Double Take: Disappearing Table Gives 1 Room 3 Uses
A secret in the media center turns a mom’s living room into an instant office or dining room
In an 835-square-foot condo, details matter. “My mother was downsizing from a much larger house into this home, and we wanted to set it up to make her feel great,” says interior designer Maribeth Brostowski. The full renovation completely reorganized the layout to open what was a small galley kitchen to the living room, and to eke out a second bedroom from an oversize powder room and other wasted space.
But reconfiguring the floor plan can go only so far. “We didn’t want her to have to eat every meal at a counter, and we wanted her to have space to entertain,” the designer says. Working with Adams + Beasley, a design-build firm that has an in-house millwork shop, she designed a hardworking set of living room built-ins that house the media equipment, hide an awkward column and HVAC register, and can transform the area into a home office or a dining room.
But reconfiguring the floor plan can go only so far. “We didn’t want her to have to eat every meal at a counter, and we wanted her to have space to entertain,” the designer says. Working with Adams + Beasley, a design-build firm that has an in-house millwork shop, she designed a hardworking set of living room built-ins that house the media equipment, hide an awkward column and HVAC register, and can transform the area into a home office or a dining room.
The cabinets on the right conceal media equipment, office equipment like the printer and a pullout file drawer. The grilles provide ventilation for the electronics.
They mounted the TV on a false panel and ran the wires behind it.
Take a close look at the drawer underneath the TV, as its secret will be revealed next.
Grilles: Architectural Grille
15 Ways to Enhance Your Cabinets With Grilles
They mounted the TV on a false panel and ran the wires behind it.
Take a close look at the drawer underneath the TV, as its secret will be revealed next.
Grilles: Architectural Grille
15 Ways to Enhance Your Cabinets With Grilles
The drawer front flips down to reveal a sliding shelf that can be extended to use as a desk surface or a cafe table. The walnut surface slides straight out and required the builders to swipe a few extra inches from the wall behind the cabinetry for its recess.
They used the Top Flex pullout table system from Häfele as the sliding structure for the tabletop. It has a load-bearing capacity of 60 pounds.
They used the Top Flex pullout table system from Häfele as the sliding structure for the tabletop. It has a load-bearing capacity of 60 pounds.
Nearby armchairs and two ottomans normally tucked under the TV can pull up to the table with ease. “This seats four very comfortably, and we have squeezed in six people here,” Brostowski says. To make her mother feel at home, they used her belongings from her house, reupholstering many pieces and trimming a beloved rug to fit the space. The dining chairs are from her mother’s very first dining room, and she has kept them ever since. “I’ve been eating dinner on these chairs my whole life,” Brostowski says.
Library lights along the top of the built-ins provide plenty of illumination for working and can be dimmed to change the mood for dinner.
“I call this kind of design work a Rubik’s Cube exercise,” Brostowski says. “You have to change it completely, but the challenge is to stay within the box.”
Library lights: Besselink & Jones
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Watch an Entryway Bar Transform Into a Table for Two
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Library lights along the top of the built-ins provide plenty of illumination for working and can be dimmed to change the mood for dinner.
“I call this kind of design work a Rubik’s Cube exercise,” Brostowski says. “You have to change it completely, but the challenge is to stay within the box.”
Library lights: Besselink & Jones
More
Watch an Entryway Bar Transform Into a Table for Two
It Can Work: Sit-Down Dining Solutions for Small Spaces
Project at a Glance
What happens here: Reading, visiting, home office work, TV watching, entertaining, dining, storage
Location: Boston
Designers: Maribeth Brostowski of Lewis Interiors, and the pros at Adams + Beasley Associates
The living room is the heart of this home, which has sophisticated style and beautiful views of Boston Common. But with no separate dining room or office, it also needed to be hardworking, providing a place to work and have dinner with friends.
“Maribeth came up with the idea for these built-ins, and we worked with her to figure out how to execute it,” says Susie Tweed of Adams + Beasley Associates. Note the way the built-ins extend to the ceiling and have matching molding at the top and bottom that ties them to the rest of the room. “There was a 30-inch-by-30-inch structural column on the left side in a box that was bigger than it needed to be,” Brostowski says. “We were able to shave it down to about 20 inches by 20 inches and add oil-rubbed bronze architectural grilles for the heat register. Then I flanked the TV with matching cabinetry on the other side to make it pleasingly symmetrical.”