This modular furniture building system takes an artistic approach to construct functional and playful pieces

Posted on 25/01/2022 by Shawn McNulty-Kowal

Deku is a modular furniture building system composed of wooden planks that fasten together at the planks’ 45-degree, pyramid-shaped edges.

While modular furniture is functional by design, it also evokes the designer’s most creative tendencies. In time with our world’s rapid WFH movement and mobile lifestyles, the emergence of modular furniture has redefined what our living spaces could look and feel like.

Designer: Takuto Ohta

Combining their artistic skills with the practical edge of an industrial designer, Takuto Ohta designed Deku, a modular furniture system comprised of wooden planks that can be stacked and configured together to form numerous different furniture pieces, from tabletops to benches.

Named after the Japanese word for wooden puppet or doll, Deku is inspired by the stone piles that wash ashore on riverbanks. In creating Deku, Ohta sharpened the ends of each wooden plank to form 45-degree angles, allowing each wooden plank to slink into one another with ease.

This triangular building system is essentially what allows for so many different configurations to be made from Deku. Using colorful masking tape to fasten each module together, Ohta was able to add some playfulness to the project’s overall display and assembly process.

Using human instinct as their natural guide for building each piece of furniture, Ohta notes, “I don’t think about what I’m making, I feel the laws of physics in the freedom and inconvenience of combination, and I see the forest with the smell and texture of trees. When I moved my hand, the furniture was made naturally.” In the development of Deku, Ohta seems to find the human’s most primal desire: to play and fill the gaps.

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Every one of these WFH furniture pieces includes a secret feature to keep your work and life separate

Posted on 23/12/2021 by Shawn McNulty-Kowal

Every piece of Taku Yahara’s line of WFH furniture reveals a dual function or hidden compartment that’s designed to keep work and life balanced.

When working from home, the conditions have to be prime. Whether you’re working from the patio or the kitchen, the mood has to be just right. It’s no surprise most of us went straight to the drawing boards to transform our bedrooms into hybrid working spaces after WFH orders went into place. Helping move the process along, Taku Yahara designed a line of versatile pieces of office furniture to keep our working and living spaces separate, making WFH that much more comfortable.

When designing his line of WFH furniture, Yahara looked first to versatility. Equipping most of his pieces of furniture with dual features and hidden compartments, Yahara wanted to ensure work and life could remain balanced even when working from home. The Mobility Desk, for example, is a portable desk that can transform into an inconspicuous storage basin when the workday is finished.

In its initial form, the Mobility Desk is a narrow wooden storage bin and then transforms into a drop-front desk for working. Keeping the design work to a minimum, the Mobility Desk is stripped down to its barest form to emphasize its accessibility. Then, Yahara conceptualized a router box with convenience at the forefront of his design.

Since finding good WiFi is the number one priority when working from home, Yahara developed the router box at an appropriate height to ensure open access throughout the day, from anywhere in the house.

For work-on-the-go, Yahara designed a desk work bag that functions as a carrying case for all of our office supplies as well as a storage bin for the desk. Rigid by design, the desk work bag can be carried with little to no fuss and then remain in place on the desk. Finally, an extended drawer can turn any table into a working desk. Softened with a leather top, the extended drawer reveals an additional storage bin for office supplies.

Designer: Taku Yahara

The desk work bag can remain in place on top of the actual desk or hang from a table edge with accessory hooks.

With an integrated secret drawer, the extended desk functions as a working space and storage basin.

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A transforming and multifunctional television set featuring a retractable screen doubles up as a bookcase!

Posted on 08/12/2021 by Shawn McNulty-Kowal

Giro is a multifunctional television with a retractable display screen that slinks away to transform the TV set into a simple bookshelf.

Living rooms are more like multipurpose rooms. We use our living rooms for everything from watching television to working out, and from eating dinner to doing homework. Taking a traditional living room setup, sometimes it’s not the space, but the single-purpose appliances within the space that limit all of the living room’s potential. South Korea-based designer Park Yoo Jung has developed Giro, a television that transforms its facade according to users’ changing needs.

To help facilitate all that our living rooms can provide, Giro morphs from a conventional smart television into a simple bookcase with the click of a button. Recognized by the Red Dot Design Awards in its Best of the Best category, Giro is the multifunctional living room appliance that creates customizable spaces as your needs change.

For the occasional living room workout between your lunch hour and the night shift, Giro maintains its initial form as a smart television so users can broadcast exercise classes to follow. Of course, Giro operates as an everyday television when needed, projecting movies and television shows chosen from a programmed catalog.

