Convertible Furniture: More than Meets the Eye

I recently came across a website called Yanko Design that includes new, interesting, or innovative designs for everyday objects. It included everything from a salt and pepper shaker made from legos to adaptable modular lighting fixtures. The design that piqued my interest, however, was a pair of chairs, very innocent in appearance. They look very sleek and modern, but did not look like they'd be too comfortable to sit in for any length of time because of their straight lines, 90 degree angles, and lack of curves. What makes these chairs unique can be seen by scrolling down to the next photo which shows that the chairs are not only meant for sitting. When tipped forward and interlocked, they can be converted into a table of the appropriate size for holding magazines and coffee. The website doesn't give much explanation for the origin of the chairs other than giving their designer's name: Joel Hesselgren.

There is a particular reason why I chose to focus on this particular design of all the ones I viewed while browsing the website. The chairs/table are very modern and contemporary in appearance, but they are not actually using an innovative or new concept. The idea of creating convertible furniture has been around for decades. Convertible furniture can be as simple as that hide-a-bed your aunt has you sleep on when you visit, or the futon your college buddy had in his living room. Many people have done something as simple as re-purpose an old trunk or luggage as a coffee table or end table.

Furniture that is more than what it seems can also take the form of a true "murphy bed," A bed that is hidden in upright form as part of a wall. There are of course ones that look like they appeared magically out of a solid wall or set of bookshelves, but murphy beds also exist as pieces of antique furniture. My parents, in fact, have always had one. It looks like a fancy cabinet (pictured below), but has false drawer-fronts that allow you to pull the entire front panel forward. The gingerbread-like wood detailing that appears to be simply for decoration swings outward to become the legs for the foot of the bed. It may not be the most comfortable bed (because of the age of the mattress), but it proves that modern Americans are not the first to try to save space and get the most out of their furniture. My grandparents have even more examples of the piece-is-not-what-it-seems concept. Their home is full of antiques including a tall door-ed cabinet and a table that both convert into beds, though they're rarely used as such.

Clearly people have always been trying to make the best use of their space (and maybe accommodate unannounced guests on short notice). It takes a little creativity, but it can be fun to find new ways to use the things that surround us. If you have one item that does two jobs or even just saves some space, maybe it will help clear some of the clutter.

De-clutter

Everyone encounters clutter somewhere in their lives. Sometimes it’s a long looming to-do list or the constant bombardment by advertising messages, but many times it’s simply the volume of things, objects, items that surround us in our lives.

Cars, bedrooms, tables, and floors become the convenient storage place for things that we’re too busy to deal with at the time. Eventually, things that were significant are forgotten and insignificant things that we shouldn’t keep never get thrown away, such as a receipt from long-ago night. A duplicate item might be mistakenly bought because the original was forgotten. Some people are very organized and almost obsessive about maintaining a clutter-free space, while others allow things to pile up until there’s no more than a small path through the mounds of stuff. Most of us are somewhere in between.

Thinking about how the things we own affects our lives makes me wonder where we each get our clutter-gene. I’m sure part of it is what we grow up around and how are parents treat the physical things in their lives during our childhoods. It is probably also influenced by our personalities. I often lament the inaccuracies of poorly crafted and applied stereotypes, but they do exist for a reason. Accountants are known for being organized because their jobs require it and artist are stereotyped as scattered and unconcerned with maintaining orderly workspaces.

For me, the fight against clutter is a constant battle that goes back and forth. My stuff will start to take over when I least expect and then I get into a cleaning frenzy to beat back the clutter than keeps creeping up. Certain spaces I tend to keep very clean, but others deteriorate rapidly, filling up with items that I use on a regular basis. It’s a personal battle. I know I function better when my environment is clean and uncluttered, but I can never seem to keep it that way. It’s hard to find the motivation to get moving and tackle the mess.

Clutter is a part of all of our lives and we each have a different comfort level when it comes to the amount of clutter we can stand. Finding that balance between doing important or enjoyable things and combating clutter is the hard part. I encourage you to evaluate the amount of clutter in your life. Maybe it’s time to de-clutter your life and relieve some stress by de-cluttering your space. It can be therapeutic. I promise I’ll join you in the effort.

Declutter 101

Clutter: My Two Cents

What is clutter?

According to the Oxford English Dictionary...

noun: a collected mass, a collection; a crowded and confused assemblage;

- the crowded confusion of movement and business; turmoil, bustle, stir

verb: to run together or collect in knots or heaps; to crowd together

- to heap or crowd together in a disorderly way

- to throw into mental confusion and disorder

- to utter words confusedly and hurriedly: often, as a habitual defect of utterance

According to Wikipedia

Clutter (advertising): “a term used to describe the phenomenon of a marketplace being full or even overcrowded with products. It also refers to the extreme amount of advertising the average American sees in their daily lives.”

Everyone’s lives have become overrun by clutter. So many things vie for our attention each day. The definitions above emphasize confusion and disorder, but clutter is not always bad. The problem is in wading through the clutter we’re given.

Paradoxically, even though I’m talking about clutter here, this blog is a contribution to the clutter. Is this yet another thing on the web trying to get a piece of your attention? That is not my intent.

I suppose the best way to describe why I’m writing this blog is through a quote I remember from elementary school. “Eleven” by Sandra Cisneros features character is celebrating her eleventh birthday and says, “Only today I wish I didn’t have eleven years rattling inside me like pennies in a tin Band-Aid box.” Somehow that image, the visual and audible clatter of pennies in a tin band-aid box, stuck with me. For me the pennies aren’t years, but thoughts and ideas. I have so many small copper coins that run through my head, a strange confluence of all the things I’ve seen or studied or dreamed about. I need to have someway to share those pennies before they threaten to overflow my tin. I suppose the fact that it’s a band-aid tin is symbolic too, but you draw your own conclusions on that one.

For what it’s worth, I hope you enjoy reading my thoughts and musings that center around my own personal perspective and perceptions of the world.

Read “Eleven” by Sandra Cisneros.