When it comes to furniture and interiors, one of TreeHugger’s favorite design techniques involves furniture that can serve more than one function. Green sofas are great, for sure, but even better when, with the flip of a switch or rotation of a piece, it can become a coffee table or bench. It sounds a little wacky, but Brooklyn designer Akemi Tanaka has achieved stunning, super-functional results doing just that.

In Japanese, “Futaba” roughly translates as one seed sprouting two leaves, so it’s a fitting name for the above piece. Designed for folks who live in smaller spaces, but still like to entertain, the piece is meant to be used as a coffee table on an everyday basis. When guests come over and additional seating is required, up comes the top and the furniture converts from table into love seat at the drop of a hat. Tanaka hasn’t just stopped there, though; Futaba is constructed from plyboo (shorthand for bamboo [www.sundancechannel.com] plywood), and regular readers know how much we love that stuff.

Equally interesting is “Tagei”, which, true to the designer’s form, translates in Japanese as “versatility”. Again, this one word nearly perfectly describes what this table/bench combination achieves. Also constructed from plyboo, Tagei slides effortlessly between comfy seat and compact table, creating more space when needed and offering two totally functional pieces in one. These two are but the tip of the iceberg of Tanaka’s work; click on over to the designer’s site [www.akemitanaka.com] to see more thoughtful designs with a green twist.