Most furniture just sits there. The most action they see is, maybe, a drawer opening and closing or an additional leaf being added to a table.
But other furniture change and transform, become other than what is was. I call this convertible furniture. And there is so much of it out there.
Like this table:
A tilt top table with a difference.
Tilt-top tables are fairly common but this is the first tilt-top gaming table I’ve run across. It looks contemporary.
A more utilitarian example is this table:
It looks like another sewing table. It is but
not in the way you think. There’s a sewing machine within.
The sewing machine is attached to a hinged panel that swings up when the top is opened.
Sewing machine in motion. You can see the connecting rod on the right.
Almost raised.
Fully raised.
There is this similar bed chamber appliance:
Almost looks like a fancy oak dough box.
Lift the lid on this one and you see another surprise delivery:
Inside the lid and a lift that would hold a wash basin.
The basin’s platform is attached by two hinges that allows the basin to hang level. Basin not included.
Next is this desk with a tambour top and what seems to be a treadle wheel below.
Odd looking piece of furniture. Not too pretty.
What could be beneath the tambour.
A small lathe?
The sides actually fold down but based on the desk’s condition, I decided it was safer to force you to use your imagination.
The following uniquely designed chair adjusts to three heights and easily converts to a rocker or a stroller. It is missing its tray so once again you need to use your imagination.
A child’s chair without a tray and in need of repair.
A side view gives you a clue to how this miraculous transformation occurs. Imagine the tray.
If your imagination fails you, here is another example with tray:
See, it has a tray.
A side view shows it is similar but not the same.
And there is a third example:
Not the same but close. No wheels. Now. Might have been wheels once.
Here is another unique transforming chair or table.
Here is a slightly odd looking chair.
To transform, the back flips around and becomes a leg. A bit low but a table nonetheless.
Are the corbels to reinforce it as a back or as a leg?
Under an obscure US law, this is the only style of furniture allowed be incised with a heart. All else is strongly discouraged,
And finally tonight, the packable campaign chair:
This chair breaks down and can be packed in a roll.
This chair, a roorkee chair, was a British design for use in colonial India and has been frequently copied with varying degrees of success.
This is a less successful copy.
If I remember correctly, there was some guy in Kentucky making copies of this chair in his basement. Rumor has it, he’s moved on.
If anybody knows what happened to him, let me know.