Posted on: August 15, 2005

Do Double Duty!

Toast popping out of your telephone is still sci-fi, but today’s furniture and appliances can do more than one thing at a time. Just like you.

By Margraret Littman
CTW Features

Remember when the pinnacle of multitasking was walking and chewing gum at the same time? Today we walk, chew gum, answer the cell phone, check e-mail on the Blackberry and escort the kids to school at the same time. So, is it any surprise that we demand our inanimate objects do several things at once?

Now, experts say, having furniture and appliances that serve more than one function in the house is increasingly more important than having pieces crafted by a certain designer, or even in a particular aesthetic style.

“We need to be more efficient in order to live these busy lives,” says Kathryn Robyn, co-author of “The Emotional House: How Redesigning Your Home Can Change Your Life” (New Harbinger Publications, 2005). Robyn and her co-author Dawn Ritchie estimate that the first multifunctional appliance most people let in their homes was the clock radio, a product that allowed them to choose to wake up to serene music rather than a jarring buzzing, or to hit the ground running with the news.

Today’s multifunctional furniture pieces are far more sophisticated (and expensive) than a clock radio. But they are likely to add a new level of convenience to our lives like that little bedside box did, to the point where we can’t imagine what we did without them.

If all of this sounds a little too sci-fi for you, Robyn and Ritchie suggest looking at these advancements as tools that allow you to focus on the things that matter to you most. If you have an appliance that will both wash and dry the laundry, you don’t have to remember to put the wet clothes in the dryer in the midst of your errands. If you have an oven that refrigerates, and then heats an entire meal while you are at a soccer game, your brain is freed up to concentrate on the important things in life… without serving your family fast food every night.

Think we’re exaggerating? Name a room of the house: There is a multifunctional product for it.

Put the TV away and go to bed

Many younger Americans are turning to condo living, particularly in urban areas, because they can own for the price of renting. As a result, their first homes are smaller than those of first-time homebuyers a generation ago. A “starter” home today could be a loft or a one-bedroom condo, while the single-family house, with its ample storage space, waits until kids and home No. 2. Mark Beurkers, a partner at Casalife, a Toronto-based retailer of multifunctional furniture, says much of the added space in the bedroom is found under the bed.

Instead of box springs, queen and double-size beds sport storage space where the dust bunnies usually are. Drawers and cupboards are the most popular kind of under-the-bed storage, but some newer furniture designs also incorporate bookshelves.

But it isn’t just those with small bedrooms who are getting in on the act. The Stanley Collections’ Midnight Sun bedroom suite features a lift in the footboard that allows a plasma TV to pop-up and swivel. The swivel means it can face a seating area in a master suite, and then turn it to face the bed for late-night Letterman or Leno watching.

Living room life to the fullest

Consider an ottoman that can flip into a chair when guests come over for cocktails. Or an ottoman that doubles as a storage unit, hiding toys and other everyday detritus that we’d prefer our guests not see. Casalife, which also ships its products to the U.S., will work with a customer’s individual floor plan to help maximize space and offer convenience. Beurkers says many townhome buyers bring in floor plans with narrow living or dining rooms. One of his favorite Casalife products is a coffee table that converts to a dining room table. “The chairs are stored inside so when you opened it up, it is a different piece all together,” he says.

Out of office, out of sight

This room, which rarely existed in homes a generation ago, is the bane of a decorator’s existence. Not only do you have to find a way to keep all those papers and pencils from taking over the house, many home offices double as guest rooms, and no one wants a guest to wind his or her way through file folders. Lateral files that look like a chest of drawers from the outside are a favorite new multifunctional product. They hold a significant amount of paperwork, but don’t scream “home office,” when friends or family come to town.

Fresh air, one light bulb at a time

The laundry room, basement and the garage can benefit from the O*ZONELite, light bulbs with built-in air purifiers. The energy-efficient bulbs aren’t much larger than a traditional bulb. But David W. deMartino, the company’s CEO, says the bulbs help remove smoke and pet odors, as well as mold and other pollutants just as well as large, freestanding units.

The all-in-one washer and dryer is becoming a well-known space-saver, but it’s also programmable so you don’t have to remember to move the wet clothes to the dryer. Models from LG and Kenmore are now available.

Surf’s up on the fridge front

This is where Robyn and Ritchie get most excited about the practicality of multifunctional products. The two tick off numerous reasons why today’s average family will benefit from futuristic-sounding products. Perhaps refrigerators with plasma screen TVs in the door seem like decadence, just a way not to miss Dr. Phil while you are slaving away at the stove. But Ritchie suggests thinking about using that screen with an Internet connection. Suddenly you have access to more recipes than you can count at your fingertips. No more spilling sauce on the pages of a cookbook.

Beyond 2005

In the near future Robyn and Ritchie predict that refrigerators and pantries will have scanning capabilities, that they can read the UPC codes on the products you buy, and alert you to when it is time to stock up again.

deMartino predicts that products that are now available in hospitals and other commercial businesses will soon be available in homes. Self-cleaning windows are high on that list. But not to worry, we’re not all turning into The Jetsons. Instead of their food that was delivered via space age pill, our future, Robyn says, simply includes technology that allows us to get what we yearn for now, but faster and easier.

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