Divan

A divan is a type of couch-like sitting furniture.

Originally, in the Orient (especially the Ottoman Empire), a divan was a long seat formed of a mattress laid against the side of the room, upon the floor, or upon a raised structure or frame, with cushions to lean against.

Divans received this name because they were generally found along the walls in Middle Eastern council chambers of a bureau called divan or diwan (from Persian, meaning a government council or office, from the bundles of papers they processed, and next their council chambers). Divans are a common feature of the liwan, a long vaulted narrow room in Levantine homes. The sofa/couch sense was taken into English in 1702.

The divan in this sense has been commonly known in Europe certainly since about the middle of the 18th century. It was fashionable, roughly speaking, from 1820 to 1850, wherever the romantic movement in literature penetrated. All the boudoirs of that generation were garnished with divans. They even spread to coffee-houses, which were sometimes known as divans or Turkish divans, and a cigar divan remains a familiar expression.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divan_(furniture)

Strange furniture

At the Bloomberg offices in London, employees can leave each other messages using these Scrabble cushions, designed by Stephen Reed Industrial Design and Alistair Willmott. The end tables serve as double and triple word scores, leaving the possibility for some pretty high scoring words.


Fractal 23 is a very creative piece of furniture designed by Takeshi Miyakawa. The design, by Takeshi Miyakawa is made to make the maximum use of space and 23 different sizes of drawers certainly do that for you. Finally I don't think that the Fractal 23 is a practical piece of furniture, rather an interesting piece of art that can make your friends say "Wooow".


The furniture/plant hybrid products by Japanese company Mindscape it's a great idea that combines interesting plant shapes with a place to sit and contemplate the garden. In conclustion these stools and couches look very interesting, especially if you like to rest on a piece fresh green grass.