Multifunctional furniture

As a military family, who moves often, we really try to purchase furniture that can work in a number of ways.  At our last home, every piece of furniture had a place and it fit well.  With this new home, those pieces are not fitting as well.  So, I will need to put them to other uses.  Let me show you how I believe them to be multifunctional.

 

 

This bench is a good example of a piece that can be used in a number of ways.  In our last house, we used it as additional seating for our dining room.

 

 

At this home, I have it placed at our entry.  It will work for additional seating if someone wants to chat with me while I am in the kitchen (entry is open to the kitchen).  I have also considered placing it in the front patio too.  Although, I really hate to provide more places for spiders to hide…hubby tells me he has seen tarantulas here.  Eeek!

 

 

This dresser, used as a sofa table is another example.  In the last house, I used it behind the sofa.  It gave a visual separation between the entry and the living room, essentially acting as a entry table.

Because the living room is smaller in the new house, I will be using it under the second TV in another room;  sofa table, becomes media center!

 

Before moving to Korea, I found out that the kitchens had about five feet of counter space.  (That is probably a generous estimation!)  We purchased this “island” prior to moving there.  We placed it against the entry to the kitchen and put our toaster on it and hung Ikea shelves above it for all of our dishes.  It really helped the functionality of that kitchen by doubling the counter space and providing additional storage.

 

 

In Texas, we used it has a hutch in the breakfast room.  It stored all the kids art supplies and my recipe books.  Unfortunately, it might have to serve someone else now, because we do not have any room for it.

 

We bought a Parsons table the first time we moved to Korea.  It was our dining room table.  You could fit four around it…just a bit of a squeeze.  In Canada, we used it as our desk.  It fit perfectly underneath our open staircase.  It gave an open, dead space a purpose.  In Texas before our bonus room conversion, it was my sewing table.  One of the best things about this table is how the legs come off.  So, after the remodel, we were able to store it easily, taking a minimal amount of space.

 

Then next time you are out and you see a piece that you love, but it won’t work as it’s original intention, try imagining another use for it.

 

What kinds of things have you reworked for another purpose?   Do you have multifunctional furniture?