Transformer Furniture: Dwell's Convertible Coffee Table
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 03.14.08
Aside from offering a neat trick at your next dinner party, transformer furniture offers a great two-for-one deal; it allows us to live better in less space and use fewer resources doing so (which makes it a triple threat, I guess, if you count the dinner party thing). The latest example is this combo coffee/dining table available from Dwell in the UK.
Rather than a movable leg contraption, like we saw before with the Flip Table, the table's top pops up and unfolds to double in surface area, creating dining space for six or eight from the coffee table's diminutive size (not unlike Lee Sinclair's Convertable). Jump below the fold to see how it goes down, so to speak, and, while you're at it, check out pics of Dwell's coffee table that transforms into a laptop table. We're crossing our fingers that these'll be crossing the pond soon; for now, get more details at ::Dwell via ::Freshome
This is so vastly over-engineered as a 'solution' to a problem that it's not very green, is it?
Yes, it's pretty and may function well, but in an age when we are trying to use less resources (and on a website where we are promoting greener lifestyles) surely the best solution is the most sustainable solution - a flap table with a leg for support, or a two shelf coffee table where the lower shelf can be pulled out and slid in line with the upper to create a larger surface. Both designs have been around for donkey's years. Not fashionable, but highly functional and far greener as less materials, design, and manufacture goes into them.
If you are looking for a green lifestyle following, this is not the way to go.
Steve N. Lee
author of eco-blog www.lionsledbysheep.com
and 'What if...?', an eco-suspense thriller with a philosophical twist.
This is not new, we've had a table like this for 8 years
I think the main way that this is "Green" is the fact that it facilitates multiple uses of a space...allowing you to build a smaller house, etc. The materials saved in construction (or the carbon footprint of the money saved in rent and utilities for an extra room) should more than offset the few ounces of metal and glue that hold this thing together.
Green is about the big picture and systems, not individual objects (though they certainly play a part).
Steve you make a good point...the greenest solution to this "problem" is one that has already been made...go to a second-hand store!
Could anyone advise me where I can get this table?
Dwell ships only in UK, I am in the US.
Thank you.