Bags of comfort
| Bean bags are just what the doctor ordered for relaxation |
WONDERFUL CREATION: A bean bag is what the youth love
Believe us, this is a bag full of wonders, beamed the two young IT
professionals staying in a rented flat at Basavanagudi in Bangalore. Bean bags
were the only furniture that could be spotted in the drawing room. "We use
them every which way," continued Asha Ravale and Shanthi Rangan, who had
bought them from an exhibition. "Let alone throwing yourself on them, once
you are on them, their shapeless comfort brings about a holidaying effect in
you."
"There couldn't be better portable furniture,"
proclaims Raji Karanth in Jayanagar, who bought one from a store on R.V. Road.
"My son treats it as a long-jump field, clomps on it and pulls it all over
the house. Sitting pretty in the car dickey, our bean bag travelled to Nandi
Hills with us," she giggles.
Bachelor Anand Mahadevan at Malleswaram, however, puts it to
more serious use. "I comfortably use my laptop on it," he says.
It adds a `cool' look to the otherwise staid sofas and diwans,
says interior decorator, Rama Bhargavi. "I have included it as a main
seating in a space below the stairs in my creation at Indiranagar, in a garment
boutique."
Enter the i-Bar at The Park on M.G. Road and colourful suede
and leather bean bags beckon you to take a break! "I love sinking into it
when I come here for my weekend unwinding," says Ajith. But is it comfy
enough to go along for a few hours? "I don't really care, I simply love
this low level soft recliners," says the chartered accountant, happy that
such offbeat inclusions pepped up the ambience.
Value
addition
Such are the responses for the modest bean bags, a nearly
eight-year-old entrant to the market. "Bean bags may not be the answer to
your drawing room needs, but they fall into the value-addition list," says
Shaji K.K. of Caprius Bean Bag in Koramangala, Bangalore. "Seating
preferences are highly subjective and need-based. Nothing can be condemned.
Although preferred by the young, the middle aged too go in for the modish chic
feel quite often," he says.
There are about 25 dealers in Bangalore alone, and with the
IT Capital boasting of the largest young segment statistics, bean bag sales is
proportionately higher compared to other cities, say market sources.
Caprius Bean Bags, manufacturers of the beans too, deals with
three kinds of seating material that holds the beans — Parachute, Rexine and
Italian leather in XL and XXL sizes. "The fill which we use is a
high-density, petroleum by-product bean which is spongy, soft and weightless.
Nearly five kg of beans go into a large bean bag weighing about six kg on the
whole."
Cost factor
The cost of this `anywhere, anyplace sofa' ranges from Rs.1,
800 (parachute-XXL) to Rs.1, 900 (rexine -XXL) and Rs. 2,600 (Italian leather-XXL)
says Shaji. Caprius sells about 20 pieces a day. Bean bags are cylindrical in
shape, tapered at the top end for easy carry. They look like a sack that is half
full. They were originally available only in Germany with polystyrene granules,
an eco-clean and environmentally recycled fill resembling a bean. They are
stitched with quality poly-cotton industrial grade thread for a 10-15 year run.
Rexine covering is known to be harmful as the cellulose
nitrate coating could affect the skin in the long run. The granules shrink over
the years, which have to be replaced at an extra cost.
"A bag used as a chair!" sceptics even now scoff,
calling it a mismatch in the drawing room. The sheer unsteady seating makes it
hell for weak backs and is ergonomics at its worst, they scream. But the young
would vouch for the contemporary feel of the lazy-bag. "After all, it's the
bean-age," they seem to say.
RANJANI GOVIND
Courtesy: Property Plus, The Hindu
http://www.hindu.com/pp/2006/08/05/stories/2006080500670200.htm
