This week, at the Milan Furniture Fair, the pieces on show will become the talk of the world. However, few people can afford the luxury of having their home interior designed as and when the whim takes them. Most people need a very good reason to buy new furniture. Usually, it’s because they’re moving home or office – or their existing chairs are old or broken. Perhaps this is why inventive designers have come up with some canny alternative uses for chairs. I’d like to canvas your opinions as to whether you’d be tempted by these novel dual-purpose chair designs:
1 The bookcase chair – enables you to keep your books within easy reach.
2 The champagne chiller chair ( a shame this doesn’t come with a bookcase too).
3 The tin foil chair – handy to wrap up in after running a marathon, or if you run out of aluminium foil for your Christmas turkey.
4 The phone booth chair – conveniently sculpted to reduce noise interference when making calls.
5 The peephole chair – doubles up as a window, or perhaps a serving hatch.
6 The potty training chair – also great for adults who get caught short (no loo roll supplied).
7 The muffin chair – especially useful for all those ladies with a sideline in cupcake sales.
8 The chair for a chair – luxurious amber resin casing that protects your chairs from wear and tear (though a cushion may be required for your own protection).
9 The marketing message chair – less irritating than park benches that talk.
10 The musical chair – similar to a harp, but with double the strings.
11 The Sunday papers chair – dispenses with the need for an early morning shopping trip.
12 The wrap around chair – benefits from a roof in case your upstairs neighbours’ bath overflows.
13 The pin-ball machine chair – can also turned upside down to play pool.
14 The cricket bat stool – for a swift end to domestic disputes.
15 The matchstick chair – you’ll never need a lighter again.
16 The firewood chair – perfect if you run out of logs for the fire.
17 The abacus chair – may not be the most comfortable, but it’s great if you forget your calculator.
18 The spray can stool – depends on what’s inside, but this could be useful, especially if you’ve got a bug up your a**e.
19 The patriotic chair – doubles up as a flag
20 The toothpaste chair – freshly squeezed designer stripes to enhance your smile…
Dabblers’ ideas for innovative dual purpose chair designs are also welcome…
I’d like a chair that is made of moss
Curiously appropriate for a worm
The abacusitupon looks usefull, can always be counted on. These Ities will supply you with an apartment’s sitzplatz filler, for the price of a Fiat 500.
… but you can ‘get the look’ at dfs (for the price of a Reliant Robin)
I really like 15. The Matchstick Chair. If the owner expires while recumbent, the chair can be pushed to the garden, struck against the rockery, and, whoosh, immediate cremation, saving a fortune on funeral expenses.
My own preference is for a set of chairs that are firm, provide good lift, are ideal for get-togethers, and somehow free the spirit. These would do:
http://www.redbubble.com/people/jennyb/works/2662883-chair-o-plane
where would you put your drink though John?
I think it would have to be strapped to me, Worm, pumped by a duracell battery and fed through a tube. With that arrangement, I’d be happy to whirl until dawn.
How about a shoe chair? You’d have to cheat a bit for support at the back, but many of the shoes I see women wearing have any appropriate La-Z-Boy droop toward the front. If Porsche can make an SUV, why can’t Manolo Blanik create a chair line? For the less fashion conscious, you could model a tub on the modern athletic shoe — I leave it to the designer to say whether the bather has to slide in, or whether the the lid/instep swings out.
It’s been done, George – though I don’t think Manolo Blahnik would be very impressed!
I’d like a chair modelled on the cleft in former England rugby captain Will Carling’s chin. It would fit the buttocks perfectly.