When users would like to transform their Giro television into a screenless bookcase, the rotating projector slinks behind the main platform to remain out of view for evenings spent reading in the armchair or beneath the bay windows. Once the projector screen is retracted, users will find a minimal, yet sturdy bookcase where they place artworks and books on display.

Designer: Park Yoo Jung

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This minimal hanging wall art actually transforms into a modular sofa unit fit for every living room!

Posted on 15/11/2021 by Shawn McNulty-Kowal

The Summit Sofa is a dual-purpose, modular furniture design that blends a changeable, functional couch together with a minimalist piece of artwork.

Like every worthwhile lifestyle change, downsizing to meet the demands of tiny living comes with its own set of challenges. The secret to making the most of tiny spaces comes down to finding the right furniture. Following the surge in popularity of tiny living, designers have come out with versatile and modular furniture products to make tiny living feel spacious without taking up too much space. The Summit Sofa from Mousarris, a Cyprus-based interior design company, redefines what versatile and modular furniture can look like, merging artwork and functional furniture into a single design.

Dual-purposed by design, the Summit Sofa is made up of curved cushions with integrated magnets that allow them to attach to one another to form different sofa configurations and the sofa’s main magnetic board to create a minimalist piece of wall artwork. When propped up on its magnetic base, the Summit Sofa’s sinuous cushion modules fit into one another like pieces to a puzzle. When users would like to create their own sofa, they can remove the cushions from the magnetic base and attach modules together to create countless configurations. When the modules are attached to the base, the user’s living and floor areas remain clear for plenty of space. Then, on movie nights or when guests arrive, the Summit Sofa can be detached from the magnetic base to become a sofa.

Sometimes the most practical furniture isn’t the most beautiful. Tiny living shouldn’t mean compromising your taste in interior design for functionality. With Mousarris’s Summit Sofa, you won’t have to sacrifice aesthetics just to save space. When displayed on the magnetic board, the Summit Sofa creates a minimalist display of artwork to tie any room together. Then, when used as furniture, the Summit Sofa can be configured in any arrangement to fit your room and taste.

Designer: Mousarris

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This multifunctional furniture system designed to create more living space is the solution tiny apartments need!

Posted on 27/10/2021 by Shawn McNulty-Kowal

No matter the city, tiny living is in right now. As cities become more populated, their residents and architects are finding ways of making crowded spaces feel a lot more comfortable through versatile furniture and innovative interior design. From micro apartments to co-living spaces, city homes come in all shapes and sizes.

In Sydney’s Stanmore neighborhood, Australian architecture firm Mostaghim and co-living group UKO designed and constructed a multifunctional furniture system into the layout of a small studio apartment to augment the available living space and take full advantage of the system’s integrated storage units.

Captured by Never Too Small, a video channel dedicated to small footprint design and living, UKO and Mostaghim’s furniture system measures 205 square feet (19 square meters) to include a kitchenette, compact bathroom, and a catalog of multipurpose furniture systems from a bed unit with integrated storage to a fold-out wall desk. While a kitchenette and a compact shower are standard for micro-apartments, the versatile bed unit is what makes this tiny space feel a lot bigger than just 19 square meters. Just beneath the unit’s mattress, pull-out drawers and cabinets conceal closet space and additional furniture like a sofa and dining table.

The left-most cabinet unveils the rectangular kitchen table for dining and cooking purposes. Just next door to the kitchen table, a pull-out sofa with automated lock brakes remains in place on a set of trolley tracks and moves freely all over the apartment’s floor when taken off the tracks. To the right, a concealed clothes rack and storage compartment provides storage space for clothes and shoes. For larger wardrobes, the stairs leading to the unit’s bed double as hidden drawers for folded clothes.

Inspired by the design of Swiss-French modern architecture pioneer Le Corbusier, the multipurpose furniture system from Mostaghim and UKO is a modern solution for the timeless dilemma of finding comfort and space in the craze and excitement of a crowded city.

Designers: UKO Stanmore x Mostaghim Architecture x Never Too Small

Side Tables with multiple functionalities that pack a punch with their ingenious designs!

Posted on 19/10/2021 by Srishti Mitra

Side tables are probably one of the most neglected pieces of furniture in our home. I, mean, honestly how often do you actually pay attention to your side table, unless you accidentally bump your toe on it! Although they are ignored, it cannot be denied that they are sturdy and dependable pieces of furniture, that are perfect for storing those knick-knacks that you don’t need every day, but when you do need them, it’s like all hell breaks loose until you find them! There’s a species of side tables that I find thoroughly interesting – multifunctional side tables. These are the designs that function as more than everyday tables, they almost always double up as something really fun! From a side table that is also a powerful 200W high definition speaker system to a side table that merges with a projector to keep you entertained and your phone charged – these innovative side tables pack a powerful punch with their ingenious designs!

