Review of the Transformer Table Market: Designs, Transformation Systems, Design, Materials, Prices and Manufacturers.
Transformed furniture occupies a special place in the interior of our house. Its multifunctionality allows not only to model space, depending on the specific situation, but also solve the mass of problems on the organization of life. In the folded form, this furniture is compact and can be used even in the very none of small apartments. However, the owners of spacious houses also belong to it with great sympathy.
It is safe to say that the second birth is experiencing different kinds of "clamshells" today. The achievements of modern designer thought with high-tech materials, the current furniture transformers are little remind of their predecessors. Sofas and chairs with folding mechanisms and the possibility of adjusting the body position; Teenage beds on the rollers traveling from the closet only at night; Computer tables, followed by sitting and standing, is not to count. However, the classic is always in fashion ...
It is technically impossible to cover all the furniture of this category in one review. Therefore, today we will talk about the tables. Idlya began to ask us simple, it would seem, the question: Which of these should be attributed to the category of transformers? It turns out that the answer to this question is ambiguous, since the English word transform (turn, change, transform, be unrecognizable) has not yet completely established in the Russian literary language, which means it can be interpreted differently. We decided to call the transformer any item, the configuration of which can be purposefully changed. In this case, the case of transformer tables includes all models and varieties, in which at least one of three sizes is adjusted, width or height.
However, if you come to the furniture salon and ask to show transformer tables, you will most likely offer a rather specific product. Sellers and manufacturers call so only models in which the size and height of the countertops can simultaneously change. Hospitality, transformer tables in this, a narrower sense of the word in Russian apartments a little appeared. It is a rather high price of such products (item Italian or German production costs $ 500-1500). But it is impossible not to note that such a transformer is not just a fashionable, but also a very useful piece of furniture. After all, when buying it, you are, in fact, get on two tables at once: journal (or coffee-as you want) and dining.
We intend to talk about the tables-transformers in the widest understanding. These are dining tables with sliding covers; and tables for living rooms, adjustable in height; And all sorts of original design solutions. As for domestic computer tables, our magazine has already written about them
"Domashed's workplace".A little about the design
This information is needed in order to determine which model is more suitable for your interior.So, the standard table consists of a lid (countertops), Tsarg (underlying) and supports (legs). They are connected to each other with spikes, screws, screws, etc., as well as glue. Proprieties of transformable tables are also present by special chassis and guide elements.
The countertop is stationary (solid) or sliding (consisting of so-called semicircles). It is possible any of its configuration: square, rectangular, round, oval, etc. The transformation of the table tops are usually changing. For example, a square, extending, turns into a rectangle, and rounded.
The substole is usually the bars connected by fasteners. Most often, four kings form a square or a rectangle. Harmful cases under the form of a circle or ovala - for this part of the wood bend on special equipment. Like a tabletop, the substole can be stationary or sliding.
The supports of the table do not always serve four legs. Leg can be one, but very massive, similar to the pedestal. Widespread dual supports interconnected by the plank. Extreme models The role of the legs play rollers or wheels.
Transformation systems
By the method of transformation, all models of tables can be divided into three groups:
one) with changing countertops; The height of the legs is constant;
2) with adjustable supports of the supports; The area of the lid does not change;
3) With the total transformation of the entire design: Sliding table and adjustable height of supports.
The first group is numerous and diverse. It includes dining tables intended for kitchens and dining rooms. Methods of transformation of countertops are different: some mechanisms allow you to double the area of the cover, others increase it to one landing place (45-50 cm).
Models with central inserts. The countertop consists of two semicircles. When transformation, they are moving away, and 1, 2 or 3 additional elements are inserted into the vacation space. When the table is complicated, "inserts" are stored inside the design or separately.
Models with side wings:
but) One or two additional elements are extended from under the table tops in different directions;
b) The same, but together with the wings, drives down and the leaf with legs (for this it is equipped with special polls - guides);
in) Additional elements are attached to the tabletop on the hinges; When the design is composed, hanging freely on both sides of the central panel, when laying rise and fixed in a horizontal position using the added legs or triangular brackets.
Double-fold models (Two covers of the same size are located over each other):
but) The upper cover is shifted in one direction about half of its length, the lower similar way to another;
b) Isometric parts of the table top are connected by loops; In the process of transformation, the top cover is folded and turned over. Such models are often equipped with a rotary mechanism.
The second group of transformation systems includes models with adjustable supports. It is coffee, journal, decorative and other auxiliary tables. Having lifted the cover to the desired level, you can turn such a table to maintain homework, reading, letters, eating. The height is most often fixed manually, for example, with the help of a rotating knob on the side. But there are models with pneumatic mechanisms and even the electric attitude of the tabletop. Such devices allow you to fix its height on anyone convenient for the hosts - remember the power windows in cars! Of course, the "cheap" tables are much more expensive than "ordinary". Maximum increase in the height of the design, according to our data, - 34cm. More often, the tabletop may rise not so much, by 15-20 cm.
True transformers form a third group of tables. The main advantage is the exceptional multifunctionality: the same model can serve as a coffee table in the living room and dining-in the dining room and in the kitchen. Many of them are not inferior in the size of a full dining table.
