I’ve always been intrigued by the idea of stand up desks. Not because of potential health benefits or anything like that, but in general I get a bit tired of sitting all day. I’m a little bit of a spaz, and I’m always twitching or fiddling around with things. Chairs hampered my spaz, so I wanted to make a change. Unfortunately, most standup desks are either really expensive, or look completely unprofessional. I’m not one of those guys that would rather wear sweatpants and flip flops to work, I’ve got an image to protect, right? So I was highly intrigued when I read about the affordable IKEA stand up desk. It looked like something that would work for me – functional, yet doesn’t look like I went to the trash heap to scrape random parts together. So a couple of months ago, I took the plunge and built myself a stand up desk. I followed the printable instructions fairly closely, with the exception of a slightly different choice of materials. Instead of a plain black Lack table, I went with a black-brown, that is more of an ebony color.

Most of the furniture in our office is a very dark wood color, but not straight black. That bumped the price from 7.99 to 9.99 for two tables. Above is the completed desk, which looks quite professional and not homemade. I used standard brackets and shelves from Ikea, and constructed the whole thing in a matter of an hour or so. The trickiest part was really figuring out how high to have the shelf, as I’m also fairly particular on the angle of my arms etc.cheap barber chairs free shipping I tried this out for a couple of weeks, and found that I was extremely sore. cheap baby pushchairsNow, I work out and all that junk, but I wasn’t prepared for how tired my feet were going to be at the end of the day. chairs for back pain ireland

I wasn’t changing my footwear to tennis shoes or Crocs or anything. Quite a few folks on Twitter pointed me at anti-fatigue pads. Reading reviews led me to want to buy something a little nicer, so I went with the GelPro NewLife Eco-Pro commercial anti-fatigue mat. Reviews on Amazon were great, but it is a little pricey at $79.99 for the size I was looking at. This was almost 3x more expensive for the mat than my entire desk configuration. cheap pushchairs 3 in 1However, the reviews tend to justify the price, so that’s what I went with.harveys furniture store table and chairs Mat = HUGE difference. cheap chair rental wisconsinIf you are going for a stand-up desk, buy an anti-fatigue mat. It’s really the only way to go.

I’ve used the stand up desk now for a couple months. It was a little shaky at first – without that mat, my days felt really long. Sitting down to get in my car to drive home felt fantastic. But once I got the mat, I got rid of that barstool chair and I really haven’t felt the need to sit during the day. I do change positions quite a bit during the day. I alternate between standing on both feet equally, or shifting weight back and forth. I was doing this anyway when I sat in a chair all day long (evidently I’ve got the jimmy legs), but now it feels a lot more natural. But what about other benefits? To be honest, I don’t put a lot of stock in the idea that merely standing is better for your health than sitting – studies tend to show negative effects of sedentary lifestyle, but not that merely standing automatically makes you live longer (instead, a treadmill desk is a likely better choice). I haven’t lost or gained any weight, but I already go to the gym regularly.

I don’t think I sleep better, feel better or anything else. But on pure preference, I do like standing more than sitting. I sit enough at home, so it’s nice to have a chance of pace. One thing that I do have an issue with is that my shelving is not adjustable vertically. When I got the anti-fatigue mat, it raised me standing by nearly an inch. I also recently switched keyboards, lowering the profile of my hands. My first desk wasn’t sturdy enough to hold the tables, so I switched that too. In order to combat this, I’m looking at buying perhaps a few shelves so that they can just stack up, but I haven’t found a good flexible way to have adjustable height everything. At least one that doesn’t cost a lot of money. Sure, give it a go. It’s a small investment (about $40 for the desk, more for the mat). It’s a low-risk proposition. You can try just the desk, and if it doesn’t work, well, the trash collectors might be awfully confused. It’s not a life-changer for me.

I like it better, but it’s really just a personal preference. But that’s just one spaz’s opinion.Last updated: 19 October 2015 Ahh, leather ... the word alone conjures up visions of luxury, sophistication and high prices, particularly if we're talking furniture. In fact, not very long ago a leather couch was likely to set the buyer back thousands of dollars, though it was also considered an investment piece that would age beautifully and These days leather couches and chairs are advertised everywhere, and are often priced at well under $2000. But with the recent drop in cost comes the trade-off: not all leather couches are equal. In fact, some are not really leather at all. At CHOICE we've heard from unhappy consumers who've bought 'leather' couches that turned out to be more plastic than animal, while others have found their furniture peeling and cracking in a way that genuine leather shouldn't, yet still don't know exactly what they have bought. And with no national standard for leather labelling in Australia, it's not easy to know exactly what you are buying when you see the word 'leather' on a label.

We investigate what you get when you buy a leather couch in Australia. Leather that's not quite leather Leather certification in Australia Fantastic Furniture leather couches Leather couches that peel and sweat What to ask before you buy a leather couch What to do if your leather couch turns out to be fake What is leather, exactly? Full grain: The full hide of the animal has been used with minimal interference. It's the most durable kind of leather but also the rarest and usually the most expensive. Top grain: Top grain leather is the uppermost layer of the animal hide which has been buffed and polished. Split: Split leather is taken from the bottom of the hide; it's fairly fragile but it is the cheapest type of leather available. Corrected-grain is another common description, referring to any of the above leather that has had an artificial grain applied to its surface. Any imperfections are corrected or sanded off, and an artificial grain embossed into the surface and dressed with stain or dyes.

