Privately and professionally we have long complained about, and been deeply saddened by, the lack of side/coffee tables with a shelf to be found in the contemporary furniture market.
We know it's a first world problem, we know we should concentrate on other, genuinely important, things, but..... Back in the day all side/coffee tables had a shelf. And today......?
Today the smow blog living room is scattered with magazines, brochures, music scores and catalogues we simply do not know where or how to store.
Honest!
It is therefore always a moment of great joy for us when we find a side/coffee table with a shelf, and a particular moment of great joy when it is packaged in an object as delightful as Duple by Oslo based designer Alexander Åsgård.
Constructed from a very simple steel wire frame topped by a nicely crafted wooden board, the genius of Duple is the shelf. And not just because it is a shelf, but because it is a shelf that is also a tray. The contemporary table market is awash with side table/tray combinations, but all others have the top as the tray; by making the shelf the tray Alexander Åsgård has created a product that is genuinely multifunctional - it works as a table AND a tray not a table OR a tray. And has equally importantly re-introduced the practical beauty of the side/coffee table shelf to a purchasing public who, to misquote Freddie Mercury, either just didn't know or just didn't care that it wasn't there.
In addition, the underside of the tray is cushioned meaning not only that it allows the tray to sit comfortably on your lap, or to protect the surface of other units on which it may be placed, but allows you to invert the tray, place it on the table top and so turn the table into a makeshift bench.
Need we say more?
More information on Duple and Alexander Åsgård's other work, including the very promising looking sofa bed Trapes, can be found at http://alexanderaasgaard.com
