I don’t have room for a dining table. Where can I find a coffee table that converts?


A. Furniture with presto-chango attributes has been a feature of domestic life at least since medieval times, and probably even longer — as much in reaction to the limitations of square footage (as in your case) as to a desire for practicality.

In the American colonies in the 17th century, for instance, some homes had settles, or long wood settees, whose high backs were hinged so they could be unlatched and folded down to make a table when the dinner bell rang. Victorian explorers — at least those with enough money to travel in style — rarely ventured into the dark and uncharted without collapsible furniture that could do double and sometimes triple duty. And where would weekends of watching football on television be without the wonders of La-Z-Boy, a company that has built its name on an upholstered chair that, with a flick of a handle, becomes something seductively close to a twin bed? It’s a design fact that probably explains why my father could often be found there, snoring and supine, long after the last touchdown.

Given how many people have need of such ingenious designs, I was surprised to learn that only a handful of manufacturers make a coffee table that literally rises to the occasion. Most of the time these devices are found in nonresidential settings. On the Queen Mary 2, the luxury ocean liner, many of the staterooms are equipped with such a table.

Furthermore, it is difficult to find any coffee table that will adjust to allow more than two people to dine in anything remotely resembling comfort.

The 3-in-1 convertible table by Brookstone isn’t a coffee table, but might just answer your needs. It is a narrow cherry-finished hardwood console table (40 inches long by 20 inches wide by 30 inches high) that opens into a card table seating four (40 inches by 40 inches by 30 inches) and expands into a dining table for six (40 inches by 72 inches by 30 inches). The vaguely Georgian-style table costs $399.95 at Brookstone (800-846-3000; brookstone.com). It comes in a Mission-style model, too, for the same price.

Target sells a convertible coffee table called Esprit, above. The hinged X-shape metal base makes it look like a modern version of the collapsible wood furniture that accompanied Victorian explorers. At its lowest, the table stands 12½ inches high and measures 43½ inches long by 27½ inches wide. When raised and opened, its surface is 43½ inches long by 55 inches wide by 32¼ inches high. You could squeeze four people around it. The table is available only at target.com and regularly costs $849.99 (though it’s less with the current 15 percent discount), plus shipping and handling. It is offered in cherry, wenge and natural finishes.

Small-apartment dwellers with big entertaining plans might consider investing in a center table that expands to seat small hordes. Already dining-table in height, it can look just as good in front of a sofa as a lower altitude coffee table. The nifty Bon Ton adjustable table by Calligaris, an Italian company that has been in business since 1923, seats up to 10. It’s available at many retail locations, including the Calligaris Shop by Jensen-Lewis, a new store in Manhattan, which opened Sept. 16. Measuring 29½ inches high by 39½ inches wide by 51¼ inches long, it has a wood surface that slides up and apart to provide a 102¼-inch-long dining area. The table is sold in either wenge- or cherry-stained wood and costs $839.95. A smaller version measuring 29½ inches high by 35½ inches wide by 47¼ inches long, with an extended surface of 94½ inches long, costs $699.95. It, too, is offered in stained wood as well as black lacquer and three glass-top options (frosted solid, frosted with checks and coffee brown).

Calligaris also manufactures Enterprise, a dining table with bowed steel legs that is available in two versions. One, 29½ inches tall by 35½ inches wide by 47¼ inches long, extends to 94½ inches; it costs $669.95 and comes in cherry-stained wood or black lacquer with white frosted glass. The Jensen-Lewis shop is at 89 Seventh Avenue (15th Street); calligarisshopmanhattan.com or (212) 929-7599. Another retailer is the Calligaris Shop by Ako in Brooklyn (2184 McDonald Avenue at Avenue T; 718-265-3111, akostores.com). For other United States locations, see calligaris.it or call the North Carolina showroom at (336) 431-5500.

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