Furniture





Furniture is the collective term for the movable objects in a building, by
and large, horizontal surfaces supported above the ground. In general, they
are objects either for humans to sit or lie on, or to hold or contain
smaller objects such as tools, books, decorative items and so on. Types of
furniture include chairs, tables, shelves, cupboards, lighting and beds.

Street furniture is the collective term for pieces of equipment installed in
the street, such as street lighting, traffic signs, traffic signals and
garbage boxes.

Chair

A chair consists of a seat, legs, back, and sometimes arm rests, for use by
one person. Without back and arm rests it is called a stool. A chair for
more persons is a couch, sofa, settee, loveseat or bench.

An office chair can often rotate about a vertical axis.

Bed

A bed is essentially a soft horizontal surface, large enough to lie on; it
is mainly used for sleeping, relaxing and sexual activities.

A chair is to sit on, a bed to lie on. However, one can also lie on a couch,
sofa or bench, and sit on a bed.

Table

A table is to put things on, often temporarily, e.g. food and eating
utensils, etc. during a meal, cups for drinks, a book (especially a big one,
that one can not easily keep in one's hands), a spread-out map, writing
paper during writing, and anything that requires having several objects at
hand, including various hobbies. Things may also be put more permanently on
a table, e.g. a TV, computer, objects for decoration (including a cloth,
usually arranged to lie flat on the top surface, and either hang near two
ends vertically over two parallel edges of the table, or hang mostly
vertical along all four edges of the table, with bunched folds hanging at
the four corners of the table), etc.

For some tables the top surface can be adjusted in size, with a part that is
foldable or can slide under the rest. Some tables are foldable for easy
transport, e.g. for camping. Small tables in trains and planes may be fixed
or foldable.

Desk

A Desk is a table with one or often several drawers, also often used in
offices. Unlike a regular table, only one side suitable to sit on.

Not all desks have the form of a table, however. For instance, an Armoire
desk is a desk built within a large wardrobe-like cabinet usually having the
height of a man or a woman.