Know When to Fold 'Em

You know those pictures where a friend emails it to you saying, "Stare at this and figure out if you can see what's 'wrong' in the picture lol!" Then you stare at it and all of a sudden one of the demons from The Exorcist jumps out at you and you scream out loud and your roommates come running to see what's wrong and then they look at you pityingly when you try to explain the scary-faced guy was hiding in the picture? This is not one of those.

If you'll recall, this is is a picture from our Real-Life TAA: Ana's (Spiral) Staircase to Heaven. Take a close look and see if you can spot the subject of today's post.

Okay, here's another one, this time from Megan's Downtown Digs. See it yet?

I've been seeing more and more TAAs that have dining tables of some sort, but no chairs. The chairs are folding chairs, and have been hidden away until company comes a-callin'. (Ana's folding chairs are hidden behind her staircase, Megan's are under her dresser.) It makes perfect sense from a TAA standpoint -- after all, you're not having six-person dinner parties every night, so there's no need for all your dining chairs to be out every day. But I will admit it's slightly strange to see chairless dining tables in peoples' homes. They look lonely. (Maybe they just need a nice centerpiece to keep them company. One with a great personality, who likes to laugh.)

Folding chairs have come a long way from the sheet metal ones used to turn your grade-school cafeteria into an auditorium. They come in varying materials, looks, and price points. Sure, some are more fold-able than others; it's a balance you have to figure out: ones that fold up to something the thickness of a sheet of paper probably aren't going to be that comfy, and the ones that do have a little padding are going to be a little bulkier. But the choice is up to you.

Here are a few folding chairs that could easily double as dining chairs in a small home.

This chair from Overstock looks like the iMac of folding chairs (remember when they came in different candy colors?). These would look great in a young, funky, colorful room with a metal or metal-and-glass table.

I think this one, also from Overstock, is gorgeous! Although I like its natural wood finish, one might say that it looks too much like a patio chair (which it is). A coat of white paint and a colorful cushion would take care of that nicely.

It may not look like it, but yes, this one folds up. It's of sturdier wood and has a bit of padding, so it may take up more storage space than the others, but it still takes up less room than a non-foldable chair!

This one's my favorite -- I'm in love with bamboo chairs these days, and this one is so cool and exotic.

So you see, when life deals you a small apartment, your best bet is to fold. (Ha ha, see what I did there?) But if you can get past my bad pun, you'll see that me and Kenny Rogers are right: you gotta know when to fold 'em.