So why not make your desk as comfy as possible? Maybe you didn’t realize it, but your cubicle is your castle – at least from nine to five.
In this edition of JAS’s The Tricked-Out Desk, we feature five products to enhance your environment during those 1,700+ hours in your home-away-from-home.
Keeping Your Cool – in More Ways Than One
That arrogant boss may make you hot under the collar, but this summer stay cool with JAS’s two favorite styles of compact fans.
Vornado’s Fun New Flippi
The Flippi comes in a desk-friendly 6-inch size (the “V6”) as well as larger models closer to 11” tall, for home. The desk-size Flippi V6 model is shown here.
Our Flippi is Passion Red, but it also comes in Midnight Blue, Raspberry Pink and Raindrop Blue/Green. The Flippi is a sleek, cheerful workhorse of a fan that adjusts in both tilt and speed. It runs on electricity from your outlet (not batteries) and stows tidily away when not in use.
(See? The fan flips face-down into one streamlined unit.)
The Flippi V6 retails for about $24.99. For more information, go to www.vornado.com.
The New Wave in Cool: SPT’s Mini Tower Fan
Tower fans are becoming increasingly popular – but have you ever seen one desk-sized?
This Sunpentown model stands a slim 15.7” tall and shares some of the same advanced features as your favorite full-size tower fans. It can stand stationary, or, with the push of a button, it oscillates. The entire tower pivots smoothly back and forth on its sturdy base. You can also choose from three different speeds, or set it on its timer function to blow for 1, 2, or 4 hours before automatically turning off. The space-saving SPT Mini Tower Fan is quiet and pleasing to the eye.
The SPT Mini Tower Fan sells for about $39.00. For more information, visit www.sunpentown.com.
Food & Beverage Service
Too busy to get up and hunt down a snack or cool beverage? We hear ya. So why not keep sustenance on-hand?
The Unisar miniFRIDGE is one of our favorite desktop accessories. You’ll be surprised how much you can fit into this compact unit! The Unisar miniFRIDGE weighs less than five pounds and measures only 11” x 7.25” x 10”.
Just plug it into your nearest electric outlet and the Unisar miniFRIDGE will keep its contents reliably cool around-the-clock. Use it to stow cans of soda or bottles of juice, fruit cups, ice packs, fat-free cream cheese for your bagels. There’s even a tiny removable shelf to help keep your fridge’s contents organized.
But it gets even better. The Unisar miniFRIDGE also acts as a WARMER. That’s right! With the flick of a single switch, the temperature inside changes from cold to hot. So when the cooler months return, you can keep your soup or other lunch items warm inside the miniFRIDGE. And for those of you with aching necks or wrists, store warming muscle wraps inside, and recharge them in a snap.
And if you want to take the miniFRIDGE home for weekend adventures, no prob! It has a carrying handle and even comes with an adapter to run on your car’s power.
The Unisar miniFRIDGE sells for about $59.99. For more information, see www.unisar.com.
Always as Good as The First Sip.
How nifty is this? The clever folks at Dream Link have made a miniature refrigerator that holds and cools one single beverage can – and it runs off of your computer!
Instead of plugging into an outlet, the Dream Cheeky USB Fridge plugs into any USB port on your PC. It doesn’t need any special software, and works on PCs and Macs. Just plug and play!
As you work, you can keep your Diet Coke as cool as the moment you cracked it open. The Dream Cheeky USB Fridge is small enough to keep right at your desk, within your reach.
And we’re not too proud to admit that we love “cute” – and the Dream Cheeky is. It looks like a vintage fridge and it even has a tiny light inside!
The Dream Cheeky USB Fridge comes with a four-foot-long USB cable, and it’ll be cold enough for your favorite canned beverage within seconds of plugging in.
It sells for about $29.00. Get yours now at www.buy.com
Desks Can Smell.
There are a number of reasons why your work space might smell – but we won’t get into them. Instead, we’ll stay positive and offer our favorite solution: The Pearlessence Mini Aromafier instant air fragrancer. This unobtrusive egg-like machine fits into the palm of your hand and operates on two AA batteries (not included). Alternatively, you can buy a USB cord to power your Pearlessence Mini Aromafier off of your computer (like the Dream Cheeky Fridge, above), or purchase an AC adapter to plug it into an ordinary electrical outlet.
Here’s how the Pearlessence Mini Aromafier works. Place a few drops of essential oil onto the absorbing pad inside the Aromifier. (The Aromafier comes with a starter bottle of fragrance oil – ours was Lavender.) Turn on the machine. A small, whisper-quiet fan inside begins to diffuse the scent into the area. You’ll know the machine is working when a light is lit. Enjoy all the benefits of aromatherapy right at your desk, and combat unpleasant odors, too.
Visit www.pearlessence.com to purchase the Pearlessence Mini Aromafier and accessories, including a variety of aromatherapy oils. The Mini Aromafier sells for $15.00.