Spring comprises a cylindrical shape that increases or decreases in height according to its desired function. At its lowest height of 500mm, Spring serves as a simple side table with a natural wood top. Then, by simply pressing the table down, Spring’s built-in compression springs are activated and morph the side table into a chair with a backrest. By following the same pushing tactic, the Spring chair can reach its maximum height of 900mm, transforming into a table that can work as a centerpiece for a small studio space. While the main building material used to construct Spring is oak wood, the furniture’s compression springs are made from aluminum, while natural and white paint colors coat the sides and top of Spring.

The IKEA STARKVIND air purifier comes in two variants, a floor-standing model (in black and white) or a side table version (in the dark or light finish) – costing $129 and $189 respectively. Mind you, to have access to all the smart functions via the compatible app, the $35 smart home hub needs to be purchased as well. The air purifier will hit the IKEA stores from October 2021 in the U.S., so keep an eye on this one. While their form factor is a bit different depending on the intended use-case scenario, on the inside they contain the same three-filter system. This layered filtering system captures bigger particles like hair or dust, 99.5 percent of small airborne particles measuring 2.5 micrometers, pollutants, dust, pollen, and even bad odors are not spared.

The table and console combo thought of by Mudu Design is designed with the vision of interaction with home furniture in more than one way. This multifunctional side table seems like any ordinary piece of a furniture item – but that’s where the similarity ends. Not only is it a side table, but a sturdy stool, storage unit for magazines, and much more depending on your creativity. Plus, the easy-to-carry aesthetics make this side table highly maneuverable depending on the needs in a jiffy. The designer Rostyk Sorokovyi’s obsession with round shapes is evident in the side table crafted out of natural wood. This choice is not just random but based on the fact that the circle is the most harmonious shape nature has bestowed us with.

Ultimately the Cube is a uniquely expressive piece of furniture that’s more than just a surface for resting your cups. Combining patented audio technologies into one award-winning piece of furniture, the Cube surprises with how good it sounds for a device that small. Moreover, it eliminates the need for you to even own a separate speaker set because your furniture IS your speaker set. Considering how the Cube could be used by regular people as well as audio-enthusiasts, it comes outfitted to connect to a variety of devices. It has built-in Bluetooth, which means you can hook your phone, tablet, or even laptop to it, while the option of analog RCA connectivity, digital optical input Toslink (DAC 24-bit 192Khz), and a 3.5mm input means the Cube could be hooked to a host of external devices like your television or even vinyl player.

The SNOOZE by Subin Cho does exactly that, and it uses magnetic resonant wireless charging technology to keep the devices charged seamlessly. This makes complete sense, as the craving for multiple wirelessly charge capable devices like smartphones, tablets, earphones, or headphones will not shun any time soon. The designer believes that the technology will be commercialized in 2023, and SNOOZE will be there to take up all the hassle for you. The charging plate built in the bedside table’s upper section charges any wireless compatible mobile device, audio accessories, or any other compatible device kept in the range of 50 cm. The light on the bedside table is an indicator of the charging range, and whenever a device comes in this area, the light turns on, and charging commences.

Designed by Ben Hansen, this simple yet innovative dog house uses excess water from watering plants and filters it into the dog’s water bowl! Rattan with green accents gives it a light, airy feel. The minimal dog house will brighten any corner of your home – hard not to when it holds a cute plant and pet! It’s an adorable piece of furniture that not only serves as a home for your pet but also doubles up as an elegant plant holder, harmoniously merging with the interiors of your home. Ben’s approach to this is almost reversal to the way we treat our pets and plants. While we love the use of rattan and wish to promote this sustainable material, there is also a certain lightness to the material which needs to be balanced by a strong and heavy metal frame to keep your energetic puppy from toppling this over! There are rather obvious questions about the actual purification of this plant water runoff and we hope Ben will soon share more details on the design’s execution.

Projectable, derived by merging a projector+table is a one-stop solution for your relaxing needs, consider it a spa for your phone! The first thing this table does is wirelessly charge your phone through the small gap that slots and holds your phone comfortably. Now depending on your mood, you can let your phone rest or, unwind by watching everything from a kitten video to kinetic sand cutting ASMR videos using the projector – no more squinting at the tiny screen! The fabric mesh-covering visually separates the movable projector-head that provides almost 90 degrees rotation. The tactile buttons on the surface control the projector angle and volume levels while switching it off is as easy as leaning over and turning off your night light.

