Well, no demands have been received as of now. But primary school children will start demanding once they find out that the desks and chairs in the schools are a risk to health. Not only that, these kids (basically you, me and everyone else who has gone to school) might develop serious disorders and illnesses in their adulthood due to the furniture. Serious stuff. This news somehow makes skipping school sound like a good idea. Anyway, I digress.

A comprehensive research study into the issues of school furniture for primary schools was conducted by an Irish designer Simon Dennehy for his two year research MA in Industrial Design with the National College of Art and Design in Dublin, Ireland.

The result of this research is Perch. I did a quick search and found that Perch has several meanings including a name for a spiny-finned freshwater fish found in North America and Europe. Very useful the Internet is... and I have digressed again.

The Perch project came up with chairs and desks that are ergonomically designed for primary school children. In the designer's own words, Perch 'hopes to alleviate poor posture in school children thus increasing productivity, health and well being'.

Shopping for a new mattress and wondering if a firm mattress is suitable? Well, this article from CNN (back in 2003) reports that mattress with medium firmness may be best for back pain.

According to CNN:
Doctors have traditionally recommended hard beds for people with lower-back pain, but that advice has been based on scarce evidence. Now the first substantial study has found that people who slept on medium mattresses were twice as likely to report an improvement as people using firm ones.

Nevertheless, the study also mentions that:
...doesn't mean everyone would benefit from a medium mattress, and that trial and error is still the best way to choose.

Click here to read the full article.

The Star has an article on local furniture maker Rozel entitled "Rozel constantly seeks new avenues for designs".

Quote from the article:

Beginning with a single sofa range, the company now offers a wide range of furniture and aims to be a household brand.

GONE are the days when people seeking to furnish their homes and offices would just head to the nearest furniture shop and pick up functional pieces with little regard for style or aesthetic value.

Consumers today are more demanding and often shop extensively before making a decision on the pieces they want.