I've been critical of this supposedly space-saving Urbana Convertible Dining Table, which sparked reader debate, both pro and con.
I think the mechanism is cool but the bookshelf configuration doesn't make any sense, nor does it account for how this is meant to be sited within a room.
Designer/builder Izzy Swan came up with a much better application and context for this type of mechanism…
…by adapting it to a wall cabinet.
Intended for use in tiny homes, it makes much more sense in a wall-mounted cabinet context. For tableware and glassware to "live" in an enclosed cabinet, behind doors, seems a lot better than having them sit in an open bookshelf located in the middle of a room.
The cabinet you see above was not Swan's first crack at it. He gave us a good look at his prototyping process with this video below, from over the summer, when he hacked one together quick-'n-dirty style to work out the kinks:
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Based on what he learned in the first go-round, he tweaked some proportions, switched to more elegant hinges and shaped the tops and bottoms of the doors:
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Swan writes that he's become "very interested in the tiny home movement and love developing concepts for space saving and fold away furniture. [The] cabinet was a lot of fun to build and will be going in a future tiny home project." We're hoping he eventually designs and builds a tiny house himself.
I’m a lapsed industrial designer. I was born in NYC and figured I’d die there, but a few years ago I abandoned New York to live on a farm in the countryside with my wife. We have six dogs.
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A Better Design Application for Those Shelves That Fold Into a Table
This is still a solution looking for a problem. Its an overly complicated and un-attractive stow-able table that happens to have some storage; storage that is likely not needed if you have some cabinets. Ikea makes or made a folding table with storage that was simple, highly functional and didn't require mounting on a wall. Too many 'designs' out there that get clicks online but in the real world have no value.