fabrics and colors. In March, Steelcase announced bright new shades that essentially, and unofficially, match the vibrant hues of the current Apple (AAPL) iPod Nano music players. On the chairs, the colors are featured in a soft, knit fabric. Sure, this is a cosmetic upgrade, but the fact that no other upgrades were announced also speaks to the effectiveness of the chair's original design and engineering.

While its price tag suggests it's a bit of a luxury right now, the real reason to buy the chair is its functionality—its ergonomic comfort and simplicity of use. But the new Think chair's jewel-toned fabrics provide a bit of a mood boost, too. And these days, who couldn't use a mood boost as well?

Stay Home and Work

Ms. Kanter writing for Harvard Business has some interesting policy ideas:
Stay Home and Work

ROSABETH MOSS KANTER THE CHANGE MASTER
President Obama, here is a deceptively simple action item to put on your agenda for business growth, working families, and a green future: Make it the norm for everyone to work at home at least one day a week. That single step could raise productivity, save energy, decrease pollution, reduce traffic congestion, cut household expenses, increase quality of family life, and keep educated women in the work force.

Workers of the world, go remote!

During this time of economic crisis and reinvention of global capitalism, one of the things crying out for reinvention is the rigid workplace of the last century. It is amazing in the digital age that most work is still associated with industrial age work rhythms and the symbolic chains that tie workers, knowledge and otherwise, to fixed locations. Flexible workplaces with flexible hours and days are long in coming.

Many U.S. cities have become commuter nightmares as urban sprawl sends people across longer distances in their cars every week day. According to the 2008 U.S. Census estimates, 84 percent of the U.S. population lives within 363 metropolitan areas that spill over central city boundaries and, in some cases, over state lines. Jobs within central business districts have been declining, while jobs outside a ten-mile ring have been growing. Vehicle miles traveled have increased twice as fast as population growth.

The daily commute to work has high costs in time, aggravation, fuel consumption, and pollution. If it became a staggered commute of four days a week for everyone, then perhaps 20 percent of the traffic could be gone, vanished, poof, just like that.

. . . 

To reinvent the work place, we need public officials to put the infrastructure and permission in place, companies to start the change process, and people to learn how to work together with new norms. With Stephanie Khurana, founder of several high-tech companies and now the flexible consulting firm, Higher Aims, I want to start a dialogue about etiquette for the flexible workplace. Let's do it with the time we are saving and the energy we are conserving by not going into the office one day a week.

View full article: http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/kanter/2009/04/stay-home-and-work.html

Steelcase Office

Here is the Steelcase Think chair with a Steelcase extended curve desk. My client was left handed and wanted the computes on the left side, while leaving space on the right to meet with clients face to face. We acomplished this goal by giving her a desk with a small left return for the computer while still keeping the front of the desk clear to meet with clients. We added a mobile filling cabinet for under desk file storage.

Small Office Designs Featuring Steelcase

These office designs were created by Karen.

Steelcase Think® Work Chair 3D Knit Back 3D Model

Design Your Own Steelcase Think Chair at http://www.smartfurniture.com/think

You can also download this model here

Steelcase Leap Chair Review

Funny--Leap Chair Productivity

Steelcase Amia Design Story

Beneath the Amia chair’s upholstery, inside its sleek backrest, there’s a form of our unique comfort system called LiveLumbar™ technology. You may not see it, but you’ll certainly feel it. As you sit in the chair, an adjustable LiveLumbar™ zone flexes with your every move, for consistent ergonomic support for your lower back. Hour after hour, day after day. With additional comfort features like 4-way adjustable arms, adjustable seat depth and a flexible front seat edge, Amia keeps you feeling good 24/7. It’s a chair for every day, that’s not your everyday chair.

Available at SmartFurniture.com

Amia 3D Model--Download it here at the Google 3D Warehouse.

Custom Home Office Design

Custom Home Office Design Created by Design Specialists at SmartFurniture.com. This home office features the Steelcase Cobi Chair (coming soon) and the Tour Pile File from Steelcase.

Cobi is Coming

Available for purchase at www.SmartFurniture.com in June 2009, the Cobi Office Chair by Steelcase encourages you to move and supports a variety of postures. Getting comfortable is simple. A weight-activated mechanism in the Cobi Chair's frame senses and supports your own center of gravity, adjusting to the position that minimizes stress on your body.