The team behind NÓMADA decided to attain the bedside table’s modularity through the material used during its production process by carving and integrating notches, buttons, and twisted, narrow chutes into each wooden and steel panel used for construction. It’s a good thing too because tools can be tricky to store in smaller living spaces like apartments or studios. The end result makes up a bedside table that appears simple and whose purpose seems singular upon first glance, but when deconstructed, the possibilities for restructuring NÓMADA are laid out in front of you, all you have to do is mix-and-match as your tabular needs guide you. Even if you just want a subtle revamp or facelift for your apartment’s design, simply unscrew and see which pieces fit where!

With its unusual nesting pattern, the Folding Window Pattern Stool packs two stools (or side-tables based on how you look at it) into a single form! Designed to be able to be docked, either way, the stool comes in two parts, featuring a positive-negative interlocking detail that’s as beautiful to look at as it is functional. Featuring four L-shaped positive and negative details that plug into each other perfectly, the Folding Window Pattern Stool can nest one above the other, or be kept separately (with the details turning into four legs as a result), or the stools can even be placed in an I shaped format with one stool nested upside down, to create a stable side-table that you can use any way you see fit. The two stools/tables also create a contrast by using dark and light woods, giving you an overall product that sparks your curiosity and is sure to get you to engage with it!

I have to hand it to designer Pei-Ju Wu, for the clever way they have integrated a planter, side table, and lamp, into this amazing piece of furniture that you can place in your living room. The lines are blurred due to the multiple functionalities of this piece, but the ingenious way they complement each other and come together as The Oasis is commendable. Picture this – you have a planter at the base of a table, which keeps green thanks to the integrated LED lights and stays hydrated via the clever funnel found at the center of the tabletop. Excess water simply drips down to the collection tray and evaporates back into the air.

Innovative Multifunctional Furniture designs that are an essential part of every sized home setup!

Posted on 06/10/2021 by Srishti Mitra

There’s just something about a multifunctional piece of furniture that ticks all the checkboxes for me! Imagine a product that’s been designed to work as a clothing rack and a treadmill?! Or a side table that transforms into a chair! Space-saving goals much? That’s the magic of a multifunctional furniture design. It looks like a single product, but functions as more than one! They’re a smart option for our modern urban homes, which tend to be pretty cramped, hence adding multiple bulky and cumbersome furniture designs to them isn’t really an option. But multifunctional pieces that serve a variety of purposes, and solve a bunch of unique problems can be a lifesaver in such situations. And, we’ve curated a whole bunch of such super cool designs for you! From a multifunctional desk that features work and entertainment modules to a cat chair that doubles up as a coffee table – these intriguing multifunctional pieces are what your millennial homes need!

Inspired by the blurring of work and play in WFH spaces, Juwon Kim, Jiwon Song, and Eunsang Lee framed Layout with a translucent, corrugated exterior finish that immediately catches the eye. Wrapped in sea green, the Layout desk is modular by design to incorporate a plethora of different work and entertainment features. The Layout desk is topped off with an upper cover that’s designed to conceal the workspace after the workday’s done.

Based on how it’s placed, and its position – this furniture piece can function as a coffee table, high stool, and a low stool or bench. Pretty ingenious, no? When placed upright and vertically, the & Chair functions as a high stool, that could make an interesting bar stool! When placed horizontally – it can function either as a coffee table or low stool, depending on which side it is placed upon. When used as a coffee table, the & Chair provides ample storage space to place your magazines, books, and other personal belongings.

The hourglass shelf takes inspiration from the passage of time, and the functionality of the shelf changes throughout the day. Starting as a coat rack in the early mornings that holds your outdoor wear, the product’s main functionality becomes that of a shelf – to keep your knick-knacks in place. Finally, as the sun goes down, the design works as a detachable lamp, giving light and completing its cycle across the day. “The hourglass is the symbol of time, and the charm of time affects the tide-ups and downs, years change. The change of different roles reminds people to follow the direction of time, perceive the years and harvest exquisite life.”

Amidst the catalog of accessories is a basket storage system that doubles as a wood-and-crate step ladder, ideal for the kitchen space or bathroom to store toiletries and reach taller heights. Then, there’s a series of photo frames that can store paper goods like notes and business cards in an integrated slot that traces the perimeter of each frame. Using their own homes and colleagues’ homes as their main source of inspiration, the design students even made niche items like an insect house made from wire and hollow bamboo that could be hung outside an apartment window for hummingbirds and honeybees to drop by and visit.

