Connubia Furniture

Connubia is made by Calligaris, the Italian house that has been working since 1923, and it is the half of that catalogue aimed at real apartments. Everything here is designed around the problem of not having enough room, which is a more interesting brief than having plenty.

The extendable tables are the clearest example. A central mechanism pulls the top apart and lifts a stored leaf into place by hand, with no tools and nothing to keep in a cupboard. A table that seats four most nights will take six or eight when it has to. For a household that entertains occasionally rather than constantly, this is the single most useful piece of furniture Italy makes.

The seating follows the same logic. Chairs that stack. Stools on a gas lift, which matters when a counter is an unusual height or when children are growing through it. Slim metal frames and moulded shells in colours that are confident without being loud. Italian manufacture at a price that is not the usual Italian price.

Measure the fully open length of an extendable table against your room rather than the closed one, since that is the dimension you will actually be living with at Christmas. Most of the chairs are indoor pieces, and where a design is rated for outdoor use the listing says so. The questions below cover extensions, stool heights and outdoor suitability.