A Book... That Becomes a Table?

I’ve pinched pennies and given up buying coffee during the day (and come to worship my trusty thermos with a frightening intensity), but devoted acts of everyday thrift will only get you so far. So my oh-so-patient partner and I decided that it was time to make a big change and embrace living small. With a rather gigantic dog and a very feisty cat in tow, we made the move from a one-bedroom with a balcony to a studio apartment in a neighborhood I like to think of as pre-gentrifying… and at that point, the great purge began. With dedication, with desperation, and with increasing vim and vigor, we selected only the furniture most necessary to our new lifestyle — dining room chairs lost out to collapsable benches and our coffee table got to experience the joys of eBay first-hand. Now, if only I had heard of Bookniture, furniture that folds out of a book, that purge would have been far less depressing.

And now that I have heard of it, it's hard to believe the only useful piece of furniture I owned during my downsizing was a bookshelf, a piece of furniture designed to beautifully organize books and other small items, saving much-needed living space and offering up a visual feast at eye-level. If only my coffee table (which, incidentally, never made it out of the old apartment) could have been more like my precious Colette novels, simple to pack away and easy on the eyes while at rest on a shelf. (Then perhaps when friends came over, I wouldn’t have to mop up spills every 20 minutes because no one has table upon which to set their glass.) If only furniture could behave more like a book.

But now, it can. Well, folks, I’m here to tell you that miracles do happen— Bookniture has arrived. Yes, book lovers, you read that correctly, Bookniture, furniture that springs to life from between the covers of an otherwise unassuming leather-clad tome. It's a miracle of modern design and the answer to all of my furniture-focused prayers.

Through an utterly brilliant, unspeakably sexy bit of binding wizardry and innovative engineering, the makers of Bookniture bring us furniture that actually folds itself between lush leather covers to rest in the form of a book on the shelf until called into action. Like Clark Kent or or Bruce Wayne, Bookniture can transform when we need it most, from a mild-mannered, shelf-dwelling volume to into a a table, an ottoman, or chair as required.

When a dinner party erupts out of nowhere or an in-law comes over for tea, simply pull your trusty Bookniture off the shelf, and let the entertaining begin. The modular units can be stacked to form a table, padded to construct the perfect chair, or placed neatly in the middle of the room to prevent one more wine stain from rendering your Persian carpet utterly beyond recovery. (OK, that last time it got personal.) With a carrying capacity of 375 pounds and a sultry array of options when it comes to binding and color coordination, Bookniture is a must for any apartment dweller pressed for space and willing to make a little room on the shelf.

With a Kickstarter project up and running as we speak, you have until March 18, 2015 to get in on the ground floor and enjoy better living through books. The future is here, and as I suspected it might, it has arrived in the form of a beautifully bound book.

Image: Bookniture