Designed by Xue Song, the multifunctional chair christened Dysta looks simple yet has a multitude of uses – ideal for any city apartment, your bedroom, or the backyard. By simply turning it around in a specific orientation, the function of Dysta changes dramatically. It goes from a high stool to a normal chair and then into a low seating in the blink of an eye. The chair transforms – it can turn into a swing lounger when you need to relax and don’t have a rocking chair on your porch. Such is the design simplicity of the chair; it will fit into any section of your home, lifestyle, or interior.

The Cat Chair is a hexagonal piece of furniture where your cat can rest and also explore. Made from pinewood and a high-density sponge, the Cat Chair features a small lower compartment with cubby holes on each side of the stool for cats to slink in and out of as they choose. The lower compartment allows room for the cat to hide away and relax in isolation, while the stool’s sponge cushion provides an open space for the cat to lounge or even sunbathe. Cats can weave in and out of the Cat Chair cubby holes or rest atop its sponge cushion.

Both clothing racks and treadmills are usually an eyesore in any home because they look out of place and are super bulky. One of the key aspects of ‘Walk and Hang’ is its aesthetically pleasing form that looks neither like a treadmill nor like a clothing rack. In fact, it looks like a minimal standing table if I ever saw one inside someone’s house and had to take a wild guess. It rests in a folding table-like form and can be opened fully into a treadmill or only partly at the top for the racks. It saves a lot of floor area indoors, especially if it’s a shared space, and even more so after the pandemic where you need more room for a work-from-home setup.

In the unfolded position, FLUP works like a conventional mat or rug on which we can sit or step without interrupting the movement of people through the space. It transforms from plane to volume, from floor to space while changing the function with its shape. In the folded position, it works as a piece of minimal furniture – it can be used as a pouf, an auxiliary seat, a footrest, a nightstand, etc.

Designed as a response to an increasing need for modular furniture for smaller apartments, the Tango Multifunctional Pouf transforms into practically anything you need, from a set of benches to a couch, a lounging sofa, and even a mattress. The award-winning poufs are shaped like triangular extrusions that are attached together by a layer of fabric (sort of like a cushion-version of a Toblerone bar). This connecting fabric acts as a hinge, allowing the triangular poufs to be folded and rearranged.

This minimal and multifunctional furniture design serves as a coffee table, high stool, and bench!

Posted on 14/09/2021 by Srishti Mitra

Furniture pieces can make or break a home, but something about a furniture design that is multifunctional makes it 10x alluring to me! Shin Chen’s ‘& Chair’ is a prime example of a multifunctional piece of furniture that provides unparalleled functionality, while perfectly integrating with your home. Chen describes the & Chair as not simply a chair, but “a partner which lives together” with you. It’s a simple and minimal piece crafted from natural materials like ash wood and felt. Much like its name, the chair actually mimics the ‘&’ sign, which also represents its multifunctional nature.

Based on how it’s placed, and its position – the furniture piece can function as a coffee table, high stool, and a low stool or bench. Pretty ingenious, no? When placed upright and vertically, the & Chair functions as a high stool, that could make an interesting bar stool! When placed horizontally – it can function either as a coffee table or low stool, depending on which side it is placed upon. When used as a coffee table, the & Chair provides ample storage space to place your magazines, books, and other personal belongings.

The unique curved wooden detail in the chair is probably its most important feature, and also the most interesting one. The curved form supports the multifunctionality of the design, and also adds an also poetic form to it. At first glance, the & Chair may look like a simple wooden furniture design, which it is, but it’s also much more. It manages to packs a punch of functionality with its homely and minimal form, while also harmoniously merging with the rest of your living space.

Designer: Shin Chen

This tiny passive home saves and creates space with an expandable roof and multifunctional furniture!

Posted on 12/09/2021 by Shawn McNulty-Kowal

The Brook is a tiny home in Rosebrook, Australia designed to be a passive house equipped with a fully off-grid solar panel system and expandable roof for lofty ceilings à la New York-style apartments.

We’ve seen countless tiny home designs throughout the years. Some might even think if you’ve seen one, then you’ve seen them all. How innovative can you get when you’re working with such a tiny space? If they really get creative, then architects often incorporate elements like hidden storage compartments, multifunctional furniture, and even expanding structural frames all to augment the home’s available living space. One small, 27sqm home in Rosebrook Australia called The Brook, designed by Small Not Tiny, incorporates each one of these elements and so much more to make the most of the home’s small build.