Design
To talk about the style of the modern transformable table, the occupation is rather ungrateful. Most designers and designers developing new models are most likely ever thought about the features of which style (in the traditional sense of the word) carries their creation. Sometimes it comes to funny.We suggest you to spend a little experiment. Having come to the salon or the firm trading in the furniture, ask to show classic-style tables. Are you surprised by what you were offered? Where did the thread and the readiness of parts, decorativeness and ornament, is it damaged Baroque? Do not be surprised. Vnashy days the purity of the style is difficult. The easiest way to do as they do, for example, numerous Italian producers of mass furniture are arrived. They do not blinking the eye to share their products on the "classic" and "modern". And if you need a table of dark wood with monumental or bent feet, it should be sought in "classic" collections. AESLI You prefer a lightweight design with a transparent glass table top, then it is worth paying attention to the "modern" series.
Of course, we are a little exaggerated, sometimes you can meet models that are striking with their finishes and harmony. Similar cleanliness of elements and their ratios are demonstrated, say, Tables in the style of High-Tech (glass top panel on silver metal legs) from the Italian firm Flyline (for example, model Plus, Design Silver Studio). Uniquely Chinese motifs are traced in the design of many Longhi products (Italy). It is immentially one of the most successful, in our opinion, the collections of the transformer tables of this manufacturer called Suegiu. Practical and mobile tables equipped with rollers, from Bonaldo (Archirivolto design). By the way, to which style they are attributed? ..
The listing can be continued further, but the conclusion is already asking for it (and not the most original): the subject is more expensive and individual, the cleaner and expressive his style. And vice versa. Among the models launched into mass production, it is difficult to find such that could be unambiguously attributed to any style or direction.
Materials
Practically all structural furniture materials are involved in the production of tables: wood, MDF, chipboard, glass, metal, natural and artificial stone (in the marble). Synthetic polymer coatings are used for cladding (laminate, melamine), veneer of all kinds of wood, as well as a variety of varnishes and paints. The choice of materials in certain combinations is determined not only by the fantasy of designers, but also the functional purpose of the product. Dining tables intended for canteens and living rooms are usually made by wooden (or at least, with a knotted lid), but not laminated. In turn, an array of wood is completely optional in the kitchen.
In the design of tables there are certain rules. Tsargi and supports are usually made of wood or metal. This is necessary in order to ensure the reliability of the connection of different parts of the design and, as a result, the durability of the product operation. It is no secret that screws, screws and other fasteners are badly held in pressed plates (type chipboard): rally, and over time they simply fly out. More often than others in the course there are wood coniferous rocks (pine or fir) due to their cheapness. Products with sheets and legs of hardwood wood (beech, oak, cherries, walnuts, birch, maple, alder, gevent, etc.) are quite expensive, but are designed for decades of permanent use.
Table covers are made mainly from MDF or chipboard. The first of these materials is preferable due to its environmental purity and high density (obtained from the smallest waste of woodworking production without the use of toxic binders). The second is attractive only by its cheapness.
In the range of many leading global manufacturers, you can find models with glass countertops. Modern technologies allowed this fragile material to become durable and safe. According to some manufacturers, their tables cannot be broken even with a sledgehammer (since they are made of high-strength tempered glass). According to others, the products of their production during breaking do not form sharp fragments (Ie is simply cracking). Glass is transparent and matte, tinted and patterned. Hit seasons - countertop with the effect of broken glass.
Very unusually and peculiar look in the living rooms with covers of artificial stone and marble. True, only the height of the legs of the legs is adjusted for such models, and the stone countertop cannot be transformed.
Prices and manufacturers
In principle, quite a decent, but not too large sliding dining table can be purchased for $ 150-200. The material for such "folk" models usually serves wood-chip and / or coniferous wood. Manufacturers - IKEA, Lenraumamebel (St. Petersburg), Ivanovomebel (Ivanovo), "Furniture-Array" (Tula) and many other enterprises in Russia and Belarus. Approximately the same as it will be necessary to pay for one of the cheapest models of transformer tables with a sliding lid and adjustable height (from the German company Hela Tische or Moscow Kintäl).
For $ 300-400, it is possible to afford a full-fledged dining table with a podstole and supports from solid wood solid and lined with a natural veneer. The main price range includes most of the products of Southeast Asia (Malaysia and Singapore) and the former Socialist countries of Europe (Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Romania, etc.). Approximately the same as the most interesting wooden models in the classic style of the Moscow manufacturer "Furniture-Alliance", as well as IKEA products with countertops covered with birch veneer.
$ 400-700 will have to pay for the "classic" dining table of medium-sized, made of hardwood wood at the factory of tables and chairs "Trone" (Moscow). For a similar price, you can buy one of the sliding models with a veneered or glass countertop from the famous Italian manufacturers of Calligaris and Marchetti. In addition, for this money, you can choose almost any table-transformer from Hela Tische, including a pneumatic height adjustment mechanism.
The price of one of the most popular transformer tables (Mascotte from Calligaris) is $ 800. About $ 1000 There are similar models from Marchetti (for example, Opsy).
It is quite natural that the most interesting and unusual products are sold for a very high price. $ 1000-1500 for the transformer table of the original design is not yet too much amount. Such is the cost of many models of famous Italian manufacturers Longhi, Bonaldo, Tetide, Flyline. Products of German firms are as expensive as high quality. The ILSE, Naumann Tische, Grabfeld Mobel, Bacher Tische, are well represented. Table-transformers of these manufacturers are usually worth not less than $ 1200.
The editors thanks the company "German Style", "M-Line", "Fay-F" and "Contour-Mobile" for help in preparing the material.