If you live in a small apartment, it might seem like you have two choices — forego a kitchen table and eat all your meals on the couch, or squeeze one in and surrender precious floorspace. It’s kind of a lose-lose, right? That’s where a fold-away table comes in handy.

These ingenious pieces of furniture come with two dropping leaves, allowing you to have a full table, half a table, or no table at all. Each leaf rises and falls smoothly and can be secured in place via a swinging table leg.

Even if you’re not cramped in a teensy apartment, you might find use for a fold-away table in a variety of other situations. Maybe you need an easy-to-assemble table for when company comes over, or a portable surface for cookouts with Weber BBQ grills. Fold-away tables are usually wooden, so they look a step or two above the go-to plastic folding table.

So, next time you want to eat breakfast and read the paper at a real kitchen table, then get your Wii Fit on, don’t worry! A fold-away table is open when you need it, and compact when you don’t.

Most people encounter loft beds in college — those space-saving pieces of furniture that made your prison-cell-sized dorm room feel, well, like a slightly larger prison cell. But lofts aren’t just for the collegiate crowd. If you’re looking to conserve some floor space, or simply to design a chic and urban-style bedroom, a loft might be just the thing. (Remember, they even make lofts for full- and queen-sized mattresses!)

Here are a couple things to keep in mind when shopping for lofts:

Ceiling height. Lofts come in all different heights, and some of them are adjustable, so you should take the time to shop around for a product the right size for your ceiling. How much room you need above your loft is up to you — in some cases, you can even give yourself enough room to sit up or kneel.

Stability. Beds aren’t just for sleeping, and even if your loft isn’t seeing any intense action, it’s still going to need to stand up to your climbing on and off of it. Spending an extra $20 or so might be worth it ensure you get a top-quality loft.

The Sub-loft. What are you going to put beneath your loft? Some people like to place a desk or other workspace component below their bed, but you could also turn this area into a lounge with a couch and a television, or a place to get dressed in the morning featuring a dresser and mirror.