Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Common House Tables_ ideal design

[Lynn Nadeau (welcome]

Your magic tables of course also fold up, or otherwise reduce in size for 
when a meeting, dance or floor scrubbing is happening. Maybe with locking 
or retractable casters, to further ease rearrangements and storage. 

Many school dining areas are also used as "multi-purpose" areas and have 
furniture that easily folds up and rolls aside. (Our local schools have 
tables whose seating is also intrinsic to the piece that folds and rolls. 
) Perhaps a look at school-furniture catalogs might offer some relevant 
ideas. Can someone provide an 800 number for a school-furniture catalogue?

As to cost, perhaps one goal might be to come up with a design which, 
rather than being patented, manufactured, and sold, would be plans which 
could be available at a modest cost for local groups to manifest in their 
own ways. One group might contract with local fine-furniture makers to 
create fine woodwork. Another group might make the table tops out of 
melamine scrap and cover them with tablecloths, or oilcloth. Come up with 
a plan that can work in anything from teak to  plywood, and let groups 
take it from there. 

Does an ideal table also perhaps have a hole in the center, or a 
removable plug, which could allow a lamp cord to descend to a floor 
socket? (given that many groups find their overhead lighting non-cozy). 

Lynn Nadeau
RoseWind Cohousing, expecting common house design to go in for permit in 
the next few months.