Beautiful workmanship! - Yes, it's quite similar to the Murphy bed in concept

This, and the Murphy bed would be perfect for a studio apartment

Love it! Where was that item when I was living in an efficiency? (Actually wouldn't have done it because I was renting, but it would be a cool idea for the landlord...)

Wow. That is really cool. Great workmanship too.

When I was in college two guys I knew built a simple, fold down table in their tiny apartment. They had four wooden folding chairs kept in a closet for it.

This is a really interesting concept as well. It is a Murphey bed and compact table in one! I have a normal Murphey bed from this company, Old Creek Wall Bed Factory and love it! They are a great company and would highly recommend them.

Here is a link that might be useful: Wall Bed Factory

When I read this article I thought of our Murphy Bed that we got with a built-in drop-down table.

Its good to see others recommend Old Creek Wall Bed Factory, as we got our Murphy bed through them and it works great for us.

If anyone is interested click here is the Murphy Bed with the drop-down table that we got.

Has anyone ever come up with a drop-down chair for extra seating? Maybe like a mini-bed hiding in the bottom of the big one? At that rate, we'd hardly need any furniture at all, especially if storage was built into wall stud areas!

Years ago my brother had an apartment with an old murphy style table complete with bench seats built in. He also had a clawfoot bathtub in the middle of the kitchen.

lucy,

The Shakers DID in essence have pull-down chairs for seating! They tried to keep rooms as sparce as possible for ease of cleaning and maximum use of space. They put upper rails around rooms with pegs for hanging chairs, clothes, cabinets, shelves, many things. Then of course there's the old colonial chair-table, an impressive chair with a drawer under the seat when the top is flipped up, a square or (typically) round table with it down. Very practical.

Stewart,
Love the bed you have. Love craftsman style too and that company builds some beautiful options.

I am still intrigued with these and keep looking at the darn table thinking there must plans available. Going on a hunt.

Lucy, yes I remember those and see them occasionaly. A friend from years ago had a table that pulled out from her side table. The table was huge and seated 12. Wish I'd paid more attention to how at how this worked as the concept would have needed good support. I was just a kid then, but still remember her dinners with family at the table.

OT..there seems to be a number of new members recently. Great to have more input and see how so many of us are using small spaces.

I like that table idea, but in our house, it would be covered with papers, coupons, jackets, and miscellaneous stuff about 30 seconds after it was unfolded! Makes it hard to fold back up....
It would be fun to design something like that- doesn't look too hard. The trick is getting the proportions right so it's comfortable to sit at. I think I'd make prototypes out of cheap stuff til I got it right.

I grew up with a version of this table in the family kitchen. One of the benches was built in under a window and had a lift up seat for storage. Instead of a bench on the other side of the table, there were bentwood chairs easy to lift out of the way.

The wall space on either side of the table had storage cupboards.

The table served as our breakfast/casual meals table. It was also extra space for baking. There was a formal dining room elsewhere.

My mother didn't put the table up every day. The beauty of it was that when it was time to mop the floor, the table was folded out of the way and the chairs were easily moved to another room. Made mopping a lot easier.

I always wonder what happens to the built in furniture remembered. Antique stores from years of wandering has never seemed to turn up memories we have of them. All those classic cupboards in Craftsman homes...where did they go?

Uki, are you new to smaller homes? If so, welcome.

To emagineer:

I have been browsing smaller homes for some time as my husband and I navigate the empty nest/ retirement phase of life. 3 years ago when the youngest kid graduated from college, my husband and I downsized to a house that would probably seem large to many on this board. It is a 2100 sq ft rancher on 1/2 acre of woods.

Our previous house had been a 3400 sq ft colonial, 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, two stories plus a walk up attic and a finished basement. So, the rancher seemed like quite a downsize to us.

But, the rancher has a full basement, partially finished, which really means twice the space for "stuff."

We now realize this is a "transitional" house. We continue to weed out the "stuff". We don't really need a designated guest room, etc.

My husband is retiring at the end of June. He has been offered a post retirement part time job in another state. We are seriously considering it and would buy a condo if we make the move.

I find this board very helpful as we learn about space needs v. space wants and space definition.

Thanks for the welcome.

Uki,

You have been downsizing sq. ft. as I did in the last 8 years. There are times I wish for a bit more, but in reality the cleaning/upkeep is a positive balance.

If you do go smaller than your current sq. ft., get ready for clearing out the less important items. I'm still doing this after 2 years along with changing out furniture for the right fit and layout. There are some threads on wishes/wants, positives/negatives we have all gone through. Very inciteful for planning ahead.

Best to you with the move and enjoy your new adventure. Keep us updated if time avails.

OMG! I've been looking for something like this for a while now, bu had no idea what to even call it. Thanks!

Great idea! I saw something similar at a neighbor's house- she didn't want to commit to having a dining room table in her small dining room 24/7, so she designed a fold out table.