What is your hardest working piece of furniture? Melbourne

In small space living double-duty furniture is the go. The more uses a piece has the better it is. We were thinking about this as we went to grab our Ikea Benjamin stool yet again to use as a side table. We realised that this is the hardest working piece of furniture we own. One has a full time job as a printer stand, while it’s friend does all the running around. It comes out as extra seating, works hard as a step ladder in the kitchen, has been a bedside table and regularly moves around the flat whenever cups of tea need to placed on something. And when not in use it sits quietly in the corner, barely taking up any space.

Now this isn’t an ode to Benjamin’s usefulness (well not entirely) but we would really like to know what pieces are gracefully doing the hard yards in your home? And have you come up with any ingenious multi-task ideas you can share?

Comments (5)

My answer is the same: the Benjamin! We have four in our 450 sq ft. junior 1-bed, and they live stacked up under our dining table when they're not serving as end tables, stools, dining chairs, and desks.

My answer is pretty similar. I have a pale grey upholstered cube where the top lifts off for storage, that I added chrome casters to. It used to be my bedside table when I had a bed low to the ground, storing offseason clothes. Then it was a side table in my living room, storing blankets. I used it as a coffee table base by adding a larger piece of round glass and stored things I rarely needed to access.

Now it's an additional piece of seating in the corner of my apartment, storing blankets again and being pulled over to use as a side table from time to time.

I don't know where I'd be without my little Benjamin, he's a hardworking lad. He acts as my dinner table, laptop stand, coffee table, and when he's not needed, he tucks in neatly beside my couch and takes care of the remote controls.

My only other worthy multitasking furniture is my beaten up antique carved timber chest. A little lower than the Benjamin, he also acts as a coffee/dinner table (I eat in front of the TV 99% of the time, not sure why I even have a real dining table!), but with the added bonus of storing away all my cables and miscellaneous electronics.

My next purchase will be a bookshelf/room divider to take care of my ridiculous collection of books and hide away my less than desirable study.

Similarly, I have a couple of Frosta stools stacked up beside my couch as a side table, but they also operate as extra seating in times of need. Love them!