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Space-saving mobile dining table
The theme of both of today’s posts is “Wow, that is cool!”
This first post is about an amazing space-saving table that I spotted last week on BoingBoing. It’s a portable chest that transforms into a dining table, which appears to comfortably seat nine people:
I think this piece would be perfect for someone who entertains but lives in an incredibly small space.
(Looks like this table made it to BoingBoing via the French site TrendsNow. Images from Link-Design.)
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24 comments posted
Posted by Pat - 08/17/2009
Want!!!
Posted by Lose That Girl - 08/17/2009
Holy cow! That piece is just incredible!
Posted by Rebecca - 08/17/2009
This looks like a coffee table, rather than a dining table. Even if this is the case, I like it.
Posted by Laura - The Journal of Cultural Conversation - 08/17/2009
I agree with Rebecca – does look more like a coffee table, but it’s awesome! I just moved into a small space, so this deserves some investigation…
Posted by Mo - 08/17/2009
Meh. Store a big piece of plywood under the bed (or between the mattress and boxspring) and the pieces of two sawhorses in the back of a closet or cupboard (or under sofa). Throw a tablecloth on it and use.
This is cool as a design piece, however. I like that it also has space for the table’s tableware.
Posted by Rue - 08/17/2009
Wow that IS cool!!
Posted by Jen - 08/17/2009
It’s a clever idea but I wonder how comfortable it would be in terms of leg room with all those table legs.
Posted by Christie - 08/17/2009
This is cool… but unless you plan to sit on the floor, storing nine chairs may be a difficult thing to do. It certainly looks “neat” though.
Posted by Erin Doland - 08/17/2009
I’m starting to think that this is coffee table height and your guests would sit on the floor, like at a Japanese restaurant. Maybe??
Posted by Robert - 08/17/2009
Is it Unitasker Wednesday already?
If you are that concerned about space, where are you going to store the chest?
Posted by myra - 08/17/2009
The Boing-boing site says the table can be raised or lowered “for dining or gaming”. However, the Trendsnow site says the designer intended it for Japanese style dining, without chairs.
Posted by jw - 08/17/2009
Yeah, this is a small table.. it looks at tall as the wine bottle! and there’s only six glasses, so I’m guess that seating nine would be a stretch (or a cram)
Posted by Pat - 08/17/2009
Very neat.
But if I lived in an incredibly small space — and I have — I wouldn’t try to entertain nine guests in it in the first place!
Posted by T-mag - 08/17/2009
I am renting a small house I can’t afford, looking for a smaller one and I have 6 kids, one more on the way. I think it’s perfect!
Posted by agirlnamedkylie - 08/17/2009
We have a piece like this that we inherited with the house that my husband grew up in, which was built in the late 1940s. It used to belong to his parents, who were apparently space-saving geniuses, as we have neat space-saving pieces all over the house
! The only differences are that it folds into a sideboard (which we put our microwave on), expands through a leaf system, and is dining table height (with folding dining-quality chairs). We usually use only two leaves (leafs? haha), but it’s great to be able to fold it up after breakfast and keep it from attracting clutter :} It’s a great piece, and very helpful every thanksgiving!
Posted by Ninjafish - 08/17/2009
Maybe this one be okay for someone who lives in a regular or slightly small house, but no way this would work for someone in an apartment like mine, when folded out its WAY to big, I would have to move all the furniture in my place to a corner and pile it up to even thing of a table like that. (I live in a 310sqft apt)
Posted by Shalin - 08/17/2009
That. Is. So. COOL!
Posted by Suzjazz - 08/18/2009
Where are the chairs and why are the legs so short? Seems to me they could have designed it with fewer legs and that the legs could be collapsible so that they were standard table height.
Posted by Morfydd - 08/18/2009
I used to have a piece with the same idea, probably also from the forties. It was some laminate over chipboard, so heavy as hell, but reasonably good-looking.
Pro: Lots of table space without having to live with a permanent huge table.
Cons: The sideboard at the end meant you couldn’t sit there. The slide-out mechanism was old and loose and so the middle sagged a bit when fully extended.
Actually I still have the piece in the garage. It’s great as a huge workspace for, say, cutting out patterns, that still tucks away nicely when done.
Posted by Anita - 08/18/2009
To commenters who have noticed the unusual height of the table, it was designed for Japanese dwelligns, so it makes sense for it to be that height. On top of which, it can be lowered or raised, though I’m not sure what its height range is.
That being said, I don’t see this being a practical solution if you’re not used to sitting on your heels for long periods of time. It’s a nice design piece, but in a North American setting, wouldn’t a gateleg table make more sense? It folds just as flat, it would be a more conventional dining table height on this side of the Pacific, you could seat people on both ends as well as on the sides, and some even come with built-in storage. And if the mobility part is important to you, stick some lockable casters on it and you’re set.
Posted by lizvocal - 08/18/2009
I do a lot of estate sale shopping and have seen several variations on this theme, but all of full height tables. More modern ones are a low cabinet, with chairs tucked in around the table legs. The most elaborate I have seen had a glass fronted china cabinet on top and the table and chairs were stored behind doors underneath. If you love this for your small space, with some searching you could find one to suit your style.
Posted by Linda - 08/21/2009
Love this. Always looking for clever solutions for small spaces.
http://www.smallspaceresources.blogspot.com
Posted by Mesa de Jantar escondida « A_R_Q_U_I_T_O - 09/03/2009
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Posted by tempurpedic - 11/09/2009
That is really cool, it saves so much space.
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