While the definitions above sound reasonably straightforward, if you go shopping for a leather couch, you might see the words 'cow hide leather', 'genuine leather', '100% leather' or made-up names like 'Lucia leather' or even 'bonded leather' instead. None of these names really give any indication of what kind of leather is being used or if indeed it's leather at all. Bonded leather (despite the name) has more in common with synthetics and is technically not considered leather at all. Other pieces of 'leather' furniture may have the 'contact areas' (such as the seats, arm rests, vertical seat backs and rolls) upholstered in leather, but the 'non-contact areas' (such as the outside arms and back) upholstered in a leather-like synthetic material. While the UK has a leather certification and testing body, in Australia it's up to shoppers to do the hard work when buying a couch. We found several couches that were advertised as leather yet the fine print disclosed only the contact areas were actually leather, and with other retailers there was little to no information about what the various components were made of.

Paul Simmons, project co-ordinator at the Australasian Furnishing Research and Development Institute (Furntech), runs a voluntary certification scheme for leather goods in Australia. He says it's likely in many cases that while a couch may be all 'leather', it's made of differing types of leather, which can affect the quality. Furntech's certification scheme is used voluntarily by some manufacturers and retailers in Australia, and the furniture that's been been tested will carry a swing tag confirming the certification. Earlier this year, the Ikea website stated: "There's something special about leather sofas. It comes from their natural look and texture and the way they age so beautifully." Underneath was a range of sofas priced from $795 to $3000. Sounds good, but the devil's in the detail. It's only when you clicked on the individual pieces that it became clear leather doesn't always mean leather. One couch was described as being covered in a "durable fabric that has the same look and feel as leather" and is actually not leather at all.

Another couch was listed as being upholstered in leather in the 'contact' areas, meaning the seat and back cushions are leather but the rest of the couch is covered in a mix of coated polyester and cotton. While the information was there if you know what to look for, it was buried deep in the product specifications and wasn't particularly obvious. We recognised Ikea's creative copywriting with a for their faux-leather couches. Within days, Ikea to clearly reflect the different types of couches available in their leather sofas category – a 'genuine' win for confused consumers. Bonded leather at Fantastic Furniture and Dare Gallery In 2010 Fantastic Furniture was pulled up by the ACCC for "misleading or deceptive conduct" promoting its 'Eurohide' and 'Pellisima' couches as "the luxury of leather for less". However, the couches were upholstered in 'bonded leather'. Bonded leather is made from a mish mash of plastics and bits of leather glued together. The actual leather content in bonded leather was approximately 10%.

Furniture retailer Dare Gallery was also found to have engaged in "false, misleading or deceptive conduct" by representing furniture as being 'bonded leather' on their website, where users navigated to this description by clicking on the hyperlinks 'See all leather sofas' or 'See all leather sofa suites'. Graeme Samuel, ACCC chairman at the time, said consumers seek out and often pay a premium for leather goods. "The ACCC will not tolerate traders in the furniture or any other industry misrepresenting predominantly synthetic materials as leather. If a trader chooses to use terms like 'leather' or 'hide' to describe goods that are only partially leather then they should also clearly disclose the fact it is not wholly leather to avoid consumer confusion." CHOICE member Vicki recently contacted us because the leather couches she had bought for almost $2000 began to peel and flake after about five years of use. She says the material covering the armrests and back fabric looked and felt different to the seats and back cushions.

When she complained to the retailer, she was offered another couch at cost price. After speaking to CHOICE Help, she was given a full refund. Vicki was told that while the original couch was actually all leather (and not part vinyl as she suspected), different types of leather of varying quality had been used all over the couch. Another CHOICE member, Robert (not his real name), has been in battle with a well-known retailer after the 'genuine leather' couch he bought started peeling after just six months. He lodged a warranty claim, but after an assessment, he was told that the problem wasn't covered by warranty because the couch had suffered from a build-up of sweat and excess body oils. He says he wiped down the couch weekly and in no way treated it differently to his other leather couch, which is in perfect condition despite being eight years old. Robert is still awaiting a repair on the newer couch and still has questions around what it's actually made of. According to Paul Simmons, genuine leather kept under reasonable circumstances shouldn't peel.

"A corrected grain or genuine leather couch should not peel in most circumstances and definitely not in that [six-month] time frame. It could only possibly happen if the tanning process was extremely poor or it's not leather." Our consumer law specialist Meredith Cridland has worked with several CHOICE members who've had problems with couches that were below the claimed quality. She recommends you ask these questions, so you know exactly what you're getting before you commit to buying a new couch. "What type of leather is this couch?" Go for full grain or top grain leather, depending on your lifestyle and budget. Be wary of anything else, including split leather, bonded leather, pleather, faux leather, bicast, and synthetic leather. "Is this leather used all over the couch?" A couch might have real leather on the seats and the tops of the arm rests, but not on the back or the sides. These will deteriorate faster than the leather parts. "How long is the warranty?"

And "what parts of the lounge are covered?" "Can I have it in writing?" Once you've asked the questions, get the answers in writing in case there are problems later on. If you've been told that your couch is leather but it becomes clear that it's actually not, you should do something about it. Go back to the business and tell them you don't think the lounge is leather. Show photos if you can. You may have a right to a refund or a replacement, depending on the extent of the problem. If the business won't help, you can contact your state or territory's Fair Trading office for more information, or contact the ACCC. If you're a CHOICE member, contact CHOICE Help for advice and assistance. How we test ovens Oil ruptures lead to Bunnings widening heater recall Keeping your fruit and vegies fresh in the fridge E-cigarette makers fined for cancer-free claims Best Feline Friend cat food recall after widespread illness Is GreenPower worth it?