“People,” says Challie Stillman, design director at Resource Furniture, “are inherently lazy.”
Consequently, if the company’s multi-functional products are difficult to manage, they won’t use them. “So they’re designed to be easy physically, with not too many steps,” she says. “People can take that leap and live a more transforming life.”
That’s especially true of three new offerings from Clei Innovations, the Italian manufacturer whose Kali, Wally and Oslo products Resource Furniture recently introduced at Dwell on Design in Los Angeles.
“Clei has continued to develop items that speak to what our customers are asking for – home/office features for the home that are not out and in use all the time, and also beds that function as sofas,” she says.
Those customers come in all sizes and ages – and at all stages of life. That means renters who know the products will last can be taken them to their next apartment, first-time home buyers who can’t afford as much space as they’d like, couples with kids, and empty nesters downsizing from a big house to a smaller place in the city.
“We even see them used in graduate housing – and we’re working with developers for rental units,” she says. “The furniture becomes part of the amenity package – a turnkey experience where the renter walks in with a suitcase and does not have to worry about buying new furniture.”
Their materials are sustainable. On the interior, they’re made of a composite board that’s formaldehyde-free. Outside there’s the option of applying a wood veneer or lacquer that’s VOC-free painted material, or melamine veneer, a laminate that doesn’t scratch and does wear well. “It can come in colors like taupe, or faux wood,” she says.
But for the lazy among us, it’s the ease-of-use factor that’s the major selling point, especially with the sleek new Oslo. “It’s a piece that was developed out of the desire to convert a sofa into a bed in one motion, without removing the back cushion – and that can be done in one motion.”
That one’s likely to see a lot of use.
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