Hans Olsen Round Table

This post was carried over from the home page. Although it’s a great piece for Small Space Living it also is a prime piece of Mid-Century Modern Design.

Dining sets are one of the largest pieces of furniture, next to your bed, in most homes. Fitting a table with chairs large enough to entertain — but small enough to live with — is a delicate balance. I have seen several good space saving designs, but none as functional and stylish as Hans Olsen’s round tables.

These tables were designed in 1953. The design is as revenant now as it was then with no modern peer. These pieces are readily available on Ebay and from other Mid-century Modern furniture brokers. The asking price has been ever increasing in recent months due to the new found popularity of these sets.

The table is a simple, elegant round design with cutouts in the table skirt to accept the chair backs. The table and four chairs fit perfectly together to form one integrated piece when not in use. The chairs are three-legged triangular shaped pieces. This shape is required so the four pieces can fit together under the table like slices of pie. The design is simple and functional with an elegance that beguiles it diminutive size.

There is also a larger sized version that is essentially identical except for the chairs, which have four legs. This table was recently seen in the in the apartment of the winner of Apartment Therapy’s 2007 Smallest Coolest Apartment